Chrome Side Panel API lets developers build persistent, native browser sidebars

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Google's Chrome Side Panel API, introduced as a stable feature in Chrome 114 in May 2023, allows developers to build extensions that display a persistent sidebar within the browser's native UI. Unlike popup-based extensions or content-script-injected sidebars, the Side Panel renders as a full extension page outside the host page's DOM, eliminating CSS conflicts and breakage on dynamic sites. The panel remains open and maintains its state as users navigate across multiple tabs, giving it a significant usability advantage over traditional popups. Developers can enable the feature using Manifest V3 by adding the 'sidePanel' permission and a 'side_panel' key to the extension manifest. A single call to setPanelBehavior in the service worker is sufficient to wire the toolbar icon to toggle the panel open and closed.

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