# wingify/across-tabs

Easy communication between cross-origin browser tabs. Simplified "CORS"ing!

Repository: https://github.com/wingify/across-tabs
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/across-tabs
Homepage: https://engineering.wingify.com/across-tabs
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Topics: browser-tabs, tabs-comunication, postmessage, tabs, communication-library, communication-channel, handshake-mechanism, cross-origin, sessionstorage, es6, webpack, karma-plugin, jasmine-tests, istanbul, isparta, babel, tabs-api, event-driven, new-tab, hacktoberfest
Last push: 2023-09-11T09:52:22+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3491, "days_push": 1087, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1671, forks 108 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:20.135755+00:00)

## What it is
AcrossTabs is a small (~4 KB gzipped) JavaScript library that enables safe communication between cross-origin browser tabs using the PostMessage API. It provides a handshake mechanism between parent and child tabs along with a full API for tab information and custom callbacks.

## Use cases
- communicate between browser tabs from different origins
- send messages from a parent tab to child tabs it opened
- disable a button until a newly opened tab completes a handshake
- get a list of all child tabs opened by the current tab
- execute custom callbacks in a child tab when the parent sends a message
- coordinate state across multiple tabs of a web app

## When to choose
- you need cross-origin tab-to-tab messaging that plain localStorage or BroadcastChannel can't safely provide
- you want a tiny UMD library that works everywhere without a framework
- you need a handshake flow to verify child tabs before enabling UI

## When to avoid
- you only need same-origin tab communication (BroadcastChannel or storage events are simpler)
- your project uses modern APIs and you don't need the handshake abstraction
- you need actively developed features - the project is in maintenance mode

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: websocket, middleware, developer-tools
- domain: web-development, frontend, browser-extensions
- platform: browser, cross-platform
- tags: postmessage, cross-origin, browser-tabs, tabs-communication, handshake, umd, es6

## Member repositories
- wingify/across-tabs (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:20.135755+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:42:42.980993+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/wingify/across-tabs (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:20.135755+00:00, sha dfc5306beb71)
  - homepage: https://engineering.wingify.com/across-tabs (fetched 2026-08-29T11:16:13.002697+00:00, sha 44c5ca0c175f)
  - site_page: https://engineering.wingify.com/about (fetched 2026-08-29T11:16:13.011154+00:00, sha 0f9d2e45259c)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/across-tabs (fetched 2026-08-29T11:16:13.012960+00:00, sha 59786e534d55)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.