Chrome Extension manifest.json difference - google-chrome

Question

I'm trying to create zip package for my chrome extension for chome webstore, and having difficulties to determine what kind manifest.json format that requires in the zip package.
my first attempt was to copy the manifest.json that in my extension (compiled to .crx file) into the zip package, so the content of zip package
manifest.json
myextension.crx
but this approach leads to a problem where background script cannot be loaded when try to install the extension in chrome.
my second attempt was to strip the manifest json and only leave some fields such name, description, and icon. It seems my second attempt was successful, as my extension can be installed.
Is my approach was correct? please advise.

Answer 1

The correct format of the manifest file is documented here. That having said, I suspect that the issue has nothing to do with your manifest file, but the structure of your zip file. When submitting a zip file, make sure that you zip the directory's content, not the directory itself.
E.g. the following structure is OK:
manifest.json
background.js
...
The following is not OK:
extension/manifest.json
extension/background.js
You've probably created the following situation, which is not OK, because it declares the background script as "background.js", while it's actually located at "extension/background.js":
manifest.js containing "background": {"scripts": ["background.js"] }
extension/background.js
Your second attempt probably worked because you had zipped the file in the correct way.

Answer 2

Actually you should upload a ZIP archive that contains just the root directory of your extension (nothing should be CRXed). According to the "Get Started" guide:
Create a ZIP archive of the directory that contains manifest.json and the icon. On Windows, you can do this by right-clicking myapp and choosing the menu item Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder. On Mac OS X, control-click myapp and choose Compress "myapp".
If you like to use the command line, you might enter this:
zip -r myapp.zip myapp
Note: The ZIP archive should not contain just the contents of the extension's root directory, but the root directory itself (with all its content, of course).
(BTW, I have no idea why your second attempt worked - according to the docs it shouldn't.)
UPDATE:
After trying it out myself, both approaches seem to work.
Bottom line, upload a ZIP archive with the content of your extension and not any CRXed stuff. Google will produce the CRX itself.