Web/API/Worker/postMessage

The postMessage() method of the Worker interface sends a message to the worker's inner scope. This accepts a single parameter, which is the data to send to the worker. The data may be any value or JavaScript object handled by the structured clone algorithm, which includes cyclical references.

The Worker can send back information to the thread that spawned it using the DedicatedWorkerGlobalScope.postMessage method.

Syntax

worker.postMessage(message, [transfer]);

Parameters

message: The object to deliver to the worker; this will be in the data field in the event delivered to the DedicatedWorkerGlobalScope.onmessage handler. This may be any value or JavaScript object handled by the structured clone algorithm, which includes cyclical references.; If the message parameter is not provided, a TypeError will be thrown. If the data to be passed to the worker is unimportant, null or undefined can be passed explicitly.
transfer Optional: An optional array of Transferable objects to transfer ownership of. If the ownership of an object is transferred, it becomes unusable (neutered) in the context it was sent from and becomes available only to the worker it was sent to.; Transferable objects are instances of classes like ArrayBuffer, MessagePort or ImageBitmap objects that can be transferred. null is not an acceptable value for transfer.

Returns

Void.

Example

The following code snippet shows the creation of a Worker object using the Worker() constructor. When either of two form inputs (first and second) have their values changed, change events invoke postMessage() to send the value of both inputs to the current worker.

var myWorker = new Worker('worker.js');

first.onchange = function() {
  myWorker.postMessage([first.value,second.value]);
  console.log('Message posted to worker');
}

second.onchange = function() {
  myWorker.postMessage([first.value,second.value]);
  console.log('Message posted to worker');
}

For a full example, see ourBasic dedicated worker example ([[../../../../../../../mdn.github.io/simple-web-worker/index|run dedicated worker]]).

Note: postMessage() can only send a single object at once. As seen above, if you want to pass multiple values you can send an array.

Transfer Example

This example shows a Firefox add-on that transfers an ArrayBuffer from the main thread to the ChromeWorker, and then the ChromeWorker transfers it back to the main thread.

Main thread code:

var myWorker = new ChromeWorker(self.path + 'myWorker.js');

function handleMessageFromWorker(msg) {
    console.log('incoming message from worker, msg:', msg);
    switch (msg.data.aTopic) {
        case 'do_sendMainArrBuff':
            sendMainArrBuff(msg.data.aBuf)
            break;
        default:
            throw 'no aTopic on incoming message to ChromeWorker';
    }
}

myWorker.addEventListener('message', handleMessageFromWorker);

// Ok lets create the buffer and send it
var arrBuf = new ArrayBuffer(8);
console.info('arrBuf.byteLength pre transfer:', arrBuf.byteLength);

myWorker.postMessage(
    {
        aTopic: 'do_sendWorkerArrBuff',
        aBuf: arrBuf // The array buffer that we passed to the transferrable section 3 lines below
    },
    [
        arrBuf // The array buffer we created 9 lines above
    ]
); 

console.info('arrBuf.byteLength post transfer:', arrBuf.byteLength);

Worker code

self.onmessage = function (msg) {
    switch (msg.data.aTopic) {
        case 'do_sendWorkerArrBuff':
                sendWorkerArrBuff(msg.data.aBuf)
            break;
        default:
            throw 'no aTopic on incoming message to ChromeWorker';
    }
}

function sendWorkerArrBuff(aBuf) {
    console.info('from worker, PRE send back aBuf.byteLength:', aBuf.byteLength);    

    self.postMessage({aTopic:'do_sendMainArrBuff', aBuf:aBuf}, [aBuf]);

    console.info('from worker, POST send back aBuf.byteLength:', aBuf.byteLength);
}

Output logged

arrBuf.byteLength pre transfer: 8                              bootstrap.js:40
arrBuf.byteLength post transfer: 0                             bootstrap.js:42

from worker, PRE send back aBuf.byteLength: 8                  myWorker.js:5:2

incoming message from worker, msg: message { ... }             bootstrap.js:20
got back buf in main thread, aBuf.byteLength: 8                bootstrap.js:12

from worker, POST send back aBuf.byteLength: 0                 myWorker.js:7:2

byteLength goes to 0 as it is transferred. To see a full working example of this Firefox demo add-on see here: GitHub :: ChromeWorker - demo-transfer-arraybuffer

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living StandardThe definition of 'Worker.postMessage()' in that specification.	Living Standard

Browser compatibility

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
`postMessage`	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support Yes	IE Full support 10 Notes' Full support 10 Notes' Notes' Internet Explorer does not support `Transferable` objects.	Opera Full support 47	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support Yes	Opera Android Full support 44	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support: Full support
See implementation notes.': See implementation notes.

[1] Internet Explorer does not support Transferable objects.