Permissions

Web content that calls navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia(), the Geolocation API, or the Notifications API needs the host application to grant or deny those requests. Wails exposes a cross-platform Permissions map on WebviewWindowOptions that lets you control this declaratively — no platform-specific code required.

Quick Start

window := app.Window.NewWithOptions(application.WebviewWindowOptions{
    Title: "My App",
    Permissions: map[application.PermissionType]application.Permission{
        application.PermissionMicrophone: application.PermissionAllow,
        application.PermissionCamera:     application.PermissionAllow,
    },
})

Camera and microphone requests from that window’s web content are granted without a browser prompt.

Permission Types

PermissionType (uint8) identifies a capability that web content can request.

Constant	Capability
PermissionMicrophone	getUserMedia({audio: true})
PermissionCamera	getUserMedia({video: true})
PermissionGeolocation	navigator.geolocation
PermissionNotifications	Notification.requestPermission()
PermissionClipboardRead	navigator.clipboard.readText()

Permission Values

Permission (uint8) is the policy applied to a given type.

Constant	Value	Meaning
PermissionDefault	0	Use the platform’s native handling (see below)
PermissionAllow	1	Grant without prompting
PermissionDeny	2	Deny without prompting

PermissionDefault is the zero value, so unset entries in the map behave as default.

Platform Behaviour

Each platform handles PermissionDefault differently because their underlying webviews have different native behaviour.

Linux (WebKitGTK)

WebKitGTK has no native permission prompt. Without a handler attached, it silently denies every request — which is why getUserMedia always returned NotAllowedError before this feature was added.

Currently Wails handles camera and microphone requests on Linux. Geolocation, notifications, and clipboard read are not yet wired up and remain denied regardless of the policy you set.

Policy	Camera / Microphone	Geolocation, Notifications, Clipboard
PermissionDefault	Allowed (restores getUserMedia)	Always denied
PermissionAllow	Allowed	Always denied (not yet implemented)
PermissionDeny	Denied	Always denied

Windows (WebView2)

WebView2 has a native permission prompt and a per-kind permission API. All five capability types are fully supported.

Policy	Behaviour
PermissionDefault	WebView2 shows its native OS/browser permission prompt
PermissionAllow	Granted silently
PermissionDeny	Denied silently

Important: Before this feature existed, Wails called SetGlobalPermission(Allow) unconditionally — silently granting all capabilities. Now, when any entry is present in Permissions, that blanket grant is not set. Unset capabilities fall through to WebView2’s native prompt instead of being auto-granted.

This means if you configure Permissions at all on Windows, any capability you don’t explicitly list will show a prompt rather than being silently allowed. Set the capabilities you need explicitly.

macOS (TCC)

macOS manages camera, microphone, geolocation, and notification access through its system privacy framework. The OS prompt appears automatically the first time web content requests a capability, and the user’s choice is remembered per-app in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

This works correctly without any Permissions configuration. The map is currently ignored on macOS — all requests go through TCC regardless of what you set. The practical gap is that PermissionDeny has no effect on macOS: you cannot block a webview from using a capability that TCC has already granted at the system level.

Ensure your Info.plist includes the appropriate usage description keys:

<key>NSMicrophoneUsageDescription</key>
<string>Used for voice input</string>
<key>NSCameraUsageDescription</key>
<string>Used for video calls</string>

Common Patterns

Media capture app

Grant camera and microphone across all platforms:

Permissions: map[application.PermissionType]application.Permission{
    application.PermissionMicrophone: application.PermissionAllow,
    application.PermissionCamera:     application.PermissionAllow,
},

On Linux this explicitly allows both devices; other capabilities remain denied.
On Windows this allows both; any other capability you don’t list will show a native prompt.
On macOS this has no effect; TCC handles everything.

Deny media capture on Linux

Linux allows camera and microphone by default. To opt out:

Permissions: map[application.PermissionType]application.Permission{
    application.PermissionMicrophone: application.PermissionDeny,
    application.PermissionCamera:     application.PermissionDeny,
},

Allow all capabilities on Windows

To grant every capability without prompting:

Permissions: map[application.PermissionType]application.Permission{
    application.PermissionMicrophone:    application.PermissionAllow,
    application.PermissionCamera:        application.PermissionAllow,
    application.PermissionGeolocation:   application.PermissionAllow,
    application.PermissionNotifications: application.PermissionAllow,
    application.PermissionClipboardRead: application.PermissionAllow,
},

Per-window policies

Different windows can have different policies:

// Main app window — full media access
mainWindow := app.Window.NewWithOptions(application.WebviewWindowOptions{
    Title: "App",
    Permissions: map[application.PermissionType]application.Permission{
        application.PermissionMicrophone: application.PermissionAllow,
        application.PermissionCamera:     application.PermissionAllow,
    },
})

// Settings window — no special capabilities
settingsWindow := app.Window.NewWithOptions(application.WebviewWindowOptions{
    Title: "Settings",
    // No Permissions entry — uses platform defaults
})

// Embedded content window — deny media capture
embeddedWindow := app.Window.NewWithOptions(application.WebviewWindowOptions{
    Title: "Embedded",
    Permissions: map[application.PermissionType]application.Permission{
        application.PermissionMicrophone: application.PermissionDeny,
        application.PermissionCamera:     application.PermissionDeny,
    },
})

Windows-Specific Override

The per-window Windows.Permissions field (map[CoreWebView2PermissionKind]CoreWebView2PermissionState) still works and can override individual capabilities after the cross-platform map is applied. Use it when you need access to WebView2 permission kinds that have no cross-platform equivalent (e.g. CoreWebView2PermissionKindOtherSensors).

Windows: application.WindowsWindow{
    Permissions: map[application.CoreWebView2PermissionKind]application.CoreWebView2PermissionState{
        application.CoreWebView2PermissionKindOtherSensors: application.CoreWebView2PermissionStateAllow,
    },
},

The evaluation order on Windows is:

1. Cross-platform Permissions map (sets per-kind state via SetPermission)
2. Windows.Permissions map (overrides individual kinds)
3. For any kind not covered by either map: WebView2’s native prompt (when a policy is configured) or auto-allow (when no policy is configured — the legacy behaviour)

Platform Support Matrix

Capability	Linux	Windows	macOS
Microphone	✅	✅	TCC only
Camera	✅	✅	TCC only
Geolocation	❌ not yet	✅	TCC only
Notifications	❌ not yet	✅	TCC only
Clipboard Read	❌ not yet	✅	TCC only

Troubleshooting

getUserMedia still fails on Linux after upgrading

Check that you have not explicitly set PermissionMicrophone: PermissionDeny or PermissionCamera: PermissionDeny. The default (unset) allows media capture on Linux.

Windows is prompting for permissions I didn’t configure

Once any entry is present in Permissions, Wails no longer sets the blanket Allow grant. Capabilities you don’t list will show WebView2’s native prompt. Add explicit PermissionAllow entries for every capability your app uses.

macOS permissions aren’t working

The Permissions map has no effect on macOS. Ensure your Info.plist includes the correct usage description keys (NSMicrophoneUsageDescription, NSCameraUsageDescription, etc.) and that the user has granted access in System Settings → Privacy & Security.

Geolocation/notifications/clipboard have no effect on Linux

Only camera and microphone are currently handled on Linux. Support for other capability types is not yet implemented — they remain denied regardless of the policy you set.