NDEFReader: scan() method

Secure context: This feature is available only in secure contexts (HTTPS), in some or all supporting browsers.

Experimental: This is an experimental technology
Check the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The scan() method of the NDEFReader interface activates a reading device and returns a Promise that either resolves when an NFC tag read operation is scheduled or rejects if a hardware or permission error is encountered. This method triggers a permission prompt if the "nfc" permission has not been previously granted.

Syntax

scan(options)

Parameters

options Optional

An object with the following properties:

signal: An AbortSignal that allows cancelling this scan() operation.

Return value

A Promise that resolves immediately after scheduling read operations for the NFC adapter.

Exceptions

This method doesn't throw exceptions; instead, it rejects the returned promise, passing a DOMException whose name is one of the following:

AbortError DOMException: Returned if the scan operation was aborted with the AbortSignal passed in the options argument.
InvalidStateError DOMException: Returned if there's already an ongoing scan.
NotAllowedError DOMException: Returned if the permission for this operation was rejected.
NotSupportedError DOMException: Returned if there is no NFC adapter compatible with Web NFC or a connection cannot be established.

Examples

undefined

Handle scanning errors

This example shows what happens when a scan promise rejects and readingerror is thrown.

const ndef = new NDEFReader();
ndef
  .scan()
  .then(() => {
    console.log("Scan started successfully.");
    ndef.onreadingerror = (event) => {
      console.log(
        "Error! Cannot read data from the NFC tag. Try a different one?",
      );
    };
    ndef.onreading = (event) => {
      console.log("NDEF message read.");
    };
  })
  .catch((error) => {
    console.log(`Error! Scan failed to start: ${error}.`);
  });

Specifications

Web NFC