diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fc2c2ae..df38aa1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -9,7 +9,14 @@ Here's [a blog post explaining it](https://60devs.com/hot-reloading-for-chrome-e
 - Works by checking timestamps of files
 - Supports nested directories
 - Automatically disables itself in production
-- And it's just a <a href="https://github.com/xpl/crx-hotreload/blob/master/hot-reload.js">50 lines of code</a>!
+- And it's just <a href="https://github.com/xpl/crx-hotreload/blob/master/hot-reload.js">50 lines of code</a>!
+
+## Options
+
+|  Name        |   Value                      |  Description                           |
+|--------------|------------------------------|----------------------------------------|
+| `reloadTab`  | `boolean` (default: `true`)  | reload the active tab when crx changes.|
+| `exclude`    | `string[]` (default: `[]`)   | file names that we shouldn't watch.    |
 
 ## How To Use
 
@@ -31,4 +38,10 @@ It is also available as NPM module:
 npm install crx-hotreload
 ```
 
-Then use a `require` (or `import`) to execute the script.
+In your script:
+```
+const hotReload = require('crx-hotreload');
+hotReload.default({
+    reloadTab: false
+});
+```
diff --git a/hot-reload.js b/hot-reload.js
index de5e58c..ade04ce 100644
--- a/hot-reload.js
+++ b/hot-reload.js
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
-const filesInDirectory = dir => new Promise (resolve =>
+const filesInDirectory = (dir, exclude) => new Promise (resolve =>
 
     dir.createReader ().readEntries (entries =>
 
-        Promise.all (entries.filter (e => e.name[0] !== '.').map (e =>
-
+        Promise.all (entries
+            .filter (e => e.name[0] !== '.')
+            .filter (f => !exclude.includes(f.name))
+            .map (e =>
             e.isDirectory
-                ? filesInDirectory (e)
+                ? filesInDirectory (e, exclude)
                 : new Promise (resolve => e.file (resolve))
         ))
         .then (files => [].concat (...files))
@@ -13,40 +15,56 @@ const filesInDirectory = dir => new Promise (resolve =>
     )
 )
 
-const timestampForFilesInDirectory = dir =>
-        filesInDirectory (dir).then (files =>
-            files.map (f => f.name + f.lastModifiedDate).join ())
+const timestampForFilesInDirectory = (dir, exclude) =>
+        filesInDirectory (dir, exclude).then (files =>
+            files. map (f => f.name + f.lastModifiedDate).join ())
 
-const reload = () => {
+const reload = (reloadTab) => {
 
-    chrome.tabs.query ({ active: true, currentWindow: true }, tabs => { // NB: see https://github.com/xpl/crx-hotreload/issues/5
+    if (reloadTab) {
+        chrome.tabs.query ({ active: true, currentWindow: true }, tabs => { // NB: see https://github.com/xpl/crx-hotreload/issues/5
 
-        if (tabs[0]) { chrome.tabs.reload (tabs[0].id) }
+            if (tabs[0]) { chrome.tabs.reload (tabs[0].id) }
 
+            chrome.runtime.reload ()
+        })
+    } else {
         chrome.runtime.reload ()
-    })
+    }
 }
 
-const watchChanges = (dir, lastTimestamp) => {
-
-    timestampForFilesInDirectory (dir).then (timestamp => {
+const watchChanges = (dir, opts, lastTimestamp) => {
 
+    timestampForFilesInDirectory (dir, opts.exclude).then (timestamp => {
         if (!lastTimestamp || (lastTimestamp === timestamp)) {
 
-            setTimeout (() => watchChanges (dir, timestamp), 1000) // retry after 1s
+            setTimeout (() => watchChanges (dir, opts, timestamp), 1000) // poll every 1s
 
         } else {
-
-            reload ()
+            reload (opts.reloadTab)
         }
     })
 
 }
 
-chrome.management.getSelf (self => {
-
-    if (self.installType === 'development') {
-
-        chrome.runtime.getPackageDirectoryEntry (dir => watchChanges (dir))
+const defaultOpts = {
+    reloadTab: true,
+    exclude: [],
+};
+
+if (typeof module === 'object') {
+    exports.default = (opts) => {
+        const combinedOpts = Object.assign({}, defaultOpts, opts);
+        chrome.management.getSelf (self => {
+            if (self.installType === 'development') {
+                chrome.runtime.getPackageDirectoryEntry (dir => watchChanges (dir, combinedOpts))
+            }
+        })
     }
-})
+} else {
+    chrome.management.getSelf (self => {
+        if (self.installType === 'development') {
+            chrome.runtime.getPackageDirectoryEntry (dir => watchChanges (dir, defaultOpts))
+        }
+    })
+}