Documentation

Atlassian Connect FAQ

What is Atlassian Connect?

Atlassian Connect is a distributed add-on technology for extending Atlassian applications such as JIRA and Confluence. Atlassian Connect is built for a world where software runs wherever, whenever, and however. Atlassian Connect add-ons extend Atlassian applications entirely over standard web protocols and APIs, such as HTTP and REST. This frees developers from traditional add-on platform constraints, giving them new choices of programming language and deployment options. Regardless of delivery model or location, Atlassian applications can be extended with Atlassian Connect add-ons, so developers can be confident their add-ons can solve anyone's business problem.

Where are the docs?

You've found them!

The primary documentation for Atlassian Connect is here. Individual tools that you can use with Atlassian Connect, such as atlassian-connect-express, may provide additional documentation.

Additionally, the Atlassian Connect framework docs are also available in your Atlassian product. Just visit https://HOSTNAME:PORT/CONTEXT_PATH/atlassian-connect/docs/. This will display the documentation for the version of Atlassian Connect that is currently running in your product, so the documentation is always guaranteed to be in sync.

What other information resources exist?

What products support Atlassian Connect?

Atlassian Connect is available in:

How can I request new features for Atlassian Connect?

If there's a feature you'd like to see added to Atlassian Connect, such as a new module type or a particular REST method, please let us know. Submit new feature requests, bugs, and feature votes in the Atlassian Connect JIRA project:

https://ecosystem.atlassian.net/browse/AC

Can an Atlassian Cloud customer use Atlassian Connect for custom development?

Yes. Every Atlassian Cloud customer has access to the Atlassian Connect platform. This means that internal developers can create and deploy Atlassian Connect add-ons for their own use within their organization. For example, a developer could integrate JIRA Cloud with an internal system, or integrate Confluence Cloud with another SaaS service's API.

Note that add-ons in cloud instances must be installed through the Atlassian Marketplace. Thus, to install an add-on for internal use, you must create a listing for it on the Marketplace. The Marketplace provides a new type of listing for such cases - private listings. A private listing is not publicly visible on the Marketplace, and can be installed on a maximum of fifty cloud instances.

How does Atlassian Connect work?

An Atlassian Connect add-on is simply a web application that describes itself with an Atlassian Connect descriptor file. That descriptor includes authentication settings and declares the add-on's capabilities. Capabilities take the form of modules. A module specifies an HTTP resource exposed by the add-on and the place where that resource interacts with the Atlassian app.

What languages, frameworks, & hosts will be supported?

Because your remote add-on is decoupled from the Atlassian application, using only HTTP and REST to communicate, you are free to build in any language, use any framework, and deploy in any manner you wish.

Will Atlassian provide hosting for add-ons?

No. You may choose from the many great PaaS or hosting providers.

How are Atlassian Connect add-ons installed?

Add-ons are listed on the Atlassian Marketplace and installed via the Add-on manager in every Atlassian application.

How are Atlassian Connect add-ons supported by Atlassian?

Atlassian Connect add-ons receive the same level of support that traditional add-ons do today. Atlassian supports the platform, the SDK and the documentation. Vendors are responsible for supporting the add-ons they build and the customers who use those add-ons.

How should add-on vendors support their customers?

Vendors must provide a support channel when listing on the Marketplace. That support channel should be an issue tracker or ticketing system where a customer can file and track issues. An email address is insufficient. We can provide a JIRA instance for vendors who wish to use it for support and issue tracking. Atlassian believes in a policy of transparency, and that information should be open by default. As such, we encourage (but do not require) you to make your tracker open to the public.

In the future, there may be SLAs around support tickets for some or all vendors.

What are the support requirements for add-on vendors relative to Atlassian?

If Atlassian files a support ticket in your system, we ask for next-business-day response time, and resolution time as quickly as possible. We reserve the right to disable your plugin and remove it from the Marketplace if problems cannot be resolved.

What are the service requirements for an add-on?

There are currently no service-level agreements enforced for add-ons in the Atlassian Marketplace. However, in cloud products, the service level is very important to customers. We intend to measure each add-on's current status and uptime and make that information available to customers, similar to the way that cloud products do. We encourage add-on providers to strive for 99.9% uptime.

What policies must add-ons observe about customer data?

As an Atlassian Connect developer, you must be responsible with the data entrusted to you by your customers. Atlassian Connect developers must create and display a Data Security & Privacy Statement and include that in your Marketplace Listing. Including simple and easily described information about your service in your Data Security and Privacy Statement will reassure your customers that you are acting as a professional and trustworthy provider of hosted software.

For reference, here are Atlassian's relevant policies:

Your policy may cover the following areas:

  • Data storage and location: Explain where your application will store data from your customers and where (physically) the data will be stored. It is your responsibility to comply with all local laws.
  • Backups: Explain your backup and recovery policy for customer data. You should publish your RTO and RPO targets, and explain if and when data is moved offsite. For cloud products, backups are made daily, and stored offsite on a weekly basis.
  • Account removal and data retention: Explain how a customer can close an account and completely remove their data from your service. For Atlassian cloud applications, customer data is retained for 15 days after account removal and then unrecoverably deleted after that time.
  • Data portability: Explain if and how a customer can extract their data from your service. For example, is it possible to move from your hosted service to a downloaded version of your software?
  • Application and infrastructure security: Explain what security measures you've taken in your application and infrastructure, for example on-disk data encryption or encrypted data transfer between servers.
  • Security disclosure: Explain how and under what circumstances you would notify customers about security breaches or vulnerabilities. You should also indicate how a user or security researcher should disclose a vulnerability found in your add-on to you. (Example from Atlassian: How to report a security issue)
  • Privacy: Explain that data collected during the use of your add-on will not be shared with third parties except as required by law.

How can add-ons change code safely?

Atlassian Connect is designed to decouple add-ons from the Atlassian application. Because you are running a remote service, you can change your underlying application at any time and as often as you find necessary. The only part of your application controlled by Atlassian is your add-on descriptor file, which is stored on the Atlassian Marketplace. You can change your descriptor by deploying a new version. The Marketplace will recognize the new descriptor and it will automatically be pushed to all your customers. By versioning your API, paying attention to the versioning and careful deprecation of the Atlassian application's API, you can move forward with more confidence.

See Upgrades for more details.

What does this mean for a new add-on developer?

We expect that new developers - both commercial and internal - can start with Atlassian Connect. They will use sandboxed UIs and remote APIs, which provide much more stability over time. If you are integrating Atlassian tools with another service or remote application, this is the ideal path for development.

If a developer wants to create an add-on that's more deeply intertwined with the target application and does not intend to ever make it available to cloud customers, then Plugins 2 add-ons will continue to be supported for development.

Atlassian Connect for JIRA Server and Confluence Server

Please see: Atlassian Connect for JIRA Server and Confluence Server

FAQS for P2 developers

Please see: FAQS for P2 developers