About Connect modules for Jira

Connect modules for Jira allow apps to extend the functionality of the Jira platform or a Jira application. Connect modules for Jira are commonly used to extend the user interface by adding links, panels, or pages. However, some modules can also be used to extend other parts of Jira, like permissions and workflows. Jira Service Desk and Jira Software also have their own application-specific Connect modules.

Using Connect modules for Jira

To use a Connect module for Jira, declare it in your app descriptor (under modules) with the appropriate properties. Alternatively, some modules can be registered dynamically using the REST API (see Dynamic modules for more details).

For example, the following code adds the general page module, which automatically creates a link to that page in the navigation menu.

atlassian-connect.json

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...
"modules": {
          "generalPages": [
              {
                  "key": "activity",
                  "url": "/my-general-page",
                  "name": {
                      "value": "Activity"
                  }
              }
          ]
      }
...

There are two types of modules: basic iframes that allow you to display content in different locations in Jira, and more advanced modules that let you provide advanced Jira-specific functionality.

Location-based modules

These modules provide content in a specific location in the Jira Cloud UI, as defined in your app descriptor. Within the Atlassian developer community, these module types are commonly referred to as web fragments. They include:

• Web item: displays a link or button. These can be used to target (open) other modules like pages or dialogs
• Web section: provides a location to group several web items together
• Web panel: display content in a specific context with Jira Cloud (like in a panel on the issue view page)

Available locations for location-based modules

Locations for web items, web sections, and web panels are available across Jira Cloud. Consult the linked pages below for a comprehensive list of locations available on each page in Jira Cloud. There may be more valid locations that aren't documented below, but we don't guarantee that we support them.

• Issue view
• Project sidebar
• Jira administration (global settings)
• User profile menu
• [Jira home container (global navigation)]
• Jira project settings
• Jira Software boards

New Jira issue view modules

We're currently rolling out a new issue view for Jira Cloud, with three new extension patterns: quick-add buttons, to add content to help describe issues, Issue context panels, which provide users a quick way to get information related to the issue from your app, and glances, which let users include and show contextual information from your app on issues. You can read more about these patterns on our new issue view UI locations page, and take a look at the design guidelines to see how you can increase your user base and provide a great user experience.

Pages and dialogs

Jira Cloud provides support for pages, which display content on a full screen page. There are several types of page modules. General pages are added to the Jira global sidebar, but there are other types that are available in specific locations. Review the documentation to see the various types and their uses.

Jira also provides a dialog module type that can be opened either by a user clicking a button you provide or inside your app's iframe via the Dialog JavaScript API module.

Advanced UI modules

Jira Cloud also provides specific module types for certain types of UI content that extend specific Jira features. These include:

• Issue tab panel: provides a location in the tabbed content section of the issue view (where comments on an issue are located)
• Dashboard items: allows apps to provide a gadget to display on Jira Cloud dashboards
• Project admin tab panels: provides a new page in the project settings area of Jira
• Report: provides a page type that will be rendered in Jira Cloud's project reports page
• Search request view: renders a custom view of a search result that's accessible from the Jira issue navigator
• Workflow post-functions: this module contains both a webhook for apps to be notified when an issue transition occurs, and a location to provide a configuration screen for the user

Jira Software- and Jira Service Desk-specific locations

Jira Software also provides locations for web items and web panels on boards, and Jira Service Desk provides several dedicated module types for integrating with the agent and customer views on tickets. You can learn more about these special module types in the Jira Software Cloud and Jira Service Desk Cloud modules pages.

Non-UI modules

There are also a number of Jira Cloud modules that extend other concepts in Jira, where Jira will handle the rendering of your data. The most common of these are Issue Fields, which allow your app to provide fields that will be treated as native Jira Cloud custom fields, and Webhooks, which allow your app to be notified when events take place in Jira Cloud. There are also modules related to permissions, time tracking, and keyboard shortcuts. See the full Jira Cloud modules reference to learn more