Distribute your apps

When you’re ready to share your Forge app with users, you’ll need to enable sharing for your app in the developer console. This generates a link that you can share with users to install your app on their Atlassian site. The link also lets them uninstall your app, and update your app when you release new versions.

Use this method to share your apps for internal use, or to test your apps while we work on bringing Forge apps to the Atlassian Marketplace.

Note that for a user to install your app onto an Atlassian site, they must be the admin of a product on that site.

At any time, you can turn off sharing for your app. To see how this affects users who have already installed your app, see Stop sharing your app below.

Start sharing your app

1. Using the Forge CLI, deploy your app to the production environment.
2. In the developer console, choose the app you want to share.
3. Select Distribution in the left menu, and under 'Distribution controls', select Edit.
4. Select the Sharing option, fill in the app details, and select Save changes.

5. Select which Atlassian products you want your user to install your app on.

   Note that this affects where users can install your app. For example, if you select both Jira and Confluence, your user can only install it on sites running both Jira and Confluence. You must also tell your user to install it on both products; otherwise, it won’t work as expected.

6. Copy the installation link, and send it to your user. Remind them to keep the link somewhere safe, as they'll need it to update or uninstall the app in the future.

When your user visits the link, an installation screen appears, similar to the one below. It displays information about your app, including the permissions your app is requesting. From here, your user can choose a site and product to install your app on.

Stop sharing your app

If you want to stop sharing your app with users, you must disable sharing in the developer console.

1. In the developer console, choose the app you want to stop sharing.
2. Select Distribution in the left menu, and under 'Distribution controls', select Edit.
3. Select the Not sharing option, then select Save changes.

Your app is no longer being shared. This has the following effects:

• The installation link is disabled, preventing new users from installing your app.
• Users who have already installed your app can continue to use it. However, they can't update the app when you release new versions.

You can start sharing your app again any time.

Share an app update

When you deploy a new version of your app to the production environment that includes updated scopes, users can update your app on their site using the installation link.

1. Using the Forge CLI, deploy your app to the production environment.
2. Ask your user to select the installation link you previously sent to them.
3. Under the 'Installations' tab of the installation screen, tell your user to select Update.

If needed, you can copy the installation link from the developer console and send it to them again.