Calling a remote backend from a Forge frontend

You can call your remote backend from your frontend (Custom UI and UI Kit) using the @forge/bridge package. The diagram below illustrates the data flow.

Setting up the manifest

To call a remote backend from a frontend, you need to configure three things in your manifest.yml:

1. A remotes entry — defines the external backend your app communicates with (its base URL and optional operations).
2. An endpoint module — links a remote to your app and configures authentication (OAuth tokens).
3. A UI module with resolver.endpoint — connects your frontend module (such as a macro or issue panel) to the endpoint.

These three pieces work together in a chain: UI module → endpoint → remote.

Step 1: Define the remote

Add a remotes entry with a unique key and the baseUrl of your backend. The baseUrl is the URL prefix that gets prepended to the path you specify in your frontend invokeRemote or requestRemote calls.

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remotes:
  - key: my-remote
    baseUrl: https://my-backend.example.com

Step 2: Define the endpoint

Add an endpoint module that references your remote by its key. The endpoint is where you configure authentication tokens. If you want Forge to include OAuth tokens in the request to your remote, enable them in the auth property.

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modules:
  endpoint:
    - key: my-remote-endpoint
      remote: my-remote  # Must match the key in your remotes entry
      auth:
        appUserToken:
          enabled: true
        appSystemToken:
          enabled: true

Step 3: Connect the UI module to the endpoint

In your UI module (such as a macro, jira:issuePanel, or confluence:globalPage), set the resolver.endpoint property to the key of your endpoint.

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modules:
  jira:issuePanel:
    - key: my-issue-panel
      resource: main
      resolver:
        endpoint: my-remote-endpoint  # Must match the key in your endpoint entry
      title: My Remote Panel

Complete manifest example

Here's a complete manifest that connects a Confluence macro to a remote backend with both user and system tokens enabled:

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modules:
  macro:
    - key: my-remote-macro
      resource: main
      resolver:
        endpoint: my-remote-endpoint  # References the endpoint below
      title: My Remote Macro
      description: A macro that calls a remote backend.
  endpoint:
    - key: my-remote-endpoint
      remote: my-remote  # References the remote below
      auth:
        appUserToken:
          enabled: true
        appSystemToken:
          enabled: true
resources:
  - key: main
    path: static/hello-remote-world/build
permissions:
  scopes:
    - read:app-system-token
    - read:app-user-token
    - read:confluence-content.summary  # Include scopes for the Atlassian APIs you intend to call
remotes:
  - key: my-remote
    baseUrl: https://my-backend.example.com

Calling your remote from a Forge frontend

To call your remote from a Forge frontend, use one of these APIs from the @forge/bridge package:

• invokeRemote — Requests are proxied through the Forge platform. Forge validates the request, includes OAuth tokens (if configured), and tracks invocations in metrics.
• requestRemote — Requests go directly from the UI client to your remote, bypassing the Forge platform. This is designed for latency-sensitive apps but has limitations. For example, OAuth tokens are omitted. A Forge Invocation Token (FIT) is still included for request verification.

When to use each API

Use invokeRemote when you need OAuth tokens to call Atlassian APIs from your remote. Use requestRemote when you need lower latency and don't need OAuth tokens.

Example using invokeRemote

invokeRemote takes a single options object with path, method, optional headers, and optional body.

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import { invokeRemote } from '@forge/bridge';

try {
  const res = await invokeRemote({
    path: '/tasks/?team=Forge',
    method: 'GET',
  });
  console.log(`Tasks: ${JSON.stringify(res.body)}`);
} catch (error) {
  console.error('Remote invocation failed:', error.message);
}

Example using requestRemote

requestRemote takes the remote key as the first argument (matching the key in your remotes entry) and an options object. It returns a standard Response object.

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import { requestRemote } from '@forge/bridge';

const response = await requestRemote('my-remote', {
  path: '/tasks/?team=Forge',
  method: 'GET',
});

if (!response.ok) {
  throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
}

const data = await response.json();
console.log(`Tasks: ${JSON.stringify(data)}`);

Verifying requests

Your remote backend must verify that requests originated from Atlassian and are intended for your app. For more information, see Verifying remote requests.

Atlassian app modules

To see a complete list of modules you can use to call your remote, including payload and context properties, see the Forge modules for each Atlassian app:

• Jira modules
• Jira Service Management modules
• Confluence modules
• Compass modules
• Bitbucket modules

Next steps

Now that you've set up your manifest and can call your remote, you can:

• Call Atlassian app APIs (from your remote)
• Access Forge storage (from your remote)
• View the working reference app code