Plugin Framework Documentation

Atlassian's plugin framework allows developers to create plugins which extend the functionality of Atlassian applications such as JIRA, Confluence and others.

Almost every Atlassian application includes a version of the Atlassian Plugin Framework, however, they may not all have the same version. Please refer to the version matrix to see which version of the framework your application supports.

Table of Contents:

• Writing Atlassian Plugins
  • Creating your Plugin Descriptor
  • Plugin Module Types
  • Adding Plugin and Module Resources
  • Adding a Configuration UI for your Plugin
  • Ensuring Standard Page Decoration in your Plugin UI
  • Using Packages and Components Exposed by an Application
  • Running your Plugin in the Reference Implementation
  • OSGi, Spring and the Plugin Framework
• Embedding the Plugin Framework
  • Quick Start Guide to Embedding
  • Exposing Host Components via Spring
  • Using the Built-In Plugin Modules
  • Writing a Plugin Module Descriptor
  • License and Copyright for the Atlassian Plugin Framework
• Plugin Framework Release Notes
  • Plugin Framework 2.2.3 Release Notes
  • Plugin Framework 2.2.2 Release Notes
  • Plugin Framework 2.2.1 Release Notes
  • Plugin Framework 2.2 Release Notes
  • Plugin Framework 2.1.4 Release Notes
  • Plugin Framework 2.1.2 Release Notes
  • Plugin Framework 2.1.1 Release Notes
  • Plugin Framework 2.1 Release Notes
  • Plugin Framework 2.0.5 Release Notes
  • Plugin Framework 2.0.4 Release Notes
  • Plugin Framework 2.0.3 Release Notes
• Plugin Framework Version Matrix
• Plugin Framework Glossary
  • Bundle (Glossary Entry)
  • Complex Plugin (Glossary Entry)
  • Cross-Product Plugin (Glossary Entry)
  • Lifecycle (Glossary Entry)
  • Plugin (Glossary Entry)
  • Service (Glossary Entry)
  • Service Registry (Glossary Entry)
  • Simple Plugin (Glossary Entry)
  • Version 1 or Version 2 Plugin (Glossary Entry)
• Plugin Framework FAQ
  • Development FAQ
  • Platform FAQ
  • Troubleshooting FAQ

This documentation contains version-specific information about the Atlassian Plugin Framework 2, i.e. the plugin library which is part of the plugin development platform. The Plugin Framework is under continuous development. With each new release, we may include new plugin module types and other improvements.

This documentation will be under version control, so that at any time you can read about the components of a particular version of the Plugin Framework.

For more general and static information about writing plugins and using the new plugin development platform, please take a look at the Atlassian Developer Network.

• How to Build an Atlassian Plugin
• Development Platform for Plugin Framework 2
• Plugin Framework FAQ
• Guidelines for Atlassian REST API Design
• Atlassian Forums
• Issue Tracker
• JavaDoc

You can download the Plugin Framework documentation in PDF, HTML or XML formats.

Plugin Framework 2.2 Documentation
Plugin Framework 2.1 Documentation
Plugin Framework 2.0 Documentation

The Atlassian Plugin Framework 2 replaces the original Atlassian Plugins framework, described in the Developer Network. The new framework is based on OSGi, a dynamic module system for Java.

A plugin is a bundle of code, resources and configuration files that can be dropped into an Atlassian product to add new functionality or change the behaviour of existing features.

Every plugin is made up of one or more plugin modules. A single plugin may do many things, while a plugin module represents a single function of the plugin.

There are two versions of plugins in the Atlassian Plugin Framework 2:

• Version 1 — These may be static (deployed in WEB-INF/lib) or dynamic (via the web UI, only in Confluence) and should work the same as they did in version 1 of the Atlassian Plugin Framework. The capabilities and features available to version 1 plugins vary significantly across products.
• Version 2 — These plugins are dynamically deployed on an internal OSGi container to provide a consistent set of features and behaviours, regardless of the application the plugin is running on. Version 2 plugins have to be specifically declared as such, using the pluginsVersion="2" attribute in atlassian-plugin.xml.