How to update your add-on

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This document and referenced resources are here to help reduce the time and effort needed on your part to make your app compatible with Bitbucket 4.0.

Version numbering for Stash (3.x and earlier) has been left intact; for example, if you're running Stash 3.10.0, you can use app versions listed as compatible with Bitbucket Server 3.10.0.


About the changes

Bitbucket Server 4.0 is the biggest API release Stash has ever seen. The decision to break so many apps with this release was not taken lightly. As developers, we understand the friction such changes can cause. However, we strongly believe this short term pain will be for long term gain with a clearer, cleaner, more consistent and more robust API in 4.0 and beyond. We are making quite a few large changes in this release in the interest of consistency, and with the strong hope that we will not need to make such a drastic change again anytime soon.

On this page

Backend changes

One of the exciting changes with this release is the new JDK minimum requirement of 1.8, that allows you to use a wide new array of language features in your app code. While Stash 3.x supports running on Java 8; Bitbucket Server supports compiling to Java 8.

The largest change was we renamed our package namespace from com.atlassian.stash to com.atlassian.bitbucket, but this should also be a simple change when you update your plugins. The Bitbucket Server team updated over 100 apps internally and the process was quite straightforward using refactoring support in modern IDEs. 

In addition to the repackage, we've also removed all @deprecated APIs from the codebase. Most of these had existing replacement methods in place, but some were removed without replacement. You can consult the latest Stash 3.x documentation for details on what replacement method to use if the new method is not obvious.

Finally, several of our bundled plugins were exporting API (our com.atlassian.stash:stash-build-integration plugin, for example), which meant plugin developers added dependencies on that jar. However, only a small portion of the code in that jar was exported. This was a frequent source of plugin issues because plugin developers attempted to use our internal classes. In 4.0, the exported APIs from all of our plugins have been extracted into separate modules (like with the stash-build-integration example, the build API is now in com.atlassian.bitbucket.server:bitbucket-build-api). These new API modules contain all of the code that is published for plugin developers to use.

Front-end changes

Our Javascript and Soy API modules have moved to the Bitbucket namespace.  AMD Modules, previously found under stash/api/*, are now bitbucket/*. Non-API modules will be under bitbucket/internal.  For example, stash/api/util/navbuilder is now bitbucket/util/navbuilder.  For API Soy templates, these are now also under the bitbucket namespace - Stash.template.branchSelector is now bitbucket.component.branchSelector.

Another front-end change is that most keys – including Form Fragments, Web Panel & Section locations, and Web Resource apps – have been moved to Bitbucket namespaces. There is more detail on these changes below.

Any methods or modules that were deprecated for removal in 4.0 have been removed.

How to update your app

The app key of your plugin must not change

The value of your app key, as defined within the atlassian-plugin.xml file, must not change. This is often defined in terms of the maven groupId and artefactId of your plugin. This value is used by Atlassian Marketplace and other parts of Bitbucket Server as a unique identifier for your plugin. Changing this value could lead to data loss, and will cause you to lose review and download history on the Atlassian Marketplace.

For example, you would replace the variables below with the values for groupId and artifactId in your pom.xml. 

<atlassian-plugin key="${project.groupId}.${project.artifactId}" ...


  1. Update your pom.xml file to reference the latest version of the Bitbucket Server 4.0. You will need to update version properties for both Bitbucket Server and AMPS, which currently requires a pre-release version to build Bitbucket Server plugins, as well as dependencies on any API artifacts.

    <dependency>
        <groupId>com.atlassian.bitbucket.server</groupId>
        <artifactId>bitbucket-api</artifactId>
        <version>${bitbucket.version}</version>
        <scope>provided</scope>
    </dependency>
    ...
    <properties>
       <bitbucket.version>4.0.0</bitbucket.version>
       <bitbucket.data.version>${bitbucket.version}</bitbucket.data.version>
       <amps.version>6.1.0</amps.version>
       ...
    </properties>
  2. In your pom.xml you will also need to change or add configuration for the bitbucket-maven-plugin (depending on whether you are supporting both Stash and Bitbucket Server, or just Bitbucket Server):

    <build>
        <plugins>
            <plugin>
                <groupId>com.atlassian.maven.plugins</groupId>
                <artifactId>bitbucket-maven-plugin</artifactId>
                <version>${amps.version}</version>
                <extensions>true</extensions>
                <configuration>
                    <products>
                        <product>
                            <id>bitbucket</id>
                            <instanceId>bitbucket</instanceId>
                            <version>${bitbucket.version}</version>
                            <dataVersion>${bitbucket.data.version}</dataVersion>
                        </product>
                    </products>
                </configuration>
            </plugin>
        </plugins>
    </build>
  3. Update your app name and description in pom.xml to reference "Bitbucket" instead of "Stash". For example:

    <name>Bitbucket Server - Realtime Editor</name>
    <description>Provides support for real-time collaborative editing.</description>
  4. Optional: If your plugin will only support Bitbucket Server, remove any Stash dependencies

    <groupId>com.atlassian.stash</groupId>
    <artifactId>stash-api</artifactId>
  5. For a class with compilation errors, first remove any com.atlassian.stash import statements that are red.
  6. Use the suggested imports your IDE provides, and/or consult the API Changelog and table below.
  7. Open the atlassian-plugin.xml inside your IDE
    1. Rename any com.atlassian.stash imported components to com.atlassian.bitbucket (or equivalent as mentioned in the API changelog)
    2. If you are using any web-resources with a dependency on com.atlassian.stash.stash-web-api, change them to com.atlassian.bitbucket.server.bitbucket-web-api
    3. Check for any other changes in your resources required due to renamed frontend API
  8. If your app has JavaScript which uses the Stash JavaScript API, change your AMD module imports from stash/api/* to bitbucket/*

  9. Test the app starts in Bitbucket Server using:

    mvn clean bitbucket:debug

Other helpful resources

Outline of API changes

Java packages

Stash 3.x
com.atlassian.stash

Bitbucket 4.x
com.atlassian.bitbucket

App Key (in atlassian-plugin.xml)

Stash 3.x

<atlassian-plugin key="${project.groupId}.${project.artifactId}" ...>

or

<atlassian-plugin key="com.myorg.stash.awesome-plugin" ...>


Bitbucket 4.x

<atlassian-plugin key="com.myorg.stash.awesome-plugin" ...>

(must not change in either case)

<atlassian-plugin key="com.myorg.stash.awesome-plugin" ...>


Maven plugin

Stash 3.x

<artifactId>maven-stash-plugin</artifactId>
e.g.
<plugin>
 <groupId>com.atlassian.maven.plugins</groupId>
 <artifactId>maven-stash-plugin</artifactId>
 <version>${amps.version}</version>
 <extensions>true</extensions>
 <configuration>
   <products>
    <product>
     <id>stash</id>
     <instanceId>stash</instanceId>
     <version>${stash.version}</version>
     <dataVersion>${stash.data.version}</dataVersion>
    </product>  
   </products>
  </configuration>
</plugin>


Bitbucket 4.x

<artifactId>bitbucket-maven-plugin</artifactId>
e.g.
<plugin>
 <groupId>com.atlassian.maven.plugins</groupId>
 <artifactId>bitbucket-maven-plugin</artifactId>
 <version>6.1.0</version>
 <extensions>true</extensions>
 <configuration>
  <products>
   <product>
    <id>bitbucket</id>
    <instanceId>bitbucket</instanceId>
    <version>${bitbucket.version}</version>
    <dataVersion>${bitbucket.version}</dataVersion>
   </product>  
  </products>
 </configuration>
</plugin>


Exceptions

Stash 3.x

com.atlassian.stash.exception.ServiceException 

Bitbucket 4.x

com.atlassian.bitbucket.ServiceException

The monolithic com.atlassian.stash.exception package has been removed. The exceptions it previously contained have been moved into the module they belong to. For example, NoSuchRepositoryException is now in the com.atlassian.bitbucket.repository package.

Java User model

Stash 3.x

com.atlassian.stash.user.StashUser 

Bitbucket 4.x

com.atlassian.bitbucket.user.ApplicationUser

Java Authentication Context

Stash 3.x

com.atlassian.stash.user.StashAuthenticationContext

Bitbucket 4.x

com.atlassian.bitbucket.auth.AuthenticationContext

Java Event model

Stash 3.x

com.atlassian.stash.event.StashEvent

Bitbucket 4.x

com.atlassian.bitbucket.event.ApplicationEvent

The monolithic com.atlassian.stash.event package has been broken down and the events it formerly contained have been moved into subpackages. For example, RepositoryCreatedEvent is now in com.atlassian.bitbucket.event.repository

Java model

Stash 3.x

Changeset, DetailedChangeset

Bitbucket 4.x

Commit, Changeset

We've standardized our naming:

  • A "commit" is an event where the contents of a repository are changed
  • A "changeset" is the set of changes that exist between two commits
  • The codebase no longer uses the words "changeset" and "commit" interchangeably; each word refers to a specific concept

All classes and interfaces with Changeset in the name have replaced with an equivalent class or interface with Commit in the name instead.

What was formerly a DetailedChangeset, because the object that should have been called a Commit had already stolen the Changeset name, is now called a Changeset

Java Pull Request Participant model

Stash 3.x

PullRequestParticipantSearchRequest

PullRequestParticipantSearchCriteria

Bitbucket 4.x

PullRequestParticipantRequest

PullRequestParticipantCriteria

Soy templates

Stash 3.x

changeset

Bitbucket 4.x

commit

Application constants

Stash 3.x

com.atlassian.stash.Product

  • #NAME="Stash"
  • #DATA_CENTER_NAME="Stash Data Center"
  • #FULL_NAME="Atlassian Stash"

Bitbucket 4.x

com.atlassian.bitbucket.Product

  • #NAME="Bitbucket"
  • #DATA_CENTER_NAME="Bitbucket Data Center"
  • #FULL_NAME="Atlassian Bitbucket"

License changes

Stash 3.x

com.atlassian.extras.api.stash.StashLicense

Bitbucket 4.x

com.atlassian.extras.api.bitbucket.BitbucketServerLicense

Add this dependency to your POM:

<dependency>
     <groupId>com.atlassian.extras</groupId>
     <artifactId>atlassian-extras-api</artifactId>
     <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>


Javascript API modules

Stash 3.x

stash/api/* (eg. stash/api/util/server)

Bitbucket 4.x

bitbucket/* (eg. bitbucket/util/server)

Soy API namespaces

Stash 3.x

stash.template.branchSelector

Bitbucket 4.x

bitbucket.component.branchSelector

Web API plugin module

Stash 3.x

com.atlassian.stash.stash-web-api

Bitbucket 4.x

com.atlassian.bitbucket.server.bitbucket-web-api

Note there have been a number of new API resources added, which allow you to better express your web resources dependencies. Please see the updated Web UI API documentationfor more detail about these resources.

Core web plugin module

Stash 3.x

com.atlassian.stash.stash-web-plugin

Bitbucket 4.x

This core plugin contains internal modules only and should not be referenced by other plugins.

Web Panel & Section Locations

Stash 3.x

stash.*

e.g. stash.branch.list.actions.dropdown

Bitbucket 4.x

bitbucket.*

e.g. bitbucket.branch.list.actions.dropdown

Web Resource Contexts

Stash 3.x

stash.*

e.g. stash.layout.pullRequest

Bitbucket 4.x

bitbucket.* 

bitbucket.layout.pullRequest

Plugin decorators

Stash 3.x

stash.*
e.g. stash.repository.settings

Bitbucket 4.x

bitbucket.* 

bitbucket.repository.settings

See plugin decorators documentation

Web Resource Modules

Stash 3.x

<stash-resource/>

Bitbucket 4.x

<client-resource/>

Note that client-resource will expand <directory/> elements in-place, where stash-resource expanded them at the end.

Web Item icons (in atlassian-plugin.xml)

Stash 3.x

<param name="stashIconClass">...</param>

Bitbucket 4.x

<param name="iconClass">...</param>

Web I18n

Stash 3.x

stash_i18n

Bitbucket 4.x

getTextgetTextAsHtml

stash_i18n should not be used; getText is a cross-product replacement that doesn't accept a default translation parameter. See Writing Soy Templates for usage details. Note that these templates for Confluence work for Bitbucket too.

Form Fragments

Stash 3.x

stash.*

Bitbucket 4.x

bitbucket.*

Javascript Events

Stash 3.x

stash.*

Bitbucket 4.x

bitbucket.internal.*

See below for additional information about JavaScript events.

I18n keys

Stash 3.x

stash.*

Bitbucket 4.x

bitbucket.*

Java API - Guava

Stash 3.x

com.google.common.base.Function/Predicate

Guava 11 was available to plugins

Bitbucket 4.x

Java 8 Lambdas

Guava types like Function or Predicate are no longer used in API type signatures, use the corresponding types from java.util.function instead

Guava 18 is available to plugins

Servlet Dependency

Stash 3.x

<groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
<artifactId>servlet-api</artifactId>
<scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>

Bitbucket 4.x

<groupId>javax.servlet</groupId>
<artifactId>javax.servlet-api</artifactId>
<scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>

The artifactId has changed to javax.servlet-api from servlet-api.

Branch permissions

Stash 3.x

canDelete, canWrite
search

Bitbucket 4.x

hasPermission

Checking for access to a Ref is now done by calling the RefRestrictionService's hasPermission method.

The search method for AccessGrants has been removed. AccessGrants can now be accessed by calling getAccessGrants on a RefRestriction.

Exported 3rd party libraries

Stash 3.x

Apache HTTP Client 3.x is no longer exported by the host app.

Bitbucket 4.x

Use HTTP Client 4.x instead.

<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apache.httpcomponents</groupId>
    <artifactId>httpclient</artifactId>
    <scope>provided</scope>
</dependency>


SAL Scheduler deprecated

Stash 3.x

SAL 2.0

com.atlassian.sal.api.scheduling.PluginScheduler

(Since Bitbucket 4.0.0 will throw an IllegalArgumentException if any job data passed to

scheduleJob does not implement java.io.Serializable)

Bitbucket 4.x

SAL 3.0 (see SAL 3.0 upgrade guide for further details)

Use com.atlassian.scheduler.SchedulerService provided by:

<groupId>com.atlassian.scheduler</groupId>
<artifactId>atlassian-scheduler</artifactId>

instead.

Outline of changes made to the REST API

The payloads for some of the REST resources have changed. All URLs are the same except that the default context path is now /bitbucket instead of /stash.

Some REST model classes, like RestStashUser, had their "self" links defined two ways:

  "link": {
    "url": "/users/admin",
    "rel": "self"
  },
  "links": {
    "self": [
      {
        "href": "http://localhost:7990/stash/users/admin"
      }
    ]
  }

The "link" attribute is from 1.0 and was deprecated in 2.11. From 4.0, the "link" attribute has been removed. The "self" entry in the "links" map remains.

Changeset to Commit

Ref output, such as branches and tags, had a "latestChangeset" attribute. The following output is from the /projects/KEY/repos/slug/branches resource:

{
  "size": 1,
  "limit": 1,
  "isLastPage": false,
  "values": [
    {
      "id": "refs/heads/search/STASHDEV-8813-search",
      "displayId": "search/STASHDEV-8813-search",
      "latestChangeset": "de307ea7b6abfa1aad8de6771d79da0a9a7fd3cb",
      "latestCommit": "de307ea7b6abfa1aad8de6771d79da0a9a7fd3cb",
      "isDefault": false
    }
  ],
  "start": 0,
  "nextPageStart": 1
}

"latestCommit" attribute was added in 3.7 and "latestChangeset" was deprecated. It has been removed in 4.0. This also applies to pull request refs.

AttributeMap to PropertyMap

Some REST objects, most notably RestPullRequest, had an "attributes" attribute which allowed plugin developers to attach arbitrary data. However, the model for this was very restrictive, being defined in AttributeMap as Map<String, Set<String>>. In 3.2, PropertyMap, defined as Map<String, Object>, was added to replace the attribute support. However, for performance and API consistency reasons, most existing attributes were not converted over. In 4.0, the changeover is now complete.

The following JSON snippets show the old and new layouts for pull request properties.

Stash
  "attributes": {
    "resolvedTaskCount": [
      "0"
    ],
    "openTaskCount": [
      "1"
    ],
    "commentCount": [
      "2"
    ]
  }
Bitbucket Server
  "properties": {
    "commentCount": 2,
    "openTaskCount": 1,
    "resolvedTaskCount": 0
  }

As you can see, the new "properties" map allows its numeric entries to be numeric, resulting in much more readable, useful output.

PullRequestOrder default order

The getDefaultOrderForState(PullRequestState state) method in PullRequestOrder has been replaced with
getDefaultOrder(), which always returns PullRequestOrder.NEWEST.

XSRF Protection enabled by default

To prevent a malicious hacker submitting a form from a foreign site to a stash instance, XSRF protection has now been enabled by default on all REST resources which do not accept the "application/json" Content-Type. 

Any client POSTing to these resources will need to add a special header to disable this check.

Header name: X-Atlassian-Token

Header value: no-check

For example, to set a Project Avatar via curl, the following command can be used:

$ curl -X POST -u username:password -H "X-Atlassian-Token: no-check" http://localhost:8080/rest/api/1.0/projects/TEST/avatar.png -F avatar=@avatar.png 
The  -H "X-Atlassian-Token: no-check"parameter was not needed in 3.x, however is now needed since 4.0


For your own REST resources which do not accept "application/json" (e.g. multipart/form-data, plain/text etc), you can opt-out of XSRF protection by using the @XsrfProtectionExcluded annotation.

If you use the excluded annotation, it should be because your endpoint has some other type of protection against XSRF/CSRF attacks.

Javascript Events

Since Stash 3.0 we have provided a Javascript API module for creating and consuming events (stash/api/util/events, now bitbucket/util/events), however we haven't documented what events Bitbucket (Stash) emits as part of our Developer Docs. Which events should be used and which should be considered internal implementation details were subject to change.  

We are actively looking at which events we should consider part of the API. We will document usage and guarantee the stability for events that are part of the API for a major version. We would like to hear any feedback on which events you make use of in your apps, and why, to aid in our consideration of what to consider for the JS Events API.

App update strategies

There are two primary strategies we are suggesting to update your app, and here we explain how to implement each and how to provide support for your app going forward.

Hard break

The simplest way forward is to branch your app and only release Bitbucket Server 4.0 compatible versions in the future. Replace the old com.atlassian.stash dependency with the new com.atlassian.bitbucket one, fix the resulting compilation errors, and create a new listing on Marketplace.

Backwards/forwards compatibility

The best way to achieve this is to maintain a branch of the "Stash" version of your plugin, and merge changes onto a master branch which contains the "Bitbucket server" version.

Unfortunately, unless you have written a pure cross-product app, building two versions from the same branch of code is in general not worth the overhead.

Rename checklist

  1. Beware of changing any Strings which are used as keys for accessing data your app may store. e.g. namespaces used with PluginSettingsFactory.createSettingsForKey or prefixes used with ApplicationPropertyService.getPluginProperty
  2. We strongly recommend that you do not change your app key; if you do, customers won't be able to see the updated version of your app in their Universal Plugin Manager. The default atlassian-plugin.xml generated by AMPS uses  key="${project.groupId}.${project.artifactId}". Changing your Maven groupId or artifactId this will change your app key.
  3. If you are using ActiveObjects, you are strongly encouraged to set the namespace attribute to ensure the unique hash in your table names does not change. Otherwise anyone who has installed your plugin will "lose" all of their data when your plugin starts using new tables!
    For example, here's how we defined the <ao/> module in our ref sync plugin: 

    <ao key="ao" namespace="com.atlassian.stash.stash-repository-ref-sync">
Last modified on Feb 26, 2023

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