This page last changed on Mar 23, 2011 by ggaskell.

JIRA includes a plugin system that enables developers to write plugins which enhance JIRA's functionality in various ways.

On this page:

A Plugin Overview

A JIRA plugin is a single JAR containing code, a plugin descriptor (XML) and usually some Velocity template files to render HTML.

The plugin descriptor is the only mandatory part of the plugin. It must be called atlassian-plugin.xml and be located in the root of your JAR file.

Each plugin consists of one or more plugin modules. These are of different types (for example a report, or a portlet) and each has an individual XML element describing it. Each module is described below together with the XML element required for it.

Here is a sample of the descriptor with highlighted elements:

<!-- the plugin key must be unique, think of it as the 'package' of the plugin -->
<atlassian-plugin key="com.atlassian.plugin.sample" name="Sample Plugin" plugins-version="2">
    <!-- a short block describing the plugin itself -->
    <plugin-info>
        <description>This is a brief textual description of the plugin</description>
        <!-- the version of the plugin -->
        <version>1.1</version>
        <!-- details of the plugin vendor -->
        <vendor name="Atlassian Software Systems Pty Ltd" url="http://www.atlassian.com"/>
    </plugin-info>

    . . . 1 or more plugin modules . . .
</atlassian-plugin>

Each plugin has a plugin key which is unique among all plugins (eg "com.atlassian.plugin.sample"). Semantically this equates to the package of a Java class. Each module within the plugin also has a module key which is unique within the plugin (eg "myreport"). Semantically this equates to the class name of a Java class.

The plugin key + module key are combined to make the complete key of the plugin module (combining the examples above, the complete key would be "com.atlassian.plugin.sample:myreport"). Note: a : is used to separate the plugin key from the module key.

Each plugin is either of type "Plugins1" or "Plugins2". For details, please see Differences between Plugins1 and Plugins2.

JIRA Plugin Module Types

The following types of plugin modules are supported by JIRA

Module Type Since version... Documentation Description
portlet 3.0 Portlet Plugin Module Add new portlets to JIRA. Deprecated - please use Gadgets
gadget 4.0 Gadget Plugin Module Add a "Gadget" (portlet) to JIRA's dashboard
report 3.0 Report Plugin Module Add new reports to JIRA
customfield-type 3.0 Custom Field Plugin Module Add new types of fields to JIRA
customfield-searcher 3.0 Custom Field Plugin Module Add new types of field searchers to JIRA
project-tabpanel 3.0 Project Tab Panel Plugin Module Add new tabs to the Browse 'Project' screen
component-tabpanel 3.10 Component Tab Panel Plugin Module Add new tabs to the Browse 'Component' screen
version-tabpanel 3.10 Version Tab Panel Plugin Module Add new tabs to the Browse 'Version' screen
issue-tab panel 3.0 Issue Tab Panel Plugin Module Add new tabs to the View Issue screen
issue-operation 3.4 Issue Operations Plugin Module Add new operations to the View Issue screen
resource 3.5 Downloadable Plugin Resources Downloadable resources from within any plugin
web-resource 3.7 Web Resource Plugin Module Downloadable resources from within any plugin
servlet 3.5 Servlet Plugin Module A standard Java servlet deployed within a JIRA plugin
servlet-context-listener 4.0 Servlet Context Listener Plugin Module Deploy Java Servlet context listeners as a part of your plugin
servlet-context-param 4.0 Servlet Context Parameter Plugin Module Set parameters in the Java Servlet context shared by your plugin's servlets, filters, and listeners
servlet-filter 4.0 Servlet Filter Plugin Module Deploy Java Servlet filters as a part of your plugin
webwork 3.1 Webwork plugin module XWork/Webwork actions and views bundled with a plugin, enabling user interaction
component 3.0 Component Plugin Module Adds components to JIRA's component system
component-import 4.0 Component Import Plugin Module Accesses Java components shared by other plugins
module-type 4.0 Module Type Plugin Module Dynamically adds new plugin module types to the plugin framework
rest 4.0 REST Plugin Module Type Exposes services and data entities as REST APIs
rpc-soap 3.0 RPC Endpoint Plugin Module Deploys a SOAP service within JIRA
rpc-xmlrpc 3.0 RPC Endpoint Plugin Module Deploys an XML-RPC service within JIRA
jqlfunction 4.0 JQL Function Plugin Module Adds a new function to JIRA's Advanced Search (JQL)
search-request-view 3.7 Search Request View Plugin Module Add a new view in the Issue Navigator
user-format 3.13 User Format Plugin Module Implements custom behaviours for user details.
workflow-condition 3.0 Workflow Plugin Modules Add new conditions to the JIRA workflow
workflow-validator 3.0 Workflow Plugin Modules Add new validations to the JIRA workflow
workflow-function 3.0 Workflow Plugin Modules Add new post functions to the JIRA workflow
web-item 3.7 Web Fragments Add new links into the JIRA web interface
web-section 3.7 Web Fragments Add new tabs/sections into the JIRA web interface

Built-in JIRA system plugins

A number of functions and areas within JIRA 3 are shipped as built in plugins. These can also be useful for plugin developers who want to know more about how to create their own plugins, as they showcase the functionality that can be built.

The system plugins are referenced from the following files (located in /WEB-INF/classes:

  • system-workflow-plugin.xml - the built in workflow conditions, validators and functions.
  • system-customfieldtypes-plugin.xml - the built in custom field types.
  • system-project-plugin.xml - the built in project tab panels (ie roadmap, change log and popular issues).
  • system-reports-plugin.xml - the built in system reports (ie time tracking and developer workload reports).
  • system-portlets-plugin.xml - all of the built in system portlets.

and in other system-*-plugin.xml files in that directory.

Setting up a Plugin Project

Please refer to How to Build an Atlassian Plugin using the Atlassian Plugin SDK to set up your development environment and create a plugin template.

Deploying a JIRA Plugin

Please see Managing JIRA's Plugins for instructions on how to deploy a JIRA plugin.


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Document generated by Confluence on Mar 27, 2011 18:52