What You Need to Know About Atlassian Forge and How It Helps You Build Custom Jira Solutions

Mariia_Domska_SaaSJet

What Is Forge, and Why Does It Matter?

Atlassian Forge is a cloud platform that lets you build apps for Jira, Confluence, and other Atlassian products. It is replacing Connect and is quickly becoming the main way to create secure, scalable extensions in Atlassian Cloud. Forge works within Atlassian’s own infrastructure and offers serverless functions, event triggers, secure APIs, and UI kits. These features make it easier to develop and deploy apps.

How Forge Benefits Both Users and Vendors

Here, we highlight the top benefits of Forge for Jira users and app developers and explain why it works well for everyone.

For Jira Users:

• Faster, more stable apps—running directly in Atlassian Cloud

• Clearer permission scopes—users decide what access to allow

• UI feels native to Jira—clean and consistent

For Vendors and Developers:

• No need to manage servers or DevOps pipelines

• Easier handling of permissions, events, and UI elements

• Access to new APIs is available only on Forge

• Share apps instantly using ShareLink.

Forge vs. Connect: Key Differences

To better understand what’s new with Forge, here’s a simple comparison table outlining what makes Forge different from the older Connect framework.

 

Feature	Forge	Connect
UI Rendering	UI Kit or Custom UI (iframe)	iframe-based UI
Server Infrastructure	Serverless (Cloud Functions)	Requires its own infrastructure
Event Handling	Triggers, guaranteed delivery	Webhooks (possible failures, needs server)
Permissions	Granular scopes, unlicensed access	Global permissions
Data Storage	Forge Storage, SQL	Own database
App Distribution	Sharelink, Marketplace	Marketplace or manual UPM upload
New API Features	Forge-only (e.g., workflow, issue glance)	Not available in Connect

Common Problems When Building or Using Forge Apps

With Atlassian moving into the next phase of its Forge transition, we’ve seen more questions about Forge apps in the Atlassian Community. To help, we reviewed the main issues from the Developer Community and Marketplace and found some common problems and solutions. The table below lists the main issues, who they affect, and how to fix them.

 

Problem	Who Faces It	Solution/Explanation
App doesn't install via app manager	User	Use the installation URL in the browser, not UPM
App is installed, but nothing shows in UI	User	Check where the app renders (issue panel, Apps menu, etc.)
Triggers not firing in private Jira projects	Developer	The app user lacks access—add it to project roles
API calls return 403 or 401	Developer	Missing permission scopes—update manifest.yml
External API requests are blocked	Developer	Add the domain to permissions.external.fetch.backend
App asks each user to click “Allow Access.”	User	The user must grant ‘Allow access’ (update)
The app doesn’t work on other Jira sites	Vendor or customer	The app must be distributed, and the target site must have Jira or Confluence enabled
Storage limit exceeded	Developer	Use Forge SQL or reduce KVS writes (they're priced higher)

Forge Pricing Explained: What Users Should Know

A common question is whether you need to pay to use a Forge app. All apps offer a generous free tier. If usage goes beyond that, the owner—not the end user—covers the cost. Here’s a simple overview of Forge pricing starting January 2026.

 

Category	What's Measured	Free Monthly Allowance	Price Beyond Free Tier
Compute	Function execution time	100,000 GB-seconds	$0.000025/GB-second ​
KVS Read	Reading from Forge Storage	0.1 GB	$0.055/GB ​
KVS Write	Writing to Forge Storage	0.1 GB	$1.09/GB ​
Logs	App log output	1 GB	$1.005/GB ​
SQL Compute	SQL execution time	1 hour	$0.143/hour ​
SQL Requests	Number of SQL queries	100,000	$1.929/million requests ​
SQL Storage	Stored SQL data	730 GB-hours	$0.00076850/GB-hour

To view the cost dashboard, go to Usage and costs in the Developer Console.

How to Build a Forge App: Code vs. No-Code

Forge lets you build custom apps the traditional way (with code). But you also have the alternative developed by SaaSJet: the AI Apps Builter for Jira, an AI-powered app. Here’s how they compare.

Building with Code:

• Write JavaScript for UI, logic, and API calls

• Use Forge CLI and edit manifest.yml

• Requires developer skills

• Full control and flexibility

Building with AI Apps Builter:

• Just describe your app in a natural language prompt (AI-powered)

• AI generates the code for you.

• No JavaScript or API knowledge needed.

• Ideal for Jira admins, PMs, or business analysts—the efficiency leaders without technical skills.

You can also download the generated code to share it with a developer or edit it yourself.

What Kind of Jira Solutions Can You Build with Forge?

Forge enables you to build a wide range of solutions—from lightweight workflow automations to complex enterprise-grade tools. Here's what you can create:

• Custom Workflow Enhancements: Add buttons, validations, or triggers on issue transitions.

• UI Extensions: Display contextual panels, buttons, or modals on issues, boards, or project pages.

• Automation and Event Handling: Automatically react to issue updates, comment creations, or project changes using Forge Triggers.

• Data Enrichment: Pull in data from external systems (CRMs, databases) and display it inside Jira issues.

• Approval Workflows: Implement logic-based approval steps with visibility into status and history.

• Integrations: Connect Jira with internal tools or third-party apps securely using external fetch capabilities.

• Reporting and Dashboards: Build custom reporting interfaces using Custom UI and Forge storage or SQL.

• Request Portals: Create interactive forms and workflows for internal teams or clients directly inside Jira.

Whether you're solving a narrow team need or rolling out a cross-organization solution, Forge gives you the control and performance to do both.

Real Examples Built with AI Apps Builder

Thanks to the AI Apps Builder, many Jira users are already building powerful custom solutions without writing any code. Here are a few examples:

Worklog Summary Report

• What it does: Generates a detailed time-tracking report by user, issue, and day.

• Features: Table with columns like User Name, Project Name, Worklog Summary, Issue Key, Total Hours, and a day-by-day grid.

• Use case: See who worked on what and how long it took—with full detail and quick links to issues.

• Value: Replaces multiple exports or dashboards with one clear, aggregated view.

Automated Issue Assignment System

• What it does: Automates the assignment of issues based on rules, availability, and vacation status.

• Modules:

  • Manual Assignment Page with JQL-based filters

  • Rule-based auto-assignment by project/type/days

  • Vacation tracking and backup assignee logic

  • Dashboard with metrics, filters, and audit logs

• Use case: Removes the manual work of assigning tasks and ensures fairness and team balance.

• Value: Automates a high-friction process that usually requires coordination and time.

Issue Status Duration Tracker

• What it does: Analyzes how much time issues spend in each status.

• Modules:

  • Global JQL-based report with issue insights

  • Issue context panel showing status history and custom metrics

  • Custom settings for working hours and holidays

• Use case: Helps track SLA compliance, bottlenecks, and process health.

• Value: Provides data-driven insights into execution speed and delays, respecting work calendars.

These examples show how everyday Jira users can build custom solutions tailored to their exact needs—no developers required.

Bottom Line: We are now in Phase Two of the Forge transition.

Starting September 17, 2025, the Atlassian Marketplace will stop accepting new Connect apps. From that point, only Forge apps can be published. This means all vendors need to begin or continue moving to Forge. Jira users can expect apps to be more secure, faster, and better integrated in the future.

I hope this article has explained what Forge is, how it works, why it is an important upgrade for both vendors who build apps and teams who use them, and how it helps to build custom Jira solutions. 

Elena_Elevatic

Hi @Mariia_Domska_SaaSJet Great article! Thank you.

It really captures why Forge is such a game-changer for both users and vendors.

At Communardo Products, we’ve already started migrating our apps to Forge and are seeing firsthand the benefits. Looking forward to seeing what the future holds within the Atlassian ecosystem!