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Running a python script on a confluence page

Bernd Steffens

Hi all,

I have a python script that collects data from different sources and creates a pdf file afterwards, like an evaluation. Is it possible to do this on a created confluence page? My idea was to create a macro, this macro has a button and on click this button starts the python script and the page shows the result pdf. I hope it is clear what I am trying to achieve?

All I found out so far is, that it is not possible to directly run a python script on a confluence page and I need some kind of "bridge" to do so. Unfortunately I didn't find any further information or tutorials on how to do that exactly... So my question is, if someone here in the community has done something like that before and can push me in the right direction where to start or what alternatives are possible?

Thanks in advance!

Accepted answers

Former user

Hi @Bernd Steffens,

I have a python script that collects data from different sources and creates a pdf file afterwards, like an evaluation. Is it possible to do this on a created confluence page? My idea was to create a macro, this macro has a button and on click this button starts the python script and the page shows the result pdf. I hope it is clear what I am trying to achieve?

Generally, this should be possible. There's a million ways to achieve this, each with their own benefits and disadvantages, so the hardest thing here is probably to find the way that works best in your situation.

All I found out so far is, that it is not possible to directly run a python script on a confluence page

Kind of correct. You could probably build your own Confluence P2 Plugin and use something like the Graal Polyglot API to execute your Python code on the Confluence Backend. However, this is probably not a very good idea for many different reasons. (Performance, Experimental Feature, Security, etc.) And if you're already implementing a P2 Java Plugin anyway to be able to run Python code on your Confluence Backend... you might as well just rewrite your Python code in Java, as that would probably be much less of a hassle.

I need some kind of "bridge" to do so. Unfortunately I didn't find any further information or tutorials on how to do that exactly... So my question is, if someone here in the community has done something like that before and can push me in the right direction where to start or what alternatives are possible?

The easiest of all "bridges" in your case would probably be a REST service. I would deploy your Python script somewhere in the form of a web server, so it can be invoked via a HTTP/REST call. In Confluence you could then write a macro via a P2 plugin. The macro would simply display a button, as you said, and on click, call a REST endpoint of your P2 plugin.

Since the best way to display a PDF in Confluence is probably to simply attach it to a page, the REST endpoint would fetch the PDF from your Python Script Server and attach it to the page that the button was clicked on. Finally, you could show the user the attached PDF, for example by opening the link to it in a new tab. (Of course you could also display it directly in the page in place of the button, but that's probably not quite worth the effort that would go into something like that) I've quickly drawn a pseudo diagram that hopefully makes more sense of what I'm saying.

If this sounds super complicated and you have no idea where to start, you should probably try to find a local Atlassian Solution Partner that can do this for you. Implementing stuff like this is pretty much the everyday job of a Solution Partner that does customizations.

Best regards,
Sven

DPKJ

@Bernd SteffensRunning python directly from SDK plugin is possible but it is not recommended as it voids all the security provided by JVM in Confluence.

But still here are some things you can do, for running python code on button click via confluence,

Create a macro that generates 'Button' and some Javascript to go with the Button as output, you can also add button/link at various other places like page menu, Check these SDK documentation for this,
- For making macro - https://developer.atlassian.com/server/confluence/macro-module/
- For serving JS/CSS - https://developer.atlassian.com/server/confluence/web-resource-module/
- For adding button/link to page - https://developer.atlassian.com/server/confluence/web-ui-modules/
Next on click of that button, you need to call some back-end API, for this you will need to create a custom REST endpoint, (you can pass page details to this API)
- https://developer.atlassian.com/server/confluence/rest-module/
In this REST API, you can call external python program using,
- Java ProcessBuilder - https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/ProcessBuilder.html
- Java Runtime Process - https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/Runtime.html
- You can find more options like this.
This python program must return you location of pdf file, which you can attach to page, or provide link to use for download.

But it will really nice,

if you can write replicated your python program in Java, and
You can also explore using Jython - https://www.jython.org/

Hopefully this resolves all your doubts.

All comments

Former user

Hi @Bernd Steffens,

I have a python script that collects data from different sources and creates a pdf file afterwards, like an evaluation. Is it possible to do this on a created confluence page? My idea was to create a macro, this macro has a button and on click this button starts the python script and the page shows the result pdf. I hope it is clear what I am trying to achieve?

All I found out so far is, that it is not possible to directly run a python script on a confluence page

I need some kind of "bridge" to do so. Unfortunately I didn't find any further information or tutorials on how to do that exactly... So my question is, if someone here in the community has done something like that before and can push me in the right direction where to start or what alternatives are possible?

Best regards,
Sven

DPKJ

@Bernd SteffensRunning python directly from SDK plugin is possible but it is not recommended as it voids all the security provided by JVM in Confluence.

But still here are some things you can do, for running python code on button click via confluence,

Create a macro that generates 'Button' and some Javascript to go with the Button as output, you can also add button/link at various other places like page menu, Check these SDK documentation for this,
- For making macro - https://developer.atlassian.com/server/confluence/macro-module/
- For serving JS/CSS - https://developer.atlassian.com/server/confluence/web-resource-module/
- For adding button/link to page - https://developer.atlassian.com/server/confluence/web-ui-modules/
Next on click of that button, you need to call some back-end API, for this you will need to create a custom REST endpoint, (you can pass page details to this API)
- https://developer.atlassian.com/server/confluence/rest-module/
In this REST API, you can call external python program using,
- Java ProcessBuilder - https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/ProcessBuilder.html
- Java Runtime Process - https://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/Runtime.html
- You can find more options like this.
This python program must return you location of pdf file, which you can attach to page, or provide link to use for download.

But it will really nice,

if you can write replicated your python program in Java, and
You can also explore using Jython - https://www.jython.org/

Hopefully this resolves all your doubts.

Former user

The answer by @DPKJ is pretty much the same solution as what I have suggested, except that in this case the Python code is executed on the same machine as Confluence, whereas in my example the Python code is executed on another machine. Both solutions have advantages and disadvantages, so here's a short list to help you decide what you want to do (as neither of both is just better).

Running the Python code on the same machine as Confluence and invoking it via an external process:

Requires you to have Python installed on that machine. (in most cases probably already a given)
Uses the same resources (CPU / RAM / Disk Space) as the Confluence server which could be a bad thing depending on the size of your Confluence instance.
Updating the Python script would require you to switch it out on the Confluence Server.
If you're passing some kind of parameters to the Python script and are not sanitizing them thoroughly this could quite easily become a security risk.
Probably a bit easier to implement.

I would probably do it this way if you're doing this for a smaller organization (like 100 people or less) where a hit on Confluence performance might not be as bad and "slight security risks" are not really a problem.

Running the Python code on another machine:

Requires you to maintain and pay for an extra machine. Also probably requires some network setup / configuration.
No changes to the Confluence Server (except installing a plugin) and no sharing of resources.
Updating the Python Script would require you to redeploy your Python Server. (Would be very smooth with a CI/CD pipeline)
Probably less of a security risk, since the Python code is executed on another machine. And the Python machine could also be locked down network wise, have its own authentication mechansim, etc.
Probably a bit harder to implement.

I would probably do it this way if you're doing this for an enterprise.

Best regards,
Sven

Bernd Steffens

Thank you for your answers @both of you. I read your recommendations and links you provided. At first it is a lot of information but it made me think. I try to accomplish this task as personal learning. Later on I want to "teach" my co-workers on how to achieve the desired goal. Because we will have other cases with python scripts and including them in confluence later on. So getting someone from the "outside" or using another programming language unfortunately is not an option.

That's why, my way will be creating a macro with a button which "activates" the python script. So far I have my macro and a simple button on the page with no function. Now I'm trying to figure out the "calling some back-end API" part. Is it possible for you to give further details on this? I find the atlassian documentation on the REST module and API not very helpful in my case. Or maybe there is a more understandable tutorial for connecting confluence macro via REST API with python out there, which I didn't found so far?

Thank you very much.

Former user

If you can't get much out of the documentation it might be best for you to just look at a working example. There are Marketplace Vendors that open source their apps, such as TNG with their Multivote for Confluence app. Since a vote macro is more or less just a button that makes a REST request this might be an excellent example for you to look at.

Here you can look at what they're doing in JS and here you can look at the REST implementation in the backend.

Bernd Steffens

Thank you for that hint. Seems like a small macro, but the code behind it is not so small.

Maybe I have to mention that I am relatively new to Java/Javascript/Confluence macro development. I understand that in the .js file the "look" of the macro is defined, e.g. how the voting table is constructed. I don't understand everything, but most of it. For me the more interesting part probably is in the .java file. And here it is not so clear for me anymore. Actually I don't really see the connection to the REST API. What I see there looks to me like some kind of error handling, e.g. wrong inputs, site manipulation, etc. Or am I wrong?

Former user

The really important parts are the annotations of the method:

@POST
@Produces({MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON}) @Path("/page/{pageId}/table/{tableId}/item/{itemId}")

This tells you that the method will accept HTTP POST requests, that it will be accessible via the URL specified in the Path annotation and that it will return JSON to the caller. What happens inside of the method is purely up to you (and yes, input sanitizing and error handling is usually a big part of this).

In JS you can see that they're then calling this URL with an Ajax request:

$.ajax({ type:"POST", dataType:"json", url: url, ... })

And the response of the REST call is then handled in the success handler that is passed to the ajax function.

If this is super confusing for you, you might wanna read up on some general HTTP & REST basics first. Looks like this article could be a good starting point.

Bernd Steffens

Thank you for this advice. I spoke with our admin and the final implementation will be done like you described in your second option, because of your mentioned security reasons. But for the start and understanding part, accomplishment on your first version is the goal for now. Especially regarding easier implementation which is better for learning and teaching.

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