Hi everyone,
Thank you for your continued partnership as we work through the Connect-to-Forge transition for Bitbucket Cloud. Earlier this year, we shared our initial Connect end-of-support timeline, and your feedback has played a key role in shaping the path forward. Over the past few months, we’ve reviewed your input, identified critical gaps, prioritized feature parity work, and explored migration paths to ensure you have the tools needed to transition successfully to Forge.
Connect has played a foundational role in the growth of Atlassian’s cloud ecosystem, enabling partners to build powerful integrations at a time when the platform was still taking shape. Since then, both the Atlassian platform and the needs of our customers have evolved. Forge reflects this evolution.
Forge is designed to help developers build the next generation of cloud use cases with a simpler development experience, stronger security, and deeper native integration with Atlassian products. It also unlocks new opportunities for DevOps automation. By leveraging capabilities built directly into Bitbucket Cloud, partners can build richer automations and workflows that help transform Bitbucket Cloud into a more robust DevOps automation platform, as outlined here.
This update marks the beginning of the official end-of-support timeline for Connect apps in Bitbucket Cloud. With key milestones approaching, now is a good time to begin exploring and building on Forge
What this unlocks
Extensibility remains a core pillar of our product strategy. By concentrating our investment in Forge, we are creating a more secure, scalable, and future-proof extensibility platform for every partner. This focus also delivers several key advantages:
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Upcoming support for paid Marketplace Forge apps: We will support paid Forge apps in the future and we’re actively finalizing the timelines. We’ll update everyone with confirmed dates as soon as they’re set.
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Lead the market as the first Forge app in EU data residency regions: As Bitbucket Cloud launches EU data residency by the end of 2026, followed by India region, customers choosing a residency region will use environments where Forge is the sole supported extensibility mechanism. Migrating to Forge ensures your app is the first available to this growing customer segment that leads in those regions.
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A more secure, enterprise-ready foundation: Forge’s security model and deeper Atlassian integration reduce vendor risk and increase customer confidence, especially for larger customers with strict requirements.
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Richer DevOps automation opportunities: Forge enables new patterns for workflows and automations that more directly leverage Bitbucket Cloud capabilities, helping you deliver differentiated value and deeper product experiences, while reducing operational overhead through platform-managed building blocks.
Official timelines
Phase 1: No new connect app creation
Effective: Now
We are now officially in Phase 1 of the Connect end of life process.
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All new Bitbucket Cloud apps must be built on Forge.
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Installing new Connect apps will be disabled, and Connect apps cannot be registered or added via direct install in development mode.
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Existing Connect apps are not affected by this phase. They remain installable and will continue to function as they do today.
This phase ensures that all new development in the Bitbucket Cloud ecosystem moves forward on Forge.
Phase 2: All app updates must be delivered via Forge
Effective: March 31, 2026
In the second phase, only Forge apps will receive updates. Connect app updates will stop.
- Exceptions may be allowed for updates that help partners migrate apps to Forge equivalents, such as adding the mechanism for Connect apps to register a Forge app as their replacement.
Phase 3: Connect enters end of support
Effective: December 31, 206
At the end of 2026, Connect will enter its official end-of-support state for Bitbucket Cloud, meaning apps can continue to use Connect modules but do so at their own risk. This applies to all Connect capabilities, modules, and extensibility points.
What does end of support mean?
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Connect will no longer evolve alongside Bitbucket Cloud, and the platform will receive no further updates or fixes for Connect apps.
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Existing Connect integration points may become incompatible over time.
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Connect apps may continue to function, but they are unsupported and run entirely at the developer’s risk.
Plan moving forward
With this announcement, Connect’s end-of-support timeline is now official. We strongly encourage all partners to begin migration planning and exploration of Forge as early as possible.
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We will continue to provide support and resources to facilitate a smooth transition via the Bitbucket Cloud space in Developer Community.
- Please continue to post your questions, feedback, issues, etc so that we can identify what needs to be done and support you where needed.
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Over the coming weeks, we will connect with vendors whose apps represent the majority of Connect installations to discuss migration needs and explore how we can best support their transition.
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Review the recently added capabilities for Forge based on your feedback. To help us understand your status, challenges, and support needs, please complete a short Google form. Your input will guide our next steps.
Our commitment
The Bitbucket ecosystem thrives when our partners succeed. Your input continues to guide our decisions, and we’re dedicated to building a stable, consistent, and forward-looking extensibility platform with Forge that empowers your business and serves our shared customers.
We encourage all developers and vendors to begin exploring and building on Forge now, as key Connect end of life milestones are approaching. Starting early will help ensure a smooth transition well before Connect reaches the end of support. If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions about this timeline or the transition process, please share them with us in the community. We will continue to provide updates and guidance to help you throughout this migration.
