Jira cloud AConnect app development lifecycle improvement

Jira Development Jira Cloud
1

Hi all,

Developing an AC app for Jira Cloud, I’m using the following sequence to debug it :

  • ngrok http 3000

  • edit config.json file to setup localBaseUrl with the ngrok forwarding URL

  • start of the app with node app.js or npm start

  • install the app on a development dedicated Jira Cloud instance.

This sequence runs fine, although I’d like to be able to restart the node app after changing some static files in its file tree. Problem is that restarting the app then implies to deinstall/reinstall the app on the Jira Cloud development instance, repeating above steps.

Would there be any process to be able to restart the node app without having to deinstall/reinstall the app on the Jira Cloud instance ?

Thanks, Fred.

2

Eventually found how to improve that process, based on this post and Atlassian Connect Express documentation :

  1. Took ngrok paid plan to have a constant forwarding URL with a sub domain
  2. Edited app’s config.json to set the localBaseUrl to the ngrok forwarding URL in the “development” section of the config file
  3. Edited package.json file to set a development specific start script like this:
"scripts": {
    "start": "node app.js",
    "startdev": "AC_OPTS=no-auth,force-reg AC_LOCAL_BASE_URL=https://xxx.eu.ngrok.io node app.js"
  }
  1. Started the app with npm startdev
  2. Installed the app on a Jira cloud using the ngrok forwading URL for the app descriptor

After this setup, it’s possible to stop app with a CTRL+C, then restart it with npm startdev (without having to restart ngrok/edit config.json/start app/deinstall/reinstall app).

F.