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Forge vs Connect: What Atlassian Admins Need to Know in 2026

· 10 min read
NGPilot
Quick Answer

Forge and Connect are the two frameworks Atlassian Marketplace apps can be built on. Forge runs on Atlassian's own infrastructure; Connect runs on vendor-hosted servers. Starting January 1, 2026, Atlassian applies a penalty to Connect apps in Marketplace rankings and requires Forge for new Cloud Fortified status. For admins evaluating apps in 2026, Forge is the safer, more future-proof choice where a capable option exists.

What you'll learn
  1. The real architectural difference between Forge and Connect
  2. What the 2026 Connect penalty changes for app discovery and trust
  3. How to tell which framework an app uses before you install it
  4. A practical decision framework for evaluating apps in 2026

If you administer Jira or Confluence Cloud, every app you install from the Marketplace runs on one of two frameworks: Forge or Connect. For years the difference was mostly an implementation detail that admins could ignore. In 2026 that changed. The Connect penalty, the Cloud Fortified requirement, and Atlassian's clear strategic direction mean the framework an app uses now affects its security posture, its discoverability, and how long it will keep working. This guide explains what changed, why it matters, and how to make better app decisions because of it.

How to Evaluate an Atlassian Marketplace App: A Security Checklist

· 10 min read
NGPilot
Quick Answer

Before installing any Atlassian Marketplace app, run it through this checklist: verify Cloud Fortified status, confirm whether it is Forge or Connect, review the OAuth scopes it requests, read its privacy and data handling disclosure, and check its install count, ratings, and release cadence. Apps that pass all five are low-risk; apps that fail any of them deserve a closer look before they touch your production site.

What you'll learn
  1. The trust signals Atlassian exposes on every Marketplace listing
  2. How to read an app's permission scopes before installing
  3. Why Forge and Connect carry different security burdens
  4. The questions to ask a vendor during a security review
  5. A copy-paste checklist you can run on any app in under five minutes

The Atlassian Marketplace has thousands of apps, and installing the wrong one can expose your Jira and Confluence data to a vendor you have never vetted. The good news is that Atlassian surfaces most of what you need to make a safe decision directly on each listing — if you know where to look. This guide is a practical checklist for evaluating any Marketplace app before it lands on your site, written for the admins who get asked "is this app okay to install?" and need to answer with confidence.

What Is Atlassian Rovo? (And How It Differs from Atlassian Intelligence)

· 10 min read
NGPilot
Quick Answer

Atlassian Rovo is the cross-platform AI layer for Atlassian Cloud. It does three things: Search across Jira, Confluence, and connected SaaS tools; Chat that answers questions grounded in your organization's knowledge; and Agents that carry out multi-step tasks autonomously. It is different from Atlassian Intelligence, which is the in-product AI engine — Rovo uses that engine and extends it across your entire toolchain.

What you'll learn
  1. What Rovo actually does (Search, Chat, Agents, Studio)
  2. The precise difference between Rovo and Atlassian Intelligence
  3. Which data sources Rovo can reach
  4. How Rovo Agents work and what they can do
  5. What Rovo means for admins and how to prepare your content for it

If you have heard the name "Atlassian Rovo" and are not sure whether it is a new product, a rebrand of Atlassian Intelligence, or something your team should adopt, you are not alone. The naming overlap confuses most teams. This guide explains what Rovo is, how it relates to the AI features you may already be using, and what it changes for the people who administer Atlassian Cloud.

How to Set Up Announcement Banners in Jira (Rich Text, Scheduling & Targeting)

· 6 min read
NGPilot
Who should read this
  • Jira admins who need to broadcast maintenance windows, outages, or policy changes
  • IT/ops teams that want dismissible vs. persistent banner control
  • Anyone frustrated by Jira's plain-text native banner limitations
What you'll learn
  1. How to create a Jira announcement banner with rich text and emojis
  2. Choosing dismissible vs. persistent banners (and when each fits)
  3. Managing a library of announcements for quick reuse
  4. How this compares to Jira's built-in banner and to Confluence banners

The scenario every Jira admin hits: there's a maintenance window Saturday night, a security policy change, or an ongoing incident — and you need every person who opens Jira to see it immediately. Jira has a built-in announcement banner, but it's plain-text only, lives in a buried admin setting, and gives you one banner at a time with no library, no scheduling, and no way to let users dismiss it.

Modern Announcement Banner for Jira fixes this: rich-text banners with emojis and custom colors, a dismissible option, a saved library of announcements you can switch between with one click, and instant enable/disable without deleting. This guide walks through setting it up.