Atlassian Connect Is Ending. Are Your Jira Apps Ready for Forge?
Atlassian Connect End of Life is approaching and January 31, 2027 is the date to have on your radar. If you manage Jira apps, now is the time to find out which ones still rely on Connect and what, if anything, you need to do before support ends.
The good news for SmartBear Zephyr® customers is that Zephyr has already made the move to Atlassian Forge. Current versions are fully on Forge, so teams running version 6 or later don’t have a Connect migration deadline to worry about. And if you’re on 6 or later but not the latest, it’s still worth updating. You get the newest improvements from our team, and some Rovo agent capabilities only land in specific versions.
We’ll review how to check where you stand, what the move to Forge means, and what to do next.
Key takeaways
- Connect ends: Atlassian ends Connect support on January 31, 2027. After that, Atlassian will provide only critical security fixes.
- Check your apps: If you manage Jira apps, check which ones still run on Connect. What you need to do depends on the app.
- Zephyr is already on Forge: Zephyr has been on Forge since version 6. If you’re on v6 or later, there’s no Connect migration deadline.
- On an older Zephyr version: Versions below 6 need a one-time update by a Jira admin.
- Your data stays intact: The update doesn’t affect test cases, execution history, or traceability to Jira work items.
What is Atlassian Forge?
Forge is Atlassian’s cloud platform for building and running apps across its products. It provides the infrastructure, security controls, authentication, and permissions that apps need to work within the Atlassian environment.
Atlassian is moving its app ecosystem from Connect to Forge as it continues to build out its cloud platform. For teams managing Jira apps, that means the platform an app runs on is becoming something worth paying attention to.
Why does Forge migration matter?
The move is about more than where an app is hosted. Forge brings apps closer to the Atlassian platform, with authentication and permissions handled through Atlassian and app data and connections governed through the platform.
For most Jira teams, different people have added apps over time for different needs. Each one has its own release schedule and its own approach to the move from Connect to Forge. That can make it difficult to know which apps need attention and which are already where they need to be.
This matters for the systems teams rely on for quality and release decisions, too. Test management holds the evidence behind those decisions, so the platform an app runs on, the permissions it uses, and how its data is handled are all part of the picture.
For teams using Zephyr, the move to Forge is already complete. Zephyr has been on Forge since version 6. The next step is to check which version you’re running and see whether you need to update.
What is Connect end of support, and why now?
Connect is the framework most Jira apps were originally built on. It did its job for a decade. Atlassian is retiring it in favor of Forge, and it has been signaling the move since early 2025.
| Date | What happened |
| January 2025 | Atlassian announced its intent to end support for Connect |
| March 2025 | Published the end-of-support timeline |
| September 2025 | Stopped accepting new Connect apps on the Marketplace |
| January 31, 2027 | Connect end of support begins |
The date has already moved once. Atlassian originally set December 2026 and pushed it to January 31, 2027 to give partners room around the holidays and annual planning. That extension has now been spent.
What happens afterward is the part worth reading twice. Atlassian will handle critical security issues in Connect and nothing beyond that. It has also said directly that Connect won’t sit in a steady state once support ends, and that apps left on it will struggle to meet the performance, security, and capability expectations customers have of Marketplace apps. In practice, that looks less like a switch being thrown and more like things quietly stopping, with no release note to explain why.
Where does Zephyr sit on Forge?
Zephyr moved from Connect to Forge with version 6, released March 19, 2026, with no remaining Connect modules or dependencies. The Marketplace listing shows it.
Zephyr runs on Forge Remote. That changes how the app connects to Jira, not where all of its processing happens. A Connect app runs on the vendor’s own servers and reaches into Jira over APIs. With Forge Remote, the app’s UI and functions run on the Atlassian platform, while Zephyr’s backend processing runs on Zephyr-managed infrastructure. Authentication and permissions come from the Atlassian platform, and the app declares every internet domain its frontend communicates with in its manifest. That declaration becomes a contract you agree to when you install the app: Forge rejects any request to an undeclared domain outright. It matters more than plumbing usually does.
Application integrity rests on evidence that holds up when somebody checks it, and test results are evidence. An auditor asking where your release records live, and who could reach them, is asking about the platform underneath Zephyr before anything else.
Already using Zephyr? Here’s what applies to you
For organizations already running Zephyr, one question settles everything else: which version the Jira site is on. In Jira, go to Apps, then Manage apps, and find Zephyr. The version is listed there, and so is an Update button if one is waiting. The full upgrade guide covers the steps in detail.
| Version | What it means | What to do |
| Below 6.0.0, including 2.65.0, 3.11.0, 4.14.0, and 5.1.0 | The site still contains Connect modules, so the January 2027 date applies. It also doesn’t have the Zephyr Agent for Rovo or any of the skills added since | A Jira admin applies the update manually |
| 6.0.0 to the latest | Already on Forge. No Connect deadline applies to the site | Check your version and update to the latest for all the newest fixes, capabilities and Rovo agent skills |
Only Jira admins can see which version of Zephyr is installed, because it lives on the Manage apps page, which is admin-only. If you’re a QA lead or tester, you won’t be able to check this yourself. Forwarding this post to whoever looks after your Jira site is usually quicker than explaining it twice.
Zephyr and Forge: What the update changes and what stays the same
Why it needs an admin: The update changes the permissions Zephyr uses, and Jira won’t apply a permission change quietly in the background. An administrator reviews it and approves it. See exactly what changes and why. That’s how Jira treats any major version crossing, so the same step comes around again at the next one. It isn’t a signal that anything is unusual about this release.
What it leaves alone: Test cases, cycles, plans, execution history, and traceability to Jira work items. All of it comes through unchanged, with no downtime for your team. Nothing to re-import, nothing to rebuild, no window where release evidence lives in two places at once.
If your team uses the Zephyr REST API: The page where you generate API tokens has moved. Existing tokens keep working and don’t need regenerating – only the page location has changed. See API Access Tokens Management for where to find it.
Then it’s done. Minor updates after this one apply on their own. Nobody has to think about it again until the next major version.
To update. Apps, then Manage apps, find Zephyr, select Update. A few minutes, start to finish. Full upgrade guide.
What older versions have been missing
Set the deadline aside for a moment, because it’s the less interesting half of this.
Sites below version 6 have never had the Zephyr Agent for Rovo. It arrived with version 6 and has picked up skills in most releases since. While those teams write test cases by hand, teams on the current version ask Rovo to generate them from a Jira work item and get them back before the stand-up finishes.
The agent runs inside Rovo chat in Jira, on Zephyr Standard and Zephyr Advanced. You never pick a skill. You ask in plain language and the agent reaches for whichever one the moment calls for.
Fewer gaps reaching production. Ask which work items have tests against them and which don’t, across a story or a whole release, while there’s still time to close them.
Less time writing test cases. Draft cases from a work item or a described scenario, step-by-step or in Gherkin, already linked back to the work item. Coverage gap detection checks what exists first, so nothing arrives as a duplicate.
A data-backed answer to “is this safe to ship?” The Release Risk Analyzer reads coverage, recent execution results, and open bugs, then returns a risk level for the release and for each high-risk story, with the reason for each.
Less cycle admin. Create cycles from a ticket, add test cases to them, and assign executions to people, without leaving the conversation.
That’s a summary. The full set of skills covers search, traceability, test case details, and execution summaries too, and new ones ship in most releases, so staying current is how teams keep getting them.
Evaluating a test management app? The platform question belongs on your shortlist
Connect end of support is worth adding to evaluation criteria for any Jira app under consideration, because it separates vendors who have finished the move from vendors who are still mid-transition. Adopting an app that still carries Connect modules means inheriting somebody else’s migration, along with a January 2027 date that belongs to them and lands on you.
Zephyr has been on Forge since March 2026 with no Connect modules remaining, so that risk doesn’t transfer to a team adopting it now. A good number of apps in the Marketplace are still working through the move, and some will still be working through it when the deadline arrives. Asking every vendor on a shortlist for their Forge status is a reasonable question, and the answer is usually visible on the Marketplace listing.
Three things a security or procurement reviewer asks sooner or later, answered before they ask:
- Where the app runs. Zephyr runs on Forge Remote. The UI and functions run on the Atlassian platform, and Zephyr’s backend runs on Zephyr-managed infrastructure. The Atlassian platform handles authentication and permissions.
- Data residency. Available on Zephyr Standard and Zephyr Advanced, with app data held in the US, Ireland, Germany, or Australia. See the data residency documentation for the current list.
- What leaves Atlassian. The app manifest declares every domain the app communicates with – verifiable by Atlassian and visible to your admin.
What to do next
If your organization already runs Zephyr, go and look at the version. Apps, then Manage apps. Ten seconds, and it either ends this for you or tells you exactly who to forward it to.
If you’re evaluating test management for Jira, start a free trial or talk to the Zephyr team about what a rollout looks like in your environment.
And if neither applies, the useful takeaway is the audit itself. Every app on a Jira site has a vendor with a Forge timeline behind it, some further along than others. January 2027 is close enough that asking them now costs nothing and finding out in January costs a great deal more.
[Primary CTA to confirm. Per the content rules this is a demo, trial or talk-to-an-expert CTA. The documentation links in this post are supporting resources rather than the call to action.]
Frequently asked questions about Atlassian Forge and Zephyr
Is Zephyr on Atlassian Forge?
Yes. Zephyr has run on Forge Remote since version 6, released March 19, 2026. Current versions contain no Connect modules or dependencies.
When is Atlassian Connect end of support?
January 31, 2027. Atlassian moved the date from December 2026 to give partners more time around the holiday period and annual planning cycles.
Do I need to update Zephyr?
Yes. We recommend staying on the latest version, and if your version is below 6.0.0 there’s a deadline attached to it. Check in Jira under Apps, then Manage apps. Versions 6.0.0 and above carry no Connect deadline, but new Rovo agent skills and other improvements only arrive when you update.
Why does the Zephyr update need a Jira admin?
The update changes the permissions Zephyr uses, and Jira asks an administrator to approve a permission change rather than applying it silently. Minor updates after that apply automatically. For more on how Zephyr releases work, see Understanding Zephyr and Zephyr Essential releases.
Will I lose my test data if I update Zephyr?
No. Test cases, test cycles, test plans, execution history, and traceability links to Jira work items are all unaffected.
What happens if we don’t update before January 31, 2027?
Zephyr keeps running. Atlassian will address only critical security issues in Connect after that date, and has said Connect won’t remain in a steady state, so compatibility with the rest of Jira can degrade over time.
Which Zephyr editions include the Zephyr Agent for Rovo?
Zephyr Standard and Zephyr Advanced.
How long does the update take?
A few minutes. In Jira, go to Apps, then Manage apps, find Zephyr, and select Update. The full upgrade guide has the detail.