Necessary upgrade from app version 2 or 3 to 4.x
Deprecation & EOL of Atlassian Connect-Framework in 2026
Atlassian has announced the end-of-life and end-of-support timeline for the Atlassian Connect framework, requiring all Cloud app vendors to migrate to the newer Atlassian Forge platform (see: Announcing Connect End of Support: Timeline and Next Steps - Work Life by Atlassian ).
As a result, existing Connect-based implementations can no longer be maintained in the long term and must be replaced with Forge-based solutions. This is not a simple configuration adjustment, but a fundamental architectural transition, as Forge and Connect differ significantly in how applications are built, hosted, secured, and integrated within Atlassian Cloud products.
Nevertheless, the new major app releases 4.x, based on Atlassian Forge, support all features of the older Connect-based implementation (downward compatibility).
Additionally, I implemented a modern user interface (UI) to improve administration as an alternative to the code-based approach of definitions, integrated the new custom fields to be displayed on the result pages of issue search/filters, added the capability to put them on agile cards, and for usage in JQL, etc. So, using the new major release gives you and your users a lot of benefits, too.
→ All app versions less than 4.x must be upgraded!
How to upgrade the app?
Switch to the app’s configuration page (“Jira admin settings” → “Marketplace Apps”), select “Group Sign-Off/Mult-Approvals“ on the left, click on “Export” to generate a file with all your group sign-off definitions and historical data, automatically downloaded, then click on “Import” and select this downloaded export file. This will create related, new custom fields of the new field type “Group Sign-Off/Multi-Approval Field” and take over the former issues' properties values, transform and store them within their issues' new custom fields.
Having done this, disable the old panels based on Atlassian Connect to avoid irritations by your users mixing the older (properties and panels) and the newer approach (“real” custom fields):
Why is it necessary to upgarde?
For the Group Sign-Off (GSO) app, the required changes are therefore part of a mandatory platform migration rather than an optional enhancement. The new implementation represents a partial or full rebuild of the application using Forge capabilities, including changes to the UI rendering model on issue views, backend execution environment, and security and permission handling to align with Atlassian’s current Cloud app framework standards.
In addition, later in 2026, Atlassian will begin removing support for remaining Connect-based modules within affected apps as part of this transition. This means that any functionality still relying on Connect will no longer be supported and must be migrated to Forge to ensure continued operation.
Once the migration is complete and all Connect dependencies have been fully removed, the app becomes eligible for the “Runs on Atlassian” badge (see: Runs on Atlassian). This designation is a quality and security mark indicating that the entire solution runs natively within Atlassian Cloud infrastructure, with all data processing and storage handled exclusively inside Atlassian’s environment. This enhances trust, security compliance, and alignment with Atlassian’s cloud-first strategy.
From an audit and compliance perspective, these changes are necessary to ensure continued supportability, platform compliance, and adherence to Atlassian’s required migration path for Cloud applications.