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Adding and managing apps

Abstract

You can add new apps on Bitrise with the API: add the app, generate SSH keys, and set up the app’s initial configuration.

You can add new apps on Bitrise with the API: add the app, generate SSH keys, and set up the app’s initial configuration.

In addition, you can list all apps belonging, for example, to a single user or to a specific Workspace.

Adding a new app with the API

Table 1. Endpoints used in adding a new app with the Bitrise API

Endpoints

Function

Required role on the app's team

POST /apps/register

Add a new app.

N/A

POST /apps/{app-slug}/register-ssh-key

Add an SSH key to a specific app.

Owner or Admin

POST /apps/{app-slug}/finish

Save the application at the end of the application add process.

N/A

POST /apps/{app-slug}/bitrise.yml

Upload a new bitrise.yml for your application.

Owner or Admin

Apps with HTTPS Git URLs

The procedure and the examples are aimed at adding a private app with an SSH git URL. If you want to add an app with an HTTPS git URL, you can skip adding an SSH key.

  1. Register the app by calling the register endpoint and setting all required parameters.

    You need to set your git provider, the repository URL, the slug of the repository as it appears at the provider, and the slug of the owner of the repository. You also need to add the slug of the Workspace that will own the app: due to legacy naming conventions, you need the organization_slug parameter.

    curl -X POST -H 'Authorization: ACCESS-TOKEN' 'https://api.bitrise.io/v0.1/apps/register' -d \
'{
      "provider": "github",
      "is_public": false,
      "organization_slug": "$ORG_SLUG"
      "repo_url": "[email protected]:api_demo/example-repository.git",
      "type": "git",
      "git_repo_slug": "example-repository",
      "git_owner": "api_demo"
 }'

    Changing the name of your app

    By default, when you register an app, it will inherit the name of your git repository.

    If you would like to add the app with a different name, you can append the "title" parameter to your POST request using the following syntax:

    curl -X POST -H 'Authorization: ACCESS-TOKEN' 'https://api.bitrise.io/v0.1/apps/register' -d \
'{
    ...
    ...
    "title": "string"
 }'

    You can also change the name of your app after creating it, by sending a PATCH request and calling the apps endpoint. For more information, see Managing an existing app.

  2. Once done, call the register-ssh-key endpoint to set up the SSH keys you created so that Bitrise can clone your repository when running a build.

    You need to provide both your private and public SSH key. Please note that if you wish to copy the private key manually, you need to escape all the line breaks with \n.

    You can also set whether you want to automatically register the public key at your git provider: set the is_register_key_into_provider_service parameter to either true or false.

    curl -X POST -H 'Authorization: ACCESS-TOKEN' 'https://api.bitrise.io/v0.1/apps/APP-SLUG/register-ssh-key' -d \
'{
    "auth_ssh_private_key": "your-private-ssh-key",
    "auth_ssh_public_key": "your-public-ssh-key",
    "is_register_key_into_provider_service": false
 }'

  3. Finish the app registration process by calling the finish endpoint.

    This endpoint allows you to configure your apps: set the project type, the stack on which the build will run (this may vary based on your app), and the initial configuration settings.

    You can also set Environment Variables, as well as immediately specify a Workspace that will be the owner of the application. Please note that the mode parameter must be set to the value of manual.

    curl -X POST -H 'Authorization: ACCESS-TOKEN' 'https://api.bitrise.io/v0.1/apps/APP-SLUG/finish' -d \
'{
     "project_type": "ios",
     "stack_id": "osx-xcode-13.2.x",
     "config": "default-ios-config",
     "mode": "manual",
     "envs": {
           "env1": "val1",
           "env2": "val2"
     },
     "organization_slug": "e1ec3dea540bcf21"
 }'

Managing an existing app

Table 1. Endpoints related to managing an existing app with the Bitrise API

Endpoints

Function

Required role on the app's team

GET /apps

Get list of your apps.

Any

GET /apps/{app-slug}

Get a specific app.

Any

GET /apps/{app-slug}/bitrise.yml

Get the bitrise.yml of a specific app.

Owner or Admin

GET /apps/{app-slug}/branches

List the branches of an app’s repository.

Any

GET /organizations/{org-slug}/apps

Get list of the apps for a Workspace.

Any

GET /users/{user-slug}/apps

Get list of the apps for a user.

Any

PATCH /apps/{app-slug}

Update an existing app's parameters

Owner or Admin

The response to any GET request regarding one or more apps will contain the app slug, its project type, the git provider, the repository’s owner and URL:

{
  "data": [
    {
      "slug": "eeeeefffff00000",
      "title": "sample-app",
      "project_type": "android",
      "provider": "github",
      "repo_owner": "example-user",
      "repo_url": "[email protected]:example-user/sample-app.git",
      "repo_slug": "android-gradle-kotlin-dsl",
      "is_disabled": false,
      "status": -1,
      "is_public": false,
      "owner": {
        "account_type": "organization",
        "name": "Test Org",
        "slug": "fffffeeeee00000"
      },
      "avatar_url": null
    },
    {

You can also download the existing bitrise.yml file of any app: the response will contain the full YAML configuration.

Would you like to change the title or the default git branch of an existing app? You can update an existing app's parameters by calling the PATCH method of the apps endpoint.

Required role

You must have an admin or owner role on the app's team to update an existing app's parameters using the Bitrise API.

For a complete list of user roles and role cheatsheets, check User roles on app teams.

The required parameter is:

  • app slug

The optional parameters are:

  • apple_credential_user_id: The new apple credential user ID (recommendation: use the UI to set this)

  • apple_credential_user_slug: The new apple credential user slug (recommendation: use the UI to set this)

  • default_branch: The new default branch for the application.

  • is_public: The new the value if the application should be publicly visible.

  • repository_url: The new repository URL for the application.

  • services_credential_user_id: The new service credential user ID (recommendation: use the UI to set this).

  • title: The new title of the application.

Example 1. Changing the name and the default branch of an existing app

Request:

curl -X 'PATCH' 'https://api.bitrise.io/v0.1/apps/THE-APP-SLUG' -H 'accept: application/json' -H 'Authorization: ACCESS-TOKEN' -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"default_branch": "main", "title": "Example_app_title_3"}'

Deleting an app using the API

Deletion is final

Be aware that you cannot undo deleting an app. Once you delete it, there is no way to recover the app.

You can delete apps with the Bitrise API. The only required parameter is the app slug of the app you want to delete:

curl -X DELETE -H 'Authorization: ACCESS-TOKEN' 'https://api.bitrise.io/v0.1/apps/THE-APP-SLUG'

Changing the location of the app's bitrise.yml file

The app's bitrise.yml configuration file can be stored in two places:

  • On bitrise.io. This is the default setting for all apps.

  • In your app's repository. This way you have full control over the versioning and maintenance of the config file. You can still use the graphical Workflow Editor on bitrise.io to modify your configuration but you will need to commit your changes to the repository.

You can get and change the location of the file using the API.

Admin access required

Both endpoints related to the location of the bitrise.yml file require admin level access to the app.

With the GET/apps/{app-slug}/bitrise.yml/config endpoint, you can get the location of the file. Location here means that calling the endpoint tells you whether the file is stored on bitrise.io or in the repository. The endpoint takes no parameters and it returns one of two values in the response:

  • "location": "bitrise.io"

  • "location": "repository"

curl -X 'GET' \
  'https://api.bitrise.io/v0.1/apps/APP-SLUG/bitrise.yml/config' \
  -H 'accept: application/json' \
  -H 'Authorization: ACCESS-TOKEN'

With the PUT/apps/{app-slug}/bitrise.yml/config endpoint, you can change the location of the file: that is, you can tell Bitrise whether to look for the config file on bitrise.io or in your repository. This endpoint takes one of two values in a JSON object:

  • "location": "bitrise.io" to store the config file on bitrise.io.

  • "location": "repository" to store the config file in your repository.

Commit the config file into your repository

Please note that changing the location to repository merely tells Bitrise to look for the bitrise.yml file in the app's repository. If the file does not exist in the repository, the endpoint won't return an error but you won't be able to run builds because Bitrise won't find the config file.

curl -X 'PUT' \
  'https://api.bitrise.io/v0.1/apps/APP-SLUG/bitrise.yml/config' \
  -H 'accept: application/json' \
  -H 'Authorization: ACCESS-TOKEN' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "location": "bitrise.io"
}'

Managing app notifications

You can change the email notification settings of your apps via an API call at any time with the PATCH/apps/{app-slug}/update-email-notifications endpoint. The endpoint takes two parameters:

  • on_failure: Email notification settings for failed builds.

  • on_success: Email notification settings for successful builds.

Both parameters take three possible values:

  • always: Always send notification. The default value for failed builds.

  • never : Never send notification.

  • change: Send notification only when the build status changes compared to the previous build on the same branch. The default value for successful builds.

For example, if you wish to receive a notification for a failed build only when the previous build was successful, you need to set the value of the on_failure parameter to change (replace the APP-SLUG in the example with your app's slug and ACCESS-TOKEN with your personal access token):

curl -X 'PATCH' \
  'https://api.bitrise.io/v0.1/apps/APP-SLUG/update-email-notifications' \
  -H 'accept: application/json' \
  -H 'Authorization: ACCESS-TOKEN' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
  "on_failure": "change",
}'
In this section:

An app on Bitrise represents a Git repository that stores source code and has been connected to Bitrise to be able to run builds on it. As such, a Bitrise app isn't necessarily an actual application: it's just the code on which you run builds with Bitrise.

An app on Bitrise represents a Git repository that stores source code and has been connected to Bitrise to be able to run builds on it. As such, a Bitrise app isn't necessarily an actual application: it's just the code on which you run builds with Bitrise.

A Workspace is an environment that allows you to manage your Bitrise apps and the team members working on the apps. You can create multiple Workspaces, and you can be invited to Workspaces by other Bitrise users. To be able to add apps and run builds, you either need to be part of a Workspace, or you have to be an outside contributor on an app's team.

The bitrise.yml file stores your entire build configuration for an app. It specifies your stack and the build triggers, and defines the Workflows of the app. When you make changes on the graphical UI of our Workflow Editor, you actually modify the bitrise.yml file.

The bitrise.yml file stores your entire build configuration for an app. It specifies your stack and the build triggers, and defines the Workflows of the app. When you make changes on the graphical UI of our Workflow Editor, you actually modify the bitrise.yml file.