The Release Black Box

Building a Browser Extension to Unify Jira & GitLab

This infographic visualizes the strategy for creating a browser extension to solve release data fragmentation, based on the provided technical report.

The Problem: A Disconnected Release Picture

Release information is scattered across platforms, forcing manual data compilation and leading to a lack of real-time visibility.

📝

Jira: The Plan

Contains the planned scope via 'Fix Versions' and issue tracking.

Data Silos

↔️

GitLab: The Code

Holds the actual codebase, commits, and release tags.

The Solution: An Integrated Extension

A browser extension acts as a bridge, querying both platforms to present a single, cohesive release summary directly in the user's workflow.

Jira API

Fetches Issues

🧩

Browser Extension

Correlates Data

GitLab API

Fetches Commits

Manifest V3 Extension Architecture

The extension is built on a modern, event-driven architecture to ensure security and performance, with components communicating via message passing.

Popup UI

User-facing interface for inputs and displaying the final summary.

Background Service Worker

Handles all API calls, authentication, and data processing logic.

Content Scripts

Injects into Jira/GitLab pages to read DOM or add UI elements if needed.

API Integration & Data Correlation

The extension's core logic involves fetching data from specific API endpoints and then correlating it by parsing Jira issue keys from GitLab artifacts.

Key API Endpoints

  • Jira: /rest/api/3/search

    Retrieves issues via JQL (e.g., `fixVersion = "1.2.0"`).

  • GitLab: /projects/:id/repository/tags

    Identifies release tags to define scope.

  • GitLab: /projects/:id/repository/commits

    Fetches all code changes between two release tags.

Security & Authentication

Authentication is challenging. GitLab supports a client-side friendly OAuth (PKCE) flow, while Jira's requires a backend for full security, making PATs a simpler, though less secure, alternative for a pure extension.

The Payoff: Actionable Insights & Efficiency

A unified view leads to enhanced transparency, streamlined audits, and empowered teams.

🔎

Full Transparency

A single source of truth for release content.

⏱️

Reduced Overhead

Eliminates manual report generation.

🛡️

Improved Audits

Creates a clear, verifiable audit trail.

🤝

Informed Decisions

Empowers stakeholders with accurate data.