About app certification

The Splunk application certification program is deprecated. For more information, see the App certification retirement FAQs.

Splunk offers certification for apps and add-ons created by developers in our community. By certifying your app or add-on after publishing it to Splunkbase, you give your users the confidence of knowing that Splunk has analyzed your app or add-on according to a strict set of criteria. In order to maintain customer confidence, once an app or add-on is certified all future versions must also undergo certification. Updates to certified apps will not be publicly available on Splunkbase until the new version is certified. Customers will still be able to download the current certified version.

Note: This documentation supplements the Working with Splunkbase manual, which provides detailed instructions for how to submit apps and add-ons to Splunkbase. Your app or add-on must, at a minimum, conform to the approval criteria set forth in the Working with Splunkbase manual, including categorization, documentation, support availability, and packaging and naming standards. The certification criteria provided in this documentation are in addition to those set forth in the Working with Splunkbase manual.

In this documentation, read about:

• Benefits to developers of certifying an app or add-on
• Benefits to users of using a certified app or add-on
• Apps and add-ons you can submit
• Best practices for app security
• How to submit an app or add-on for Splunk certification
• App certification criteria

What is app certification?

The Splunk App Certification Program offers apps and add-ons that Splunk has examined and found to conform to best practices for Splunk platform development. Splunk also performs a review of your source code for security vulnerabilities. Splunk is willing to attest to the quality and support status of the apps and add-ons it certifies for operation in single-server and/or distributed Splunk platform deployments.

Splunk does not, in any way, warrant the accuracy, reliability, completeness, usefulness, non-infringement of our community or partner developers. Splunk shall not be liable or responsible in any way for any losses or damage of any kind including lost profits or other indirect or consequential damages related to the use or, or reliance upon, Splunk certified apps or add-ons.

Certification involves requirements for clear developer documentation and support. As a developer, you must be able to commit to the following documentation and support requirements:

• Provide a link to online documentation for your app or add-on.
• Provide a link to information about the support you provide for your app or add-on including support hours, expectations for response time, and contact information.

Learn about the app certification process.

What are the requirements for app certification?

When you submit your app or add-on for certification, Splunk evaluates it against a set of criteria for use in Splunk Enterprise, Splunk Cloud and Splunk Light deployments.

The Splunk App Certification Program offers apps and add-ons that Splunk has examined and found to conform to best practices for Splunk platform development. Splunk also performs a review of your source code for security vulnerabilities. Splunk is willing to attest to the quality and support status of the apps and add-ons it certifies for operation in single-server and/or distributed Splunk platform deployments.

Refer to the app certification criteria for details on requirements for certification.

App certification benefits to developers

• To be certified, an app or add-on must meet a specific set of requirements above and beyond the normal Splunkbase standards. When Splunk confirms that your app or add-on conforms to a higher set of standards, your users can be confident about the high level of quality of your app.
• Apps and add-ons that have been certified receive prominent positioning on Splunkbase.
• Developers who have certified apps or add-ons and who have a valid NDA in place receive access to pre-release builds of Splunk Enterprise. Thus, you can update and release your certified app or add-on to coincide with a new release of Splunk Enterprise.

App certification benefits to users

• When you download and use certified apps or add-ons, you can be sure that the app or add-on has gone through rigorous development and review processes. You can expect a higher quality app than other, non-certified apps.
• Because of the support and documentation requirements for certified apps, you can be sure that the app is accompanied by adequate documentation, and that app developers will address problems promptly and appropriately. You can obtain support or report issues, and can expect a response within a set timeframe.

Apps and Add-ons you can submit

As a developer, you can submit both apps and add-ons for certification. It is useful to define those entities.

• Apps: An app is an application that runs on Splunk Enterprise and typically addresses one or more use cases. An app can extend Splunk Enterprise with new views that report on particular kinds of data. An app can also provide tools for specific use cases and technology, and is often developed for a specialized user role. Refer to the Splexicon definition of app.
• Add-ons: An add-on A type of app that runs on Splunk Enterprise and provides specific capabilities to other apps, such as getting data in, mapping data, or providing saved searches and macros. An add-on is not typically run as a standalone app. You can use an add-on in multiple apps. Add-ons can reside on any of the Splunk Enterprise functional tiers: forwarders, indexers, or search heads. Refer to the Splexicon definition of add-on.