#App Publication Requirements

Thanks to you, the Akeneo App Store continues to grow. It has become increasingly important for us to review the submission process for new apps to maintain the quality standards that Akeneo users expect. By doing this, we will ensure that the Akeneo App Store remains a valuable resource for our joint customers.

The requirements to submit an integration on Akeneo App Store are listed below.

#Your app must bring value to our joint customers

We know that it can be challenging to create a first version of an app that is comprehensive enough to suit all of our joint customers.

Investing in an app can be costly depending on its complexity, and we recommend an agile approach to gradually address all needed use cases.

That being said, Akeneo will be particularly vigilant to ensure that your app meets the following criteria:

#Your app must have comprehensive information

We want to make sure that our joint customers have all the information they need to understand how your app will help them accelerate their business.

We also want our customers to understand what your app does but also what it doesn’t do yet.

This should help prevent any blocking situations due to a lack of information in your app description or documentation.

Also this information should be kept up to date: don't forget to regularly update your app information each time you release a new app update.

Akeneo will be particularly vigilant to ensure that your app meets the following criteria:

#App Name (Mandatory)

• If your integration connects Akeneo PIM to a third-party software, then the name of your integration must contain the name of the third-party software.
• If you are a solution partner or an integrator please add your company name in your app name. Today, the App Store is open to multiple integrations addressing the same solution. Our joint customers need to be able to distinguish between them.
• The app name must not contain the "Akeneo" trademark.
• 70 characters max.
• The name should not contain marketing jargon. The name of your integration should only represent what it does, as concisely and efficiently as possible.

Some examples:

• If you are Adobe (Technology partner) and your app adresses Adobe commerce, your integration name should be:

—> Adobe commerce app

• If you are Sitation (Solution partner) and your Connector adresses Salesforce Commerce Cloud, your integration name should be:

—> Salesforce Commerce Cloud Connector by Sitation

• If you are Induxx (Solution partner) and your app translates production information via DeepL, your integration name should be:

—> DeepL App by Induxx

#Version (Mandatory)

• If your app has a version number, be sure to use a Semantic Versioning system https://semver.org/.
• 50 characters max.
• You don’t need to add a "V" letter before your version number.
• If your app does not have any version number (because you may have a SaaS continuous integration logic on your app), please indicate "SaaS".

#Logo (Mandatory)

• File format: JPG, PNG, SVG, WEBP
• File size: 2048 kB max
• Your app logo image should have a square format (eg: 200x200 pixels).
• Your app logo must not contain the Akeneo logo

#Short description (Mandatory)

• The “short description” should be a punchy catchphrase that explains what your app can help our joint customers in a very impactful way.
• 500 characters max.
• Text only (no layout, no links, no images).

#Description (Mandatory)

• Your “description” must describe:
  • The use-cases addressed by your app
  • The benefits users will get from your app
  • The exact scope of your app
  • If your integration is a Bundle, a Connector or a custom app, your documentation must also indicate where you can download it.
• Rich text (please add titles to separate your text, links to redirect to your website page or documentation, and some images to illustrate your point)
• The more complete the description of your app is, the more likely Akeneo users will connect/install and use it.

#Video link (Optional)

• Format: Youtube video
• The video should demonstrate how your app works in a very efficient way.

#Visuals (Mandatory)

• Your visuals must give an overview of your app UI. It will also help our joint customers understand what your app looks like and if it is easy to use.
• File format: JPG, PNG, SVG, WEBP
• File size: 2048 kB max

#Slug (Optional)

• The Slug represents the URL of your app on the App store for SEO purpose.
• Format: only in lowercase with letters and numbers, - and _ (no blank space)

#Categories (Mandatory)

• You app categories must represent the use cases addressed by your app
• You can select multiple categories

#Release notes (Optional)

• Your app release notes should give all the details about bug fixes and newly released features.
• If you added or modified a feature, please add a link to the related online documentation.

#Activation Button Set up (Mandatory, Only for app integrations)

• Activate Url: As per the App authentication process, you must indicate the “activate” URL of your app
• Callback Url: As per the App authentication process, you must indicate the “callback” URL of your app

#Requirements (Mandatory)

• Akeneo PIM editions and versions: You must specify which Akeneo PIM editions and versions your app is compatible with.

Define your app PIM edition and version compatibility as follows:

• List all API end-points you use on your app

• Check the PIM edition and version compatibility of these API end-points via our API reference documentation.

• And from that, you can figure out with which Akeneo PIM edition/version compatibility your app is compatible.

• Third-party software name, editions, versions: If your app enables the connection of Akeneo PIM to a third-party software, please write here all the information needed to understand which third-party software your app is compatible with.

#Help and support (Mandatory)

Support

• Support contact (Optional): You should indicate a support contact person (email) that users can contact for assistance. If you offer another way to contact your support, your must add the corresponding process to your documentation.

Documentation

• Documentation and documentation file (Mandatory): Here you must indicate where your app documentation is located:

  • Online documentation: If your app documentation is online and you want to set a link to it or if you want to write your documentation directly on the App Store: please use the “documentation” rich text editor field.
  • PDF documentation: If your app documentation is a PDF file, please upload it in the “documentation file” field.

  This documentation should be an install guide and a user guide to present all your app features.

  As a benefit, this documentation will also significantly reduce your workload for your app support team!

  Important requirements about your documentation:

  Your documentation must be in English. Akeneo is a global company and even if you target local customers exclusively in your country, all our joint customers should be able to understand your documentation. 😊

  If your integration is a Connector or a Custom App, your documentation must explain how a user can download and install it.

  Ìf your integration is an app, your documentation must explain how to connect the app via the PIM-integrated App Store.

  Your documentation must also explain how to configure your app with all the required details.

  Your documentation must also contain a specific user documentation part to explain how Julia, our dear PIM user, can use your integration to accelerate her business.

  Then, your documentation must have a dedicated chapter on the known limits of your integration (Not-yet-managed PIM data (scope limitations), scalability, performance…).

#Price

Please indicate the price model of your app.

Property	Description	Tips
Price type	Your pricing model.	You can choose between 3 options: "Free", "Fixed price" and "Quote based".
Price	Your app price.	Depending on your price type
Currency	Price currency.	Depending on your price type

#Feature List (Mandatory)

Depending on the selected Category for your app, a few extra "Feature List" select fields will be displayed for you to complete.

Category	Sections
E-commerce, Syndication, Print	Akeneo PIM data/properties
E-commerce, Syndication, Print	Connector/App capabilities
E-commerce, Syndication	Data synchronization
Translation	Akeneo PIM data managed by the extension
Translation	Extension settings
Translation	Extension capabilities
DAM	PIM EE compatibility with asset manager
DAM	PIM CE/GE compatibility
DAM	Both ways metadata synchronization

#Your app must have a good user experience (UX)

A poor app user experience causes users frustration and can negatively impact both, your brand and Akeneo brand. It can also increase the number of support requests.

That's why we will be particularly vigilant to ensure that your app meets the following criteria:

#Navigation

☐ Every page in my application has a title

☐ Each page gives access to information/features that are expected to be found on that page

☐ The navigation is organised in a coherent way to support effectively the main user flows

☐ My application has a breadcrumb trail, enabling my users to find their way around and navigate.

#Action buttons

☐ The buttons color is coherent with the associated action.

☐ The actions behind the buttons are clear (thanks to a clear label and a 'helper' if needed)

☐ For each critical action (eg. data deletion): the user is warned and a confirmation is requested.

☐ My users receive a clear system feedback for their key actions throughout the app (eg. confirmation of data being saved)

#Accessibility

☐ My application has no font size below 10 pixels.

#Onboarding & Support

☐ The first action for first time users is clearly displayed.

☐ All error messages in my application are adapted to my users profile, and provide options of resolution.

☐ My users can easily access the app support documentation at all times.

#Page structure & content hierarchy

☐ All the pages of my application follow a consistent/coherent structure, allowing my users to navigate the app easily.

☐ I made sure that the information is hierarchically organized to make sense to my users — headings, sub-headings, grouping similar information or features.

#Your app must guarantee a certain level of security

Because your app will either pull data from Akeneo to external services or push data to enrich the Akeneo PIM, your app must comply with Akeneo security policies. Each app which will be submitted for publication will be reviewed and will need to meet the security requirements described below. You'll also find more information and tips on the security requirements page to improve the security of your app.

#Security Publication Process

Before any app is accepted into our App Store, we scan it for potential security issues. The Akeneo Security team will perform the following tests on the source code of the app to be published:

• Source Composition Analysis to detect vulnerabilities on the dependencies your code is using.
• Secrets Scanning to detect potential secret management security flaws.
• OWASP Top 10-based Static Application Security Testing (SAST).
• Docker image vulnerability scanning if applicable.

If a potential security issue is detected on your app during the tests, we'll notify you to help you quickly address the issue and help keep your users safe.

#Submitting your code

Your App source code must be provided as part as the App Submission process.

• The source code MUST be provided as a .zip archive, following this specific format: <name_of_your_app>.zip. Please reach your Akeneo contact for more information.

#You must guarantee a certain level of service related to your app

#Lead management and commitment to responsiveness

We want to be sure you’re not going to miss out on important opportunities you may have via the App Store.

Your app page has a "Request more information" button and by default, all members of your organization on the App Store will receive an email notification each time a new client requests more information.

Once your App has been submitted, please make sure that all the business or presale contact persons in your organization have been added on the App Store. Double-check that the notifications are correctly directly to the interested parties.

Akeneo will be particularly vigilant to ensure that your service meets the following criteria:

#Support and SLA

We pay particular attention to the satisfaction of our joint customers when it comes to the maintenance of your app.

That's why we feel it's important for you to commit to the availability of your support teams and their ability to respond to any bugs reported on your App.

Akeneo will be particularly vigilant to ensure that your support service meets the following criteria:

#Your app must have passed the necessary tests to guarantee a certain level of quality.

Functional tests must have been performed on your app before submission to confirm it works with an Akeneo PIM instance.

Before we approve your app on Akeneo App Store, we will check whether you performed functional tests or not. These tests will ensure your App is ready for installation on a PIM environment.

#Mandatory tests

Quality is a MUST, and we urge you to run as many tests as possible to ensure your App works well for any type of product catalog.

Although we do not certify apps on the Akeneo App Store, Akeneo teams will always expect durable, efficient, and scalable apps.

Code quality tests

Are you using the proper coding conventions?

Make sure you take advantage of online tools, such as PHPCheckstyle, for those using PHP language.
To check if your code has common programming flaws like unused variables, empty cache blocks, or unnecessary object creation, you could also rely on PMD to improve your developments.

These tests will be essential if your extension aims to be open-source, as it will help others to contribute.

Unit tests

Each menu and each feature of your app should work properly in a PIM environment.

Tools like PHPunit or PHPSpec will help you conduct unit tests to confirm it does.

Functional tests

Functional tests should be conducted based on the user stories you have defined during the scoping of your app.

Scalability and Performance tests

Thanks to Akeneo PIM capabilities, our users can scale their activity and centralize hundreds, thousands, or up to millions of products.
Running scalability tests will challenge the performance of your extension for large amounts of data and help identify potential ways to improve it.