Backstage on the Stack Overflow Podcast & A review of IDPs in 2025

Backstage updates: new CLI for catalog providers, auth screen uses app title, Postgres v18 support, ESLint UI CSS rule, TechDocs fixes, SES v2 emails, improved UI styles, Docker example app, updated docs.

Backstage v1.44.0 drops, and many plugins have new features added

Backstage 1.44.0 drops, and PagerDuty unveils a new end-to-end AI suite which includes Backstage amongst it's integrations.

New Backend migration guide, Uplight case study, and v1.32 is here

A New article: The Ultimate Guide to Catalog Completeness, a New video alert: ASOS talk about their Backstage instance and v1.32-next is up

Backstage LinkedIn, Cost Management

A New community is starting (Backstage LinkedIn)!. We also have an new article on Backstage & Cost Management and Roadie is now on v1.30.

Catalog Completeness, ASOS, the Community YouTube and v1.32-next

A New article: The Ultimate Guide to Catalog Completeness, a New video alert: ASOS talk about their Backstage instance and v1.32-next is up

Scaling Backstage, CNCF launch a new Backstage course

1.31 is here, the CNCF are launching a new course, and we're blogging about handling Backstage when it gets big.

Improved performance, Viktor Farcic reviewing Backstage and new plugins

Improving Backstage Performance, the new Backend is now default, Viktor Farcic reviews Backstage (and Roadie) and there are a whole bunch of new plugins: GitHub Co-pilot Adoption Metrics, LaunchDarkly and Shortcut

Measuring Catalog correctness, Saxo Bank interview

Measuring Catalog correctness, the Scaffolder and the New Backend System are grown-ups now, Saxo Bank with Jinhong and Per and a new Pulumi plugin.

Recent/Top components, Custom plugins, and BackstageCon is coming up

New homepage widget, Improved Contributing Guidelines, New article on Custom plugins, *and* BackstageCon is around the corner!

i18n, shell into pod, production considerations

Backstage is getting i18n! Shell into pods without leaving Backstage, Roadie’s refreshed Catalog UI dropped and a New TNS article: Considerations for Backstage in Production

TechDocs default plugins, OpenCost

New OpenCost plugin, Techdocs: Specify default MkDocs plugins for all mkdocs.yaml files, and migrating Auth to the New Backend System (help wanted!)

New release (1.17), Zalando, dynamic plugins RFC

New Backstage release: 1.17, Zalando and Backstage: 30 plugins, 40k entities, thousands of happy Builders and a new RFC - Dynamic backend plugins (with an open PR already) - weight in!

New Relic plugin, extra actions examples

A New Relic Browser plugin is now available! Built-in Scaffolder actions are getting improved usage examples and we've got some ideas on how to secure your software supply chain with Backstage

Traits of successful adopters, CFP last days

New article: Traits of successful adopters, Roadie launches Tech Insights, BackstageCon CFP: submit before August 6th (this Sunday)!

New release (1.16), Scaffolder, interview

Backstage 1.16 is here! New Scaffolder tutorial: create a template to onboard entities. Video interview: what does a dev want from their Platform. Configuring pgadmin to access the backstage databases in a kubernetes cluster

What a holistic IDP looks like

Case study: how Stash is using Backstage to track health and ownership holistically. New to Platform Engineering? Start with the Scaffolder.

GA4 support, New Backend going GA

New feature: Google Analytics 4 in Backstage, Starting now: the big migration to the New Backend System, Looking to talk with Backstage Adopters

1.15 is here! +Frontend evolution RFC

Backstage 1.15 release: breaking changes, security fixes, and new features, Frontend System Evolution: a new RFC worth reviewing, Backstage Users Unconference: a wrap-up

Kubernetes suggested fixes, Nomad plugin, CFP open

New in: Kubernetes errors? Get Backstage to suggest fixes! Hashicorp Nomad plugin is here, Backstage Users Unconference - see you tomorrow! BackstageCon - submit a talk!

MaterialUI v5, find unprocessed entities

New in: Support for MaterialUI v5, find Unprocessed entities, Backstage Users Unconference - RSVP now! BackstageCon - save the date!

DevTools plugin, deprecating React 16, CNCF Platforms survey

New DevTools 🧰 plugin - everything you need to know about your instance without leaving Backstage, Deprecating React 16 in Backstage, White paper: Managed Backstage vs self-hosted Backstage

Safe access to Badges, K8s pod logs

New in: Backstage Badges coming to authenticated backends, Kubernetes plugins: pod logs and upgrade, Announcing the new Unpacked Conference

Automatic orphaned cleanup, Scaffolder permissions

One of the most impressive releases of Backstage was dropped. Let’s recap what’s new: built-in support for deletion of orphaned entities, Scaffolder permissions and filters, 3 breaking changes

Go SDK with CLI access, Fixed Stack Overflow plugin,

There are also great updates in Backstage this week: New Go SDK: access the Backstage API through the CLI and use it in Go apps. The Stack Overflow plugin now supports PAT authentication. New in: what is Platform Engineering, according to the CNCF (with a Backstage mention

Simplified Microsoft Auth, Scaffolder breaking change, first Project Area Maintainers

Some Backstage updates and mind a small heads-up: Microsoft (ie. Azure) Auth provider now manages more complexity, so you don’t have to. The first Project Area Maintainers are now listed on GitHub! Watch out for errors in your Scaffolder templates: a bug was introduced in the `EntityPicker` in 1.12

Scaffolder Confluence to MKDocs, Adoption tips

How do you make 100% of your developers use your Developer Portal? Get insights from two Backstage adopters who’ve managed to do it.

New governance model, OAuth redirect flow

Here are some actually exciting news: Backstage’s New Governance model just dropped, 8 new org members were added, new in: OAuth redirect flow instead of pop-up based, this Thursday: hear tips for making people use your Backstage instance

1.14, cancel Scaffolder task, `onboard`

I am very excited to see share the latest cool stuff in the Backstage ecosystem: Backstage 1.12 release, Cancellable Scaffolder tasks, `onboard` - a new opinionated CLI command to simplify adoption, Improved Backstage docs with proper file name references

Adoptions tips, Pragmatic Engineer feature

Anyhow, I’m thrilled to share this week: the feature column about Backstage published in the iconic Pragmatic Engineer newsletter, an upcoming CNCF Webinar with tips for spreading Backstage in your org, and the new PuppetDB Catalog plugin.

Paginated Catalog results (!), fast link to API Docs

I’m super excited to share that the epic quest to add paginated results to the Catalog entities list has been merged! In other upcoming news, you’ll soon have a faster way to access API Docs from the dependencies widgets. We also present three new vendor integration plugins.

New Catalog plugins, alpha release for New Backend

Hi y’all! We’ve got some heavy hitters this week! a plugin that lets you bring language information in the Entity Page, a plugin that enabled entity feedback, and the new Backend system.

Tech Docs: default setup and zoomable images

This week, I’m highlighting recent contributions that will make Tech Insights easier to adopt and use. Additionally, I’m sharing the new Microsoft Calendar plugin.

New GraphQL Voyager plugin, Azure DevOps multi-project

This week I’m presenting you the oven-fresh GraphQL Voyager plugin and support for multi-project discovery in Azure DevOps through a wildcard. Coincidentally, both of these contributions come from the Netherlands 🧡!

Next Backend teasers, new GitLab plugin

This week I’m bringing you some spoilers on what the next Backend System will look like, an explanation of the current state of the GitLab Backstage plugin, and a new search feature.

Markdown in Scaffolder actions, reusable components

Get ready to beat the so-called “blue Monday” with some good Backstage news. This week I’m highlighting that you can now use markdown in Scaffolder action descriptions, import Scaffolder’s reusable components, and customize the shell app in which you preview TechDocs while writing them.

Entity peek-ahead, GitHub webhooks support for Users and Groups

This week I’m highlighting a new component to preview entities before clicking on them, new support for Users and Groups event-based updated from GitHub, and a new option for customizing the Search page when there are no results.

1.10 release, embedded Scaffolder

We’ve got a new release with lots of improvements on the Scaffolder, a guide to all the incident management plugins available on Backstage, and an upcoming feature that lets you embed Scaffolder templates right into an entity page to let teams act in context.

Custom field explorer, standardized AWS access, 10x growth

Welcome to 2023! Since the last newsletter, Backstage 1.9 dropped, and the project wrapped a calendar year with nearly 10x growth in adopters. Let’s start by reviewing some highlights of the latest release, a packed one for sure.

RCE vulnerability, Events API, incremental entities, security

Alright, y’all, buckle up! I’m bringing you huge news this week. First is an invitation to upgrade past Backstage 1.5 (if you haven’t), then I’ll review the new exciting Events API, and finally introduce the new incremental entity provider.

Backstage 1.7, import emails from GitHub

The newsletter highlights the most recent Backstage 1.7, the upcoming ability to import users’ emails from GitHub, and the new meta-issue that makes it easier to contribute to the Catalog.

New LF course, Scaffolder resources

I highlight the new Linux Foundation course and resources for writing scaffolder templates. Bonus: there’s a new GroupListPicker UI element in Backstage.

BackstageCon recordings, KubeCon wrap up

In this newsletter, I share my favorite talks and experiences last week in Detroit at BackstageCon and KubeCon.

Breaking change in the permissions framework, per-page Search

This week, the newsletter highlights an improvement in the permissions framework that introduces a breaking change and a new UI component available in the Search plugin to let the user decide how many items they want to see per page.

Upcoming Backstage talks!

We’re two weeks away from the very first BackstageCon in Detroit. The featured talks will give you a chance to learn directly from the maintainers, do more with Backstage, and get adoption tips. If you’re not attending this time, don’t worry! All talks will be recorded and made available shortly after the conference.

Scaffolder custom functions and links in your templates

Recently, I’ve noticed a general uptick in the Scaffolder’s usage both at Roadie and other adopters. This week, I highlight two new contributions to the Scaffolder: the ability to define custom functions for your templates and adding links to them. Both of these will prove handy for everyone using software templates!

Backstage 1.6, entities playlists, Azure resources

The new version of Backstage is out and brings exciting new features and a security fix in the Scaffolder. You can now create collections of entities with the Playlist plugin. There’s also a new Azure plugin and an interesting case study about SoundCloud’s adoption journey.

Filter GitHub repos, entity validation, OSS Summit

This week features contributions from the community in the Catalog to mitigate the rate-limits problem by filtering repositories, and an entity validator in the Catalog Client. If you are attending OSS Summit Europe this week, don’t miss out on Backstage at the event.

Backstage Security audit, upcoming events, paginated Pull Requests hub

The CNCF sponsored a security audit of the framework, and its results are out! This week, the third Backstage Users Unconference will take place virtually, and BackstageCon Detroit agenda is confirmed! The contribution highlight of the week is the ability to show more than 10 PRs in the Pull Requests Hub plugin.

Upcoming BackstageCon agenda and CFP results

This week's newsletter spotlights a recent cleaning up we’ve noticed in Backstage, invites you to tune in on Wednesday for BackstageCon schedule announcement, and invites you to the Backstage Users Unconference next week.

New Backstage 1.5 is out!

New Backstage is out! Upgrade to 1.5 to use the new GithHub Entity provider, try out the experimental plugin reconfiguration and backend system evolution, and profit from three recent plugins.

community milestone, new Github issues plugin

This week’s newsletter features a new plugin for Github issues, a new guide for customizing icons in your instance, and a milestone for converting discovery processors into entity providers.

improved Tech Docs for monorepos, multiple SonarQube instances

This week’s newsletter highlights contributions to simplifying setting up documentation for monorepos and to configure multiple SonarQube instances. We also share a 20% discount on KubeCon on-site tickets.

New Backstage Users Unconference, active page in TechDocs

In this week’s newsletter, we announce the new Backstage Users Unconference, highlight a UX improvement, and take a sneak peek into the new Scaffolder Wizard.

New version, Search v1, new Apollo plugin, CFP deadline

This week’s newsletter goes through the highlights that come with the new Backstage release, including Search V1 and the new Apollo Explorer plugin.

Upcoming Backstage backend APIs, EKS Clusters in the Catalog

This week’s newsletter introduces the state of Backstage’s Backend system evolution regarding plugins, announces a new way of ingesting infrastructure into the Catalog, and shares Roadie’s new security certification.

Backstage in VSCode, search highlights, advanced filtering

This week’s newsletter highlights the new Backstage Support VSCode extension and brings spoilers of what Backstage 1.4 has in store for us: highlighting in the search page and advanced filters for orphan entities or with errors.

OpenAPI $ref, node support, new plugins

This week’s newsletter features the latest developments on the support for OpenAPI $ref in the Catalog, the recently added node support policy, two new integration plugins, and Backstage’s vacation schedule.

gRPC improvements

Backstage keeps evolving to support a wider array of teams. This week, we’ve seen two exciting new features for those using gRPC—the modern open source high performance Remote Procedure Call framework—: support for API Docs and a live playground. Before we get there, let me celebrate how fast Backstage is growing!

5 new features

The new Backstage version is full of exciting features including Scaffolder dry-runs, a template editor, new plugins, and more!

Huge Milestones Achieved

4 big milestones were achieved in the past week. A birthday, a 1.0 release, 100 public adopters and CNCF Incubation.

Tons of TechDocs improvements

Recent weeks have seen a flurry of activity around TechDocs. These changes make TechDocs more readable and easier to use.

The Ultimate Guide to Backstage

This week, we published a 2,000+ word, ultimate guide to Backstage. Plus, Spotify publish an awesome looking CI/CD statistics plugin.

The Backstage Unconference returns

The Backstage Users Unconference returns on March 3rd. Plus, we announce our Backstage Bites video series.

New Year, New Roadmap

It’s that time of year where we’re all making resolutions and Backstage is no different. The official roadmap has been updated to make the short term priorities clear.

Backstage by the numbers in 2021

6 numbers which sum up Backstage in 2021

Backstage for monorepos

Plus the latest great features released... a search modal and steps towards Tech Insights.

Backstage Unconference tomorrow!

Also, work has started on Tech Insights and TechDocs is now slightly easier to set up.

Join us at the first Backstage Unconference

A look at the upcoming Backstage events for your calendar. Plus, learn about the new Prometheus plugin, Bugsnag plugin and dependency mapping plugins.

The first ever Backstage job post?

Multiple companies demo their internal Backstage deployments and we round up the PRs merged in the past few weeks.

TechDocs search is here

Backstage now supports searching TechDocs in three different search engines. Learn about the pros and cons of each.

July community contributions recap

The Backstage maintainers were on summer vacation for the month of July, but this didn't stop the contributions from flowing. 200 pull requests were merged during this holiday month.

Search V1 release & easier plugin maintenance

Backstage search reaches the v1 alpha milestone and plugin maintenance is about to get a whole lot easier.

A guide to adopting Backstage

Plus... a recap of community session 4 and a look at the new Backstage catalog UI.

Expedia Case Study

An interview with a large org who are adopting Backstage at a frantic pace

Spotify's product story

A look into the history of Backstage at Spotify

View your org chart inside Backstage

How Spotify use Backstage to form a collective knowledge graph and control cloud costs.

Code coverage plugin and growing Backstage team

Code coverage plugin, use cases for security and compliance, and both the Spotify and Roadie teams are growing.

Plugin composability update

The last pieces are in place for the new Backstage plugin composability API. All the links you need are below. We also have a technical TechDocs deep dive. Try saying that 10 times fast!

Progress made on Backstage search

Search begins its migration to the backend, read only mode and some catalog importer improvements.

Spotify story - Why OSS Backstage succeeded

Backstage was announced 1 year ago. We look at how Spotify developed the internal skills required to launch Backstage to its current heights.

Upcoming meetups and Kubernetes CRD support

Heads up on two upcoming Backstage meetups and a roundup of the latest merged pull requests.

Custom actions for the scaffolder

The latest beta of the scaffolder opens up a world of potential for templating applications. We run through an example below.

How Spotify drove Backstage adoption

A recap of the first Backstage community session and a look at some new features which dropped last week.

Next steps for the scaffolder

A look at Spotify's plans for the scaffolder in the early part of 2021.

Upcoming Backstage community meetup 👯

Make sure you don't miss the first community meetup of 2021. Also, get a preview of an upcoming Roadie feature.

Happy 1 year anniversary to Backstage 🎂

Three new plugins were launched in the last week. Plus, 3 great features have kicked off.

high potential internal Backstage features

So much has happened in the year since Backstage was released. Let's look forward to see what the future might have in store.

Updated roadmap for 2021

A look forward at the Backstage roadmap in H1 2021 and backwards to the merges that happened in December.

Pagerduty plugin, Org plugin and external TechDocs storage

The Pagerduty plugin, API graphs and an update to the Sentry plugin also included.

TechDocs Production Architecture

When to use various TechDocs architectures and a look at their roadmap for the next 6 months. 🛣

Easier service onboarding

Onboard your services to Backstage by using the GitHub repo importer that Roadie has developed and contributed.

The search for search is almost over

Lots of potential building up as we near year's end. The Backstage search plugin is nearly ready.

Open Governance

Backstage joins Kubernetes and other notable projects in adopting an open governance model. 🤝

Backstage Kubernetes Plugin

The Backstage Kubernetes plguin - What it does and how it can help you.

Backstage for websites

The fifth edition of the Roadie Backstage Weekly newsletter. Tracking website performance over time with Backstage.

Cost Insights

The fourth edition of the Roadie Backstage Weekly newsletter. Managing cloud costs by shifting left with Backstage.

CNCF Sandbox

The third edition of the Roadie Backstage Weekly newsletter. Backstage has been donated to the CNCF.

New Backstage version released

The first edition of the Roadie Newsletter. The pieces are starting to come together.

Docs in Backstage

The first edition of the Roadie Newsletter. Find service documentation without NSA-level discovery skills.