apps activate points Custom apps at a version, usually the newest, or an earlier Cognite-certified one if you need to roll back.
How a version reaches Custom apps
- Deploy — Upload a draft with Deploying a Flows custom app. You can still change the files. The version is unsigned.
- Builder signs — A certified builder signs the bundle. The version is builder-signed. You can share a direct link. CDF shows a 14-day warning until Cognite certifies. See Builder certification and Code signing.
- Cognite certifies — Submit the app for Application certification. Cognite returns
.cert.sigfor the same bundle bytes. The version is Cognite-certified and still a draft. - Publish — Publishing locks the files. In production, you can publish only a Cognite-certified version. Custom apps does not change yet.
- Activate —
apps activatepoints Custom apps at that published version. You can point at the newest one, or an earlier Cognite-certified version to roll back.
Every publish to production needs a developer signature and an app certification signature (
.cert.sig).Version states
Lifecycle is draft or published. Each row is a signing state, and each column is a lifecycle state.You cannot publish unsigned or builder-signed apps to production.
New versions and rollback
A bug fix, feature, or dependency bump is a new version. Testers use the builder-signed draft link, and Custom apps keeps the last Cognite-certified version until you activate the new one. Go through Application certification again for the new version. To roll back, point Custom apps at an earlier published, Cognite-certified version. You don’t need to recertify. Do not runapps deploy against that versionTag. See Roll back to a published version.
Dev status
Cognite can grant Dev status to some non-production projects. Those projects accept the developer signature alone, which is useful for development, staging, and sharing prototypes with end users. A builder-signed version runs there without the 14-day production warning. An unsigned version stays owner-only.Dev status is an exception for non-production work, not the standard way to publish. Use it only when you need to share a prototype or a staging build without Application certification. Production projects always need both a developer signature and an app certification signature.
Further reading
- Deploying Flows custom apps — Interactive and CI/CD deployment, lifecycle commands, and rollback.
- Builder certification — Qualify to build Flows custom apps in customer environments.
- Code signing — Sign bundles with a developer signature.
- Application certification — Required for every app published to a production project.
- Dev status — Skip application certification on non-production projects.