About AppEngine
With the introduction of Dynatrace Apps, Dynatrace provides the possibility to build custom functionality on top of all the observability data ingested into Dynatrace in the form of custom apps. An app consists of two main components, a user interface written in React/TypeScript and a serverless backend, which allows you to run app functions written in TypeScript.
Why AppEngine?
The following areas make AppEngine unique:
- Logic to data: With AppEngine, you bring logic to data. Writing apps on the Dynatrace platform allows you to utilize the capabilities like Smartscape on Grail and Davis AI to solve your custom use cases close to where the data is stored.
- Secure and scalable app runtime: AppEngine adds security to your data by ensuring logic and data stay within the security boundaries and everything runs within a defined scope. Furthermore, AppEngine makes sure your app scales up to your needs.
- Integrates your environment: AppEngine enables you to create any integration to third party systems, thinkable or necessary, to solve all your custom use cases.
Following image provides a visual representation of how Dynatrace Apps interact with the Dynatrace platform via APIs, other Apps via intents, and third-party systems while also being able to connect to on-premises system through EdgeConnect.
Building blocks
The user interface of a Dynatrace app is written as a React single-page application and uses TypeScript to enhance the developer experience. The Dynatrace platform provides an extensive toolchain to make the life of an app developer as easy as possible:
- The Strato design system and design tokens provide fundamental and customizable UI components.
- TypeScript SDKs allow Apps to interact with the Dynatrace platform services (querying data, document service, state service, etc.).
- App functions as backend for your App, which are written in TypeScript and run within the Dynatrace JavaScript runtime.
- The Dynatrace App Toolkit allows you to easily create, build, and deploy both apps and their functions.