Add-on Builder vs AppInspect vs slim. Which is the best? How to call them automatically?

[turbobobi]

I am investigating how to have a continuous build process for our Splunk addon and I saw that there are 3 options:

• slim -a cli tool that is a part of  Package apps with the Packaging Toolkit | Documentation | Splunk Developer Program
• AppInspect - a part of Validate quality of Splunk apps | Documentation | Splunk Developer Program
• Add-on Builder - Install the Add-on Builder - Splunk Documentation

slim gave me very little output and it wasn't clear what sort of validations it was running.
app-inspect is very configurable and provides rich output so I'm pretty happy with it.

However, I got a recommendation to trust the Add-on Builder's validations. Unfortunately, apart from using some Selenium manipulations to touch the Splunk UI, I wasn't able to identify a way to automatically call it validation logic from an HTTP API or a cli.

Finally, the output of AppInspect & the Add-on Builder differs - I'm currently checking why this is so.
Perhaps the validations are completely different ...

So my questions to the community are:
1. What is the best approach to validate a Splunk add-on?
2. How would you recommend automating at least the validation part of the process?

Thank you so much in advance!

[richgalloway · Accepted solution]

AppInspect is the tool to use to validate Splunk apps.  If you will be installing the app in Splunk Cloud then it must pass AppInspect.

[turbobobi]

Thank you for the reply, @richgalloway !

So, is it safe to assume that the validations of the Add-on Builder are a some sort of a subset of the validations of AppInspect?

[richgalloway]

I would not make that assumption since we don't know that AoB changes whenever AppInspect changes.  Use AoB to build your app and AppInspect to validate it.

[Marco_Develops]

Having already built a Splunk app and Publishing it on Splunkbase i'm familiar with  AppInspect and slim.

Slim is used to package your Splunk App.  Slim ships with Splunk, it's inside the Bin Folder.  Link To Slim Docs 

In regards to automation, you can use  AppInspect with Postman. It makes the AppInspect process easier. I made a video on how to use AppInspect with Postman  AppInspect with Postman Tutorial .  Also here is the link to the Docs: AppInspect With Postman .

I've never used Add-on Builder.

In conclusion, One tool isn't better than the other, they each serve their own purpose. Slim packages your app and AppInspect uses that packaged app to make sure its good for SplunkBase. 

-Marco