Test and debug Office Add-ins on a non-local server

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When you've completed development and testing on a localhost and want to stage and test the add-in from a non-local server or cloud account, you can use the tool office-addin-debugging for any Node.js-based add-in project. (The tool isn't supported in projects created with Visual Studio.)

Note

If you're working on a Windows computer, you may have another option for non-local testing. See Sideload Office Add-ins for testing from a network share.

Projects created with Teams Toolkit or the Office Yeoman Generator (Yo Office)

If your project was created with Teams Toolkit or Office Yeoman Generator (Yo Office), then the office-addin-debugging tool is already installed and your package.json file has start and stop scripts that invoke the tool. To use it for non-local testing, update the domain part of the URLs in your manifest to point to your staging server (or CDN as needed). Then run npm run start at the command line (or Visual Studio Code TERMINAL) to sideload the add-in for testing and debugging.

Important

The office-addin-debugging tool registers the add-in in the Windows registry or a special folder on a Mac. For an Outlook add-in, it also registers the add-in in Exchange. To avoid subtle bugs when developing, always end a testing session by running npm run stop to ensure that these registrations are removed and that the server process is fully stopped. Manually closing the server, the command line window (or TERMINAL), Visual Studio Code, or the Office application doesn't remove these registrations.

Other projects

If your project wasn't created with Teams Toolkit or Yo Office, run the tool with npx in the root of the project. Invoke it with its start command followed by the relative path to the manifest. The following is an example.

npx office-addin-debugging start manifest.json

This command sideloads the add-in for testing and debugging. The tool also works with an add-in only manifest.

There are many options for the start command. For details, see the README for the tool at office-addin-debugging.

Important

The office-addin-debugging tool registers the add-in in the Windows registry or a special folder on a Mac. For an Outlook add-in, it also registers the add-in in Exchange. To avoid subtle bugs when developing, always end a testing session by running npx office-addin-debugging stop to ensure that these registrations are removed and that the server process is fully stopped. Manually closing the server, the command line window (or TERMINAL), Visual Studio Code, or the Office application doesn't remove these registrations. If you used the --prod option with the start command, use the same option with the stop command.