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