Integrating Custom SAPUI5 Applications into the SAP Fiori Launchpad

When businesses develop custom SAPUI5 applications (also called HTML5 apps) they often need to make them available in the SAP Fiori launchpad so end users can access them alongside standard SAP apps.

Many organizations turn to custom SAPUI5 applications when they have unique business processes that standard SAP apps don’t fully address. These apps can streamline niche workflows, replace manual tools like spreadsheets, or provide specialized features tailored to a department’s needs. Integrating them into the SAP Fiori launchpad ensures that custom tools become part of a unified, role-based user experience.

When you subscribe to the SAP Launchpad service, the content provider for HTML5 apps is created automatically during the activation of the subscription so you don’t need to create one like you would for an SAP S/4HANA on-premise system, for example.

The SAP Launchpad service acts as a central entry point for business applications hosted in SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). It provides a personalized, role-based homepage for users, making it easier for them to find the apps they need without navigating multiple systems. By housing both standard and custom apps, the launchpad becomes a single, streamlined access point for the entire organization.

Before you can work with the HTML5 app, there are a couple of steps you need to perform. While building the application itself is a technical task handled by developers, the following steps focus on preparing the app so it’s visible, properly configured, and accessible to the right users in the launchpad. This ensures the app not only functions correctly but also appears in the right context for end users. The process looks like this:

1. Develop the app.
2. Configure the json file to expose the app to the SAP Launchpad service.
3. Deploy the HTML5 app to your subaccount.

In the figure below, one app, Lighting Control, is available. We’ll use this as an example.

As with content from an SAP S/4HANA backend system, first you need to add the relevant apps to My Content. This is done the same way by selecting the app(s) and clicking +Add to My Content. This will add the app(s) to available content in the My Content tab, as shown in this figure.

From this point, the steps are the same as any other apps you want to make available on the SAP Launchpad site:

1. Assign the app to a catalog.
2. Assign the app to a group (optional).
3. Assign the app to an existing role, or create a new role, assign the app to this role, and assign the role to the relevant site.
4. If a new role is created, also remember to assign users to the role collection in the SAP BTP cockpit.

After this is completed, users will see the new app the next time they log in, as shown in this figure.

Integrating your custom SAPUI5 applications into the SAP Fiori launchpad ensures they’re part of a unified, role-based environment where users can quickly find and use the tools they need. Whether you’re deploying a single app or an entire portfolio, following these steps helps maintain consistency, security, and accessibility across your SAP landscape.

Editor’s note: This post has been adapted from a section of the book Configuring SAP Fiori Launchpad by Claus Burgaard and Setu Saxena. Claus is a UX and mobility expert with more than 20 years of technical experience at SAP. Setu is a UX architect at SAP Denmark. He has more than nine years of experience working with SAP.

This post was originally published 8/2025.