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Basic configuration

When an environment is created the system loads Automations from the default file: .gitpod/automations.yaml relative to your repository root. You can change this location using Projects. An automations.yaml consists of services and tasks defined at the root level, for example:

services: ...

tasks: ...

Services and tasks are a map where the key serves as reference for the corresponding item. When looking at task dependencies their use becomes clear.

See reference for a full example.

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Services in the automations.yaml

Example workflow:

services:
    database:
        name: PostgreSQL
        description: The backend database
        triggeredBy:
            - postEnvironmentStart
        commands:
            start: 'docker run --rm -t --name database postgres:latest'
    redis:
        name: Redis
        description: Our message bus
        triggeredBy:
            - postEnvironmentStart
        commands:
            start: >-
                docker run --rm -t --name redis -p 6379:6379
                redis/redis-stack-server:latest
    backend:
        name: Application Backend
        description: The application backend
        triggeredBy:
            - postEnvironmentStart
        commands:
            start: cd backend && go run main.go

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Tasks in the automations.yaml

Example workflow:

tasks:
    buildAll:
        name: Build All
        description: builds all code
        command: go build .
    runUnitTests:
        name: Runs unit tests
        command: go test -v ./...
    validate:
        name: Validate
        description: Builds and tests the code
        triggeredBy:
            - postEnvironmentStart
        dependsOn:
            - buildAll
            - runUnitTests

​
Iterating on Automations

You can iterate on Automations using the CLI which is available by default in every Gitpod environment. The CLI can

  • reload the Automations file using:
gitpod automations update [optional-path-to-automations.yaml]
  • start a task or service:
gitpod automations service start ...
gitpod automations task start ...
  • Simulate an environment trigger:
gitpod automations trigger postEnvironmentStart

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Using Automations outside of an environment

The CLI commands to interact with an environment’s Automations are also available outside of an environment. The following snippet brings up an environment, adds a task, runs it, waits for the task to complete and brings the environment back down again:

# gitpod env create will set the environment context to the newly created env
gitpod env create https://github.com/some/repo

# add the task to the environment
cat <<EOF | gitpod automations update -
tasks:
  build:
    command: go build ./...
EOF

# run it
gitpod automations task start build

# stop the environment
gitpod env stop

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