YAML Export Formats

This page documents how pipel8ne maps its pipeline model to each supported CI/CD format.

GitHub Actions

Output file: .github/workflows/<pipeline-name>.yml

Mapping

pipel8ne concept	GitHub Actions concept
Pipeline	Workflow
Trigger (push)	on.push
Trigger (pull_request)	on.pull_request
Trigger (schedule)	on.schedule[].cron
Trigger (tag)	on.push.tags
Stage	Group of jobs sharing a needs: dependency
Job	jobs.<job-id>
Job.runsOn	jobs.<job-id>.runs-on
Stage dependency	jobs.<job-id>.needs: [<upstream-job>]
Step (shell_command)	jobs.<job-id>.steps[].run
Step (git checkout)	jobs.<job-id>.steps[].uses: actions/checkout@v4
Credential reference	${ { secrets.SECRET_NAME } }

Example

name: ci
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test

  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: [test]
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build

---

GitLab CI

Output file: .gitlab-ci.yml (repository root)

Mapping

pipel8ne concept	GitLab CI concept
Pipeline	Pipeline
Trigger (push)	workflow.rules + $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH
Trigger (schedule)	GitLab CI schedules (configured in GitLab UI)
Trigger (tag)	rules + $CI_COMMIT_TAG
Stage	stages[] entry
Job	Job definition at root level
Job.runsOn	tags: (for self-hosted) or default runner
Stage dependency	stage: <stage-name> + needs:
Step (shell_command)	script: block
Credential reference	$SECRET_NAME (from CI/CD Variables)

Example

stages:
  - test
  - build

test:
  stage: test
  image: node:20
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npm test

build:
  stage: build
  image: node:20
  needs: [test]
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npm run build
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - dist/

---

Azure DevOps

Output file: azure-pipelines.yml (repository root, or path configured in the pipeline settings)

Mapping

pipel8ne concept	Azure DevOps concept
Pipeline	Pipeline
Trigger (push)	trigger.branches.include
Trigger (pull_request)	pr.branches.include
Trigger (schedule)	schedules[]
Trigger (tag)	trigger.tags.include
Stage	stages[].stage
Job	stages[].jobs[].job
Job.runsOn	pool.vmImage
Stage dependency	dependsOn:
Step (shell_command)	steps[].script
Credential reference	$(SECRET_NAME) (from Variable Groups)

Example

trigger:
  branches:
    include:
      - main

stages:
  - stage: Test
    jobs:
      - job: test
        pool:
          vmImage: ubuntu-latest
        steps:
          - script: npm ci
            displayName: Install dependencies
          - script: npm test
            displayName: Run tests

  - stage: Build
    dependsOn: Test
    jobs:
      - job: build
        pool:
          vmImage: ubuntu-latest
        steps:
          - script: npm ci
          - script: npm run build
            displayName: Build

---

Limitations

The following features may require manual edits to the exported YAML:

Feature	Notes
Matrix builds	Not supported in the visual editor — add manually
Reusable workflows / templates	Platform-specific; add uses: steps manually
Conditional steps (if:)	Add conditions manually after export
Artifact upload/download	Use platform-specific actions (e.g. actions/upload-artifact@v4)
Service containers	Add manually under services:
Caches	Add platform-specific cache actions manually