Developing Pipelines

---
name: developing-pipelines
description: Use when creating, modifying, or debugging Buildkite pipeline YAML files - ensures current syntax from official docs, validates configurations before proposing changes, and references Buildkite best practices instead of relying on training data
---

# Developing Buildkite Pipelines

## Overview

**Reference official Buildkite documentation before making pipeline changes.** Your training data may contain outdated syntax, deprecated patterns, or missing features.

## When to Use

Use this skill when:
- Writing or modifying pipeline.yml files
- Creating dynamic pipelines
- Debugging pipeline configuration errors
- Adding new step types (command, trigger, block, wait)
- Configuring dependencies, artifacts, or parallelism
- Setting up Buildkite plugins
- Configuring or debugging Buildkite plugins

Do NOT use for:
- Checking build status (use buildkite-status skill)
- General CI/CD concepts (language-agnostic advice)

## The Iron Rule

**NEVER propose Buildkite YAML without consulting the reference docs.**

## Detecting buildkite-builder

**Check for buildkite-builder usage before proceeding:**

buildkite-builder is detected when BOTH conditions are true:
1. `.buildkite/pipeline.yml` references Docker image containing "buildkite-builder"
2. Pipeline Ruby files exist: `.buildkite/pipeline.rb` OR `.buildkite/pipelines/*/pipeline.rb`

When detected, announce:

> "I see you're using buildkite-builder for dynamic pipeline generation. I'll work with your pipeline.rb files and reference the Ruby DSL."

Then load buildkite-builder reference documentation as needed.

## Working with Plugins

### Before Modifying Plugin Configuration

When editing pipeline steps that use plugins:

1. **Identify plugins** - Note all `plugins:` entries in the step
2. **Determine source:**
   - Default org `buildkite-plugins` if no org specified
   - Parse explicit org from `{org}/{plugin}#version` format
3. **Load documentation:**
   - **Cached:** Check [references/plugins/{plugin-name}.md](references/plugins/)
   - **Official (not cached):** Fetch from Buildkite directory or GitHub
   - **Internal:** Fetch README from `github.com/{org}/{plugin}-buildkite-plugin`
4. **Match versions** - If pipeline specifies version, fetch that version's docs from GitHub tag

### Fetching Plugin Documentation

**Buildkite directory (latest):**
```
https://buildkite.com/resources/plugins/{org}/{plugin-name}-buildkite-plugin
```

**GitHub README (version-specific):**
```
https://github.com/{org}/{plugin-name}-buildkite-plugin/tree/{version}
```

### Plugin Discovery

**"Is there a plugin for X?"**

1. Check [references/plugins/index.md](references/plugins/index.md) for common plugins by category
2. Fetch Buildkite directory: `https://buildkite.com/resources/plugins/`
3. Search by task type (caching, docker, secrets, etc.)

**Internal plugins:**

Search org's GitHub for repos matching `*-buildkite-plugin`

## Workflow

### 1. Detect buildkite-builder (if present)

Check for buildkite-builder usage:
- Docker image in `.buildkite/pipeline.yml` contains "buildkite-builder"
- `.buildkite/pipeline.rb` OR `.buildkite/pipelines/*/pipeline.rb` exists

If detected, announce and load buildkite-builder context.

### 2. Read Official Docs FIRST

**For YAML pipelines:**

Before writing or modifying pipeline YAML:

```markdown
**I need to reference the Buildkite documentation for [specific feature].**

Let me read [references/[relevant-doc].md](references/).
```

**For buildkite-builder pipelines:**

Before writing or modifying pipeline.rb:

```markdown
**I need to reference buildkite-builder documentation for [specific feature].**

Let me read [references/buildkite-builder/[relevant-doc].md](references/buildkite-builder/).
```

**Available references:**
- `step-types.md` - Command, trigger, block, wait, input steps
- `dynamic-pipelines.md` - Generating steps programmatically
- `dependencies.md` - Using depends_on, parallel steps
- `environment-variables.md` - Setting and using env vars
- `conditionals.md` - if/branches for conditional execution
- `artifacts.md` - Uploading and downloading build artifacts

See [references/index.md](references/index.md) for complete list.

**Plugin references (see [references/plugins/index.md](references/plugins/index.md) for full list):**
- `plugins/docker.md` - Docker container execution
- `plugins/docker-compose.md` - Multi-container environments
- `plugins/artifacts.md` - Artifact upload/download
- `plugins/ecr.md` - AWS ECR authentication
- `plugins/cache.md` - Dependency caching

**buildkite-builder references (when detected):**
- `buildkite-builder/index.md` - Overview and when to use
- `buildkite-builder/dsl-syntax.md` - Core DSL step types
- `buildkite-builder/step-attributes.md` - Common attributes
- `buildkite-builder/templates.md` - Reusable step templates
- `buildkite-builder/extensions.md` - Custom DSL and extensions
- `buildkite-builder/conditionals.md` - Conditional step generation
- `buildkite-builder/dependencies.md` - Step dependencies
- `buildkite-builder/artifacts.md` - Artifact handling
- `buildkite-builder/plugins.md` - Plugin usage in DSL
- `buildkite-builder/environment.md` - Environment variables

See [references/buildkite-builder/index.md](references/buildkite-builder/index.md) for complete guide.

### 3. Validate Syntax

After proposing changes, ALWAYS mention validation:

```bash
# Validate locally before pushing
buildkite-agent pipeline upload --dry-run < pipeline.yml

# Or validate a generated pipeline
./generate-pipeline.sh | buildkite-agent pipeline upload --dry-run
```

**For buildkite-builder pipelines:**

After proposing pipeline.rb changes:

1. Scan for ENV variable usage
2. Generate Docker validation command with placeholders
3. List detected environment variables

```bash
# Generate YAML locally
docker run --rm \
  -v $(pwd)/.buildkite:/workspace/.buildkite \
  -e BUILDKITE_BRANCH=main \
  -e BUILDKITE_COMMIT=abc123def \
  -e BUILDKITE_BUILD_NUMBER=1 \
  gusto/buildkite-builder:4.13.0

# Validate generated YAML
docker run ... | buildkite-agent pipeline upload --dry-run
```

Note: List any custom ENV variables found in pipeline.rb and suggest setting real values if needed.

### 4. Load Plugin Documentation

Before modifying any step with plugins:

1. **Identify all plugins** in the step's `plugins:` block
2. **For each plugin:**
   - Check [references/plugins/{name}.md](references/plugins/) for cached docs
   - If not cached, fetch from Buildkite directory or GitHub
   - If version specified, fetch version-specific docs
3. **Then proceed** with changes using accurate configuration reference

See [references/plugins/index.md](references/plugins/index.md) for lookup workflow and common plugins.

## buildkite-builder Troubleshooting Mode

When user mentions errors, "not generating", "YAML looks wrong", or validation failures with buildkite-builder:

1. **Read pipeline.rb** - Understand the Ruby DSL
2. **Run Docker command** - Generate YAML to see actual output
3. **Compare output** - Expected vs actual YAML
4. **Reference both docs** - buildkite-builder DSL AND Buildkite YAML docs
5. **Identify issue** - Where Ruby DSL produces unexpected YAML
6. **Propose fix** - Modify pipeline.rb to fix generation

This mode switches from Ruby-first to YAML-aware debugging.

## Common Mistakes

| Mistake | Fix |
|---------|-----|
| Writing YAML from memory | Read step-types.md first |
| "This should work..." | Validate with --dry-run |
| Custom script without checking plugins | Search buildkite.com/plugins |
| Speculating about errors | Check references/troubleshooting.md |
| Assuming syntax from training data | Verify against current docs |

## Dynamic Pipelines Pattern

When generating steps programmatically:

1. **Reference dynamic-pipelines.md** for current patterns
2. **Use Buildkite SDK** if available (see dynamic-pipelines.md)
3. **Validate generated output** with --dry-run
4. **Consider official examples** before custom implementations

```bash
# Standard pattern from official docs
.buildkite/pipeline.sh | buildkite-agent pipeline upload
```

## Debugging Configuration Errors

When pipeline fails with validation errors:

1. **Check error message** against references/troubleshooting.md
2. **Verify step structure** in references/step-types.md
3. **Validate dependencies** in references/dependencies.md
4. **Don't speculate** - look up the actual validation rules

## Red Flags - You're About to Violate

- "Based on my knowledge of Buildkite..."
- "This syntax should work..."
- "The validator likely fails because..."
- "Let me create a dynamic pipeline..." (without reading docs)
- Writing YAML before reading references
- Confident statements about Buildkite behavior without verification

**All of these mean: STOP. Read the docs first.**

## Real-World Impact

**Without this skill:**
- Agent wrote 2,600-line dynamic pipeline from memory (Scenario 2 baseline)
- Agent speculated about validator behavior without verification (Scenario 3 baseline)
- Agent assumed syntax patterns without checking current docs

**With this skill:**
- Reference official patterns and current syntax
- Validate before proposing
- Avoid outdated or deprecated approaches