Workflows Overview

Workflows are an optional layer on top of the base build system. They let you define how your targets map to CI/CD jobs and automatically generate the platform-specific YAML files for GitHub Actions and Azure DevOps Pipelines.

When Do You Need Workflows?

Use workflows when you want Atom to generate your CI/CD configuration. If you only run builds locally or maintain your YAML by hand, stick with BuildDefinition.

Enabling Workflows

1. Inherit from WorkflowBuildDefinition instead of BuildDefinition:

   [BuildDefinition]
   [GenerateEntryPoint]
   internal partial class Build : WorkflowBuildDefinition
   {
       // ...
   }
   

2. Override the Workflows property to declare your pipelines.

3. Add a platform module (DecSm.Atom.Module.GithubWorkflows or DecSm.Atom.Module.DevopsWorkflows) so Atom knows which YAML format to emit.

4. Run dotnet run -- GenerateWorkflowFiles (alias: Gen) to write the files.

What WorkflowBuildDefinition Adds

WorkflowBuildDefinition extends BuildDefinition with:

Feature	Description
Workflows property	An IReadOnlyList<WorkflowDefinition> describing each CI/CD pipeline.
IGenerateWorkflowFiles	The GenerateWorkflowFiles target that writes YAML.
WorkflowGenerator	Resolves the build model into a platform-neutral workflow model.
WorkflowResolver	Analyses target dependencies, artifacts, and variables to build the job graph.
WorkflowLifecycleHook	A lifecycle hook that warns when generated files are outdated.

How Generation Works

1. The WorkflowResolver examines your Workflows definitions and your target dependency graph.
2. It groups targets into jobs, splitting on artifact/variable boundaries (since those require separate CI jobs).
3. The WorkflowGenerator maps each job to a WorkflowModel.
4. A platform-specific WorkflowFileWriter (e.g. for GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps) renders the model to YAML and writes it to disk.

Next Steps

→ Workflow Definitions