devops-cicd-generator_skill

Overview

This skill generates platform-specific CI/CD pipeline configurations for GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, and Azure DevOps. It produces complete, ready-to-apply pipeline files with build, test, security, and deploy stages and a setup guide listing required secrets and variables. Outputs are optimized for the chosen platform and include caching, matrix builds, and inline comments to aid onboarding.

How this skill works

The skill validates inputs (platform, tech_stack, minimal stages) then selects a platform template (YAML for GitHub/GitLab/Azure DevOps, Groovy for Jenkins). It maps requested stages to platform primitives (jobs, stages, steps), adds dependency caching, test/coverage commands, security scans, and deploy steps, and emits a pipeline file plus a markdown setup guide describing secrets and variables. For complex needs (multi-environment, approvals, advanced security) the skill escalates to an extended design with environment gates, artifact handling, and advanced caching strategies.

When to use it

• Starting a new project that needs a CI/CD pipeline from scratch
• Migrating pipeline definitions between GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, or Azure DevOps
• Standardizing pipelines across multiple repositories or teams
• Adding missing stages like security scans, coverage gates, or deploy approvals
• Updating pipelines after a tech stack change (language or runtime version)

Best practices

• Always lock dependency versions and enable dependency caching to reduce build time
• Fail fast on unit tests and enforce coverage thresholds with quality gates
• Keep secrets out of config; reference platform-managed secrets and environment variables
• Use environment-specific deployments with manual approvals for production
• Pin external actions/plugins to specific versions and add inline comments for maintainability

Example use cases

• Generate a GitHub Actions workflow for a Node.js app with matrix testing across Node versions and an image scan step
• Create a GitLab CI pipeline for a Python project with SAST (Semgrep) and artifact storage to the project registry
• Produce a Jenkinsfile for an on-premise Java monorepo with parallel builds and post-build artifact versioning
• Build an Azure DevOps YAML pipeline for a .NET service with staged deployments (dev→staging→production) and approval gates
• Standardize pipelines across microservices by generating templates with the same security and notification hooks