/gitops-cicd

name: gitops-cicd
description: "Sets up CI/CD pipelines and GitOps for Control Plane. Use when the user asks about GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Bitbucket, CircleCI, building images in CI, kaniko, cpln apply in pipelines, or service-account tokens for CI."

GitOps & CI/CD

In pipelines the **CLI is the primary interface**: authenticate with a service-account key in `CPLN_TOKEN` (no profile needed), push an image, `cpln apply --ready` the manifests. MCP tools do the work around the pipeline: `mcp__cpln__get_resource` with `schema: true` before authoring manifests, `mcp__cpln__list_deployments` to confirm a deploy landed. The usual failure is image builds: `cpln image build` runs the build **locally through Docker**, so a runner without a daemon needs a different flow (a daemonless builder, or `--remote` to build on Control Plane). Pick by runner capability, not by habit.

Service-account authentication

cpln serviceaccount create --name ci-deployer --org ORG
cpln serviceaccount add-key ci-deployer --description "ci key" --org ORG   # --description is required

The JSON response's `key` value is the credential — keep it on the user's machine and store it as a masked/secret variable in the CI platform; never paste it into chat. MCP: `mcp__cpln__add_key_to_service_account` (needs `?toolsets=full`) creates the service account if it is missing and returns a Console link where the user creates the key privately.

Grant least privilege (`access-control` skill): pushing images needs `create` on the `image` kind; `cpln apply` needs create/edit on every kind the manifests contain. `cpln group add-member superusers --serviceaccount ci-deployer` works but grants full org access; prefer a scoped policy (`mcp__cpln__create_policy`).

Set in the platform's variable settings, never inline in scripts:

| Variable | Role | |---|---| | `CPLN_TOKEN` | Service-account key (secret/masked) | | `CPLN_ORG` | Target org | | `CPLN_GVC` | Target GVC, when the pipeline targets one | | `CPLN_SKIP_UPDATE_CHECK=1` | Silence CLI update checks in logs |

With `CPLN_TOKEN` set the CLI runs a profile-less session; resolution is flag, then env var, then profile (`cpln` skill). Prefer that session: it keeps the token off the command line. The official example repos persist the token with `cpln profile update default --token "$CPLN_TOKEN"` instead (`create` is an alias of `update`); keep that only in a job that never prints its commands. Never pass `--token` on ad-hoc commands and never echo the token.

Installing the CLI on runners

• npm (runner has Node 16+): `npm install -g @controlplane/cli@X.Y.Z` — pin the version. This installs both `cpln` **and** `docker-credential-cpln`.
• Slim or non-Node images: the binary tarball — copy **both** binaries onto PATH. The [containers guide](https://docs.controlplane.com/cli-reference/ci-cd-development/container-image.md) has Dockerfiles for each method, and covers running the CLI inside cron workloads.

Building images in CI: pick the flow by runner capability

`cpln image build --push` builds locally: with a Dockerfile it shells out to `docker buildx build`, otherwise it downloads the `pack` CLI and runs buildpacks. It needs a working Docker daemon and `docker-credential-cpln` on PATH, and it configures registry auth itself — no separate `docker-login` step. Flag behavior and upload rules: `image` skill.

| Runner | Build flow | |---|---| | Daemon available — GitHub-hosted runners, GitLab with the `docker:dind` service (privileged runners, including gitlab.com SaaS), CircleCI `setup_remote_docker`, Bitbucket `docker` service | `cpln image build --name APP:TAG --push`, or keep an existing docker-native pipeline: login below, then `docker build --platform linux/amd64` + `docker push` | | No daemon — self-managed GitLab runners without privileged mode, locked-down Kubernetes executors | A daemonless builder (kaniko, buildah, rootless BuildKit) pushing straight to the registry, or `cpln image build --name APP:TAG --remote`, which builds on Control Plane with only `CPLN_TOKEN` and the org |

**A remote build gives up the local build options.** `--dockerfile`, `--builder`, `--buildpack`, `--env`, `--env-file`, and `--platform` do not apply — the service detects the build itself and always produces `linux/amd64`. Choose a daemonless builder instead when a job needs build args or a non-amd64 target. `--repo https://github.com/... --branch main` skips the checkout and builds what the service clones; a private repo needs the org's git connection, and in a **non-interactive pipeline the CLI prints an authorization URL and exits**, so authorize it once from a workstation first.

The org registry is a **standard Docker registry**: `ORG.registry.cpln.io`, username = the literal string `<token>`, password = the service-account key. Any tool that can push an OCI image works:

echo "$CPLN_TOKEN" | docker login ORG.registry.cpln.io -u '<token>' --password-stdin

With the CLI installed, `cpln image docker-login` is the faster equivalent for raw `docker push`/`docker pull` jobs: instead of storing a secret it registers the `docker-credential-cpln` helper for the org registry, and Docker resolves the token from `CPLN_TOKEN` (or the profile) at every later call. Use the raw `docker login` form only where the CLI isn't on the box — kaniko auth files, CLI-less build jobs.

GitLab job without a daemon (kaniko; the runner must be amd64 — kaniko cannot cross-build):

build:
  image:
    name: gcr.io/kaniko-project/executor:debug
    entrypoint: [""]
  script:
    - mkdir -p /kaniko/.docker
    - printf '{"auths":{"%s.registry.cpln.io":{"username":"<token>","password":"%s"}}}' "$CPLN_ORG" "$CPLN_TOKEN" > /kaniko/.docker/config.json
    - /kaniko/executor --context "$CI_PROJECT_DIR" --destination "$CPLN_ORG.registry.cpln.io/my-app:$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA"

On GitHub, `docker/login-action` + `docker/build-push-action` also work with the same registry/credentials. I