/harness

Harness CI/CD Command

Create, validate, and manage Harness pipelines and templates with comprehensive CI/CD workflows.

Overview

The /harness command provides a complete interface for Harness CI/CD operations including pipeline creation, template management, validation, and deployment triggering.

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Subcommands

1. /harness pipeline create <name>

Create a new Harness pipeline from templates or scratch.

Syntax:

/harness pipeline create <pipeline_name> [options]

Options:

--template <template>   Use pipeline template (standard-cicd, gitops, canary, blue-green)
--org <org_id>         Harness organization ID
--project <proj_id>    Harness project ID
--service <service_id> Service to deploy (optional)
--environment <env>    Environment (dev, staging, prod)
--repo <repo_url>      Source code repository
--branch <branch>      Default branch (default: main)
--dockerfile <path>    Dockerfile path (for Docker builds)
--registry <registry>  Docker registry connector
--output <file>        Save pipeline to file
--dry-run              Preview without creating
--interactive          Interactive configuration

Example 1: Standard CI/CD Pipeline

/harness pipeline create my-service-pipeline \
  --template standard-cicd \
  --org my-harness-org \
  --project my-project \
  --service my-service \
  --repo https://github.com/mycompany/my-service \
  --branch main \
  --registry docker-registry-connector

Output:

✓ Creating pipeline: my-service-pipeline
✓ Organization: my-harness-org
✓ Project: my-project
✓ Template: standard-cicd

Configuration:
  Service: my-service
  Source Repo: https://github.com/mycompany/my-service
  Branch: main
  Build Registry: docker-registry-connector

Pipeline Stages:
  1. Build & Test
     - Source: GitHub
     - Build: Docker
     - Test: Jest/pytest
     - Push: Docker registry

  2. Deploy Dev
     - Cluster: dev-cluster
     - Strategy: Rolling update
     - Approval: Automatic

  3. Deploy Staging
     - Cluster: staging-cluster
     - Strategy: Rolling update
     - Approval: Automatic

  4. Manual Approval
     - Approvers: [DevOps team]

  5. Deploy Production
     - Cluster: prod-cluster
     - Strategy: Blue-Green
     - Approval: Required

✓ Pipeline created successfully
Pipeline ID: my-service-pipeline-001
Harness URL: https://harness.company.com/pipeline/my-service-pipeline-001

Example 2: GitOps Pipeline

/harness pipeline create order-service-gitops \
  --template gitops \
  --service order-service \
  --environment dev,staging,prod \
  --manifest-repo https://github.com/mycompany/manifests \
  --gitops-connector argocd

Example 3: Canary Deployment

/harness pipeline create payment-service-canary \
  --template canary \
  --service payment-service \
  --canary-percentage 10 \
  --verify-duration 300 \
  --environment prod

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2. /harness pipeline validate <file>

Validate a Harness pipeline YAML configuration.

Syntax:

/harness pipeline validate <path> [options]

Options:

--strict               Enforce strict validation rules
--check-references    Verify all resource references exist
--show-warnings       Show all warnings
--fix-inline          Suggest inline fixes
--output <file>       Save validation report

Example:

/harness pipeline validate ./harness/pipeline.yaml --strict

Output:

Validating: ./harness/pipeline.yaml

Configuration:
  Name: my-service-pipeline
  Type: Pipeline
  Version: 1

✓ Syntax: Valid YAML
✓ Structure: Valid Harness format
✓ Stages: 5 stages (all valid)
✓ Steps: 12 steps (all valid)
✓ Expressions: 8 expressions (all valid)

References:
  ✓ Service: my-service (exists in project)
  ✓ Environments: dev (exists), staging (exists), prod (exists)
  ✓ Connectors: docker-registry (exists), k8s-cluster-dev (exists)
  ✓ Variables: All 6 variables defined
  ✓ Secrets: All 3 secrets accessible

Security:
  ✓ No hardcoded secrets
  ✓ RBAC checks passed
  ✓ Resource group restrictions valid

Best Practices:
  ⚠ Warning: No approval gate on production deployment
    Recommendation: Add manual approval step before prod

Overall: PASSED
  Valid: 100%
  Issues: 0 errors, 1 warning

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3. /harness template create <type> <name>

Create a reusable Harness template (step, stage, or pipeline).

Syntax:

/harness template create <template_type> <template_name> [options]

Template Types:

step            - Reusable step configuration
stage           - Reusable stage definition
pipeline        - Reusable pipeline template
stepgroup       - Group of related steps

Options:

--type <type>          Template type (step, stage, pipeline, stepgroup)
--description <desc>   Template description
--version <version>    Initial version (default: 1.0.0)
--org <org_id>        Organization scope (default: account-level)
--project <proj_id>   Project scope (optional)
--icon <icon>         Template icon
--inputs <file>       Variable definitions file
--output <file>       Save template to file
--interactive         Interactive template builder

Example 1: Deploy to Kubernetes Step Template

/harness template create step deploy-kubernetes \
  --description "Deploy service to Kubernetes cluster" \
  --version 1.0.0 \
  --inputs ~/templates/k8s-deploy-inputs.yaml

Template inputs file:

# k8s-deploy-inputs.yaml
inputs:
  - name: service_name
    type: string
    required: true
    description: Service name to deploy

  - name: namespace
    type: string
    default: default
    description: Kubernetes namespace

  - name: replicas
    type: int
    default: 3
    description: Number of replicas

  - name: image_tag
    type: string
    required: true
    description: Docker image tag

  - name: timeout_minutes
    type: int
    default: 10
    description: Deployment timeout

Output:

✓ Creating step template: deploy-kubernetes
✓ Version: 1.0.0
✓ Type: Step
✓ Scope: Account-level

Template Configuration:
  Name: deploy-kubernetes
  Description: Deploy service to Kubernetes cluster

  Inputs (5):
    - service_name (String, required)
    - namespace (String, default: default)
    - replicas (Integer, default: 3)
    - image_tag (String, required)
    - timeout_minutes (Integer, default: 10)

✓ Template created successfully
Template ID: step-deploy-kubernetes-1-0-0
Reference: {{.Values.template.deploy_kubernetes}}

Example 2: Build and Push Stage Template

/harness template create stage build-and-push \
  --description "Build Docker image and push to registry" \
  --version 2.0.0

Example 3: Complete CI/CD Pipeline Template

/harness template create pipeline standard-cicd-pipeline \
  --description "Standard CI/CD pipeline with build, test, and deploy" \
  --version 1.0.0 \
  --org my-org

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4. /harness template list

List all available Harness templates.

Syntax:

/harness template list [options]

Options:

--type <type>          Filter by type (step, stage, pipeline)
--scope <scope>        Filter by scope (account, org, project)
--org <org_id>        Organization ID
--project <proj_id>   Project ID
--search <query>      Search templates by name/description
--sort <field>        Sort by: name, updated, downloads

Example:

/harness template list --type step

Output:

Available Step Templates

Account-Level (12 templates):

Deployment:
  ✓ deploy-kubernetes (v2.1.0)
    Description: Deploy to Kubernetes cluster
    Updated: 2 weeks ago
    Uses: 34

  ✓ deploy-ecs (v1.5.0)
    Description: Deploy to AWS ECS
    Updated: 1 month ago
    Uses: 18

  ✓ deploy-lambda (v1.0.0)
    Description: Deploy to AWS Lambda
    Updated: 2 months ago
    Uses: 8

Build & Test:
  ✓ build-docker (v3.0.0)
    Description: Build Docker image
    Updated: 1 week ago
    Uses: 52

  ✓ run-tests (v1.2.0)
    Description: Run test suite with coverage
    Updated: 2 weeks ago
    Uses: 41

  ✓ code-analysis (v2.1.0)
    Description: Run SonarQube code analysis
    Updated: 3 weeks ago
    Uses: 27

Notifications:
  ✓ notify-slack (v1.0.0)
    Description: Send Slack notification
    Updated: 1 month ago
    Uses: 31

  ✓ notify-email (v1.0.0)
    Description: Send email notification
    Updated: 1 month ago
    Uses: 19

Organization-Level (5 templates):
  [List shows org-specific templates]

Project-Level (2 templates):
  [List shows project-specific templates]

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5. /harness deploy <pipeline>

Trigger a deployment pipeline execution.

Syntax:

/harness deploy <pipeline_name_or_id> [options]

Options:

--environment <env>    Target environment
--branch <branch>      Source branch
--tag <tag>           Artifact tag/version
--vars <file|json>    Pipeline variables (YAML/JSON)
--async               Don't wait for completion
--timeout <seconds>   Execution timeout
--wait-for <status>   Wait until status (Success, Failed, etc.)

Example 1: Deploy to Development

/harness deploy my-service-pipeline --environment dev

Output:

Triggering pipeline: my-service-pipeline
Environment: dev
Branch: main

Pipeline Execution Details:
  Execution ID: exec-a1b2c3d4e5f6
  Pipeline: my-service-pipeline
  Status: Running
  Started: 2024-01-16 10:30:00 UTC

Stages:
  1. Build & Test
     Status: Running
     Progress: [████████░░] 80%

  2. Deploy Dev
     Status: Queued

  3. Approval
     Status: Not started

  4. Deploy Staging
     Status: Not started

Real-time Log Stream:
  [10:30:02] Starting build...
  [10:30:15] Dependencies installed
  [10:30:45] Build completed
  [10:31:00] Running tests...
  [10:31:30] Tests passed (42 tests, 0 failures)
  [10:31:45] Building Docker image...
  [10:32:15] Docker image built: my-service:dev-a1b2c3d
  [10:32:20] Pushing to registry...

Waiting for completion... (Ctrl+C to detach)

Example 2: Deploy with Custom Variables

/harness deploy order-service-pipeline \
  --environment prod \
  --vars deployment-vars.yml \
  --wait-for Success

Variables file:

# deployment-vars.yml
replicas: 5
image_tag: "1.2.3"
enable_rollback: true

Example 3: Async Deployment (Fire and Forget)

/harness deploy payment-service-pipeline \
  --environment staging \
  --async

Output:

✓ Pipeline triggered
Execution ID: exec-xyz789
Status: In Progress
Check status at: https://harness.company.com/execution/exec-xyz789

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Common Workflows

Workflow 1: Create and Deploy Pipeline

# 1. Create pipeline from template
/harness pipeline create my-service \
  --template standard-cicd \
  --service my-service \
  --repo https://github.com/mycompany/my-service

# 2. Validate pipeline
/harness pipeline validate harness/pipeline.yaml --strict

# 3. Trigger deployment
/harness deploy my-service --environment dev

Workflow 2: Create and Use Custom Templates

# 1. Create custom step template
/harness template create step deploy-custom \
  --description "Custom deployment step"

# 2. List templates to verify
/harness template list --type step

# 3. Use in pipeline
/harness pipeline create app-pipeline --template standard-cicd

Workflow 3: Validate and Deploy

# 1. Validate pipeline locally
/harness pipeline validate ./harness/pipeline.yaml --strict

# 2. Deploy to dev
/harness deploy my-pipeline --environment dev

# 3. Monitor execution
/harness deploy my-pipeline --environment dev --wait-for Success

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Pipeline Templates Reference

Standard CI/CD

Description: Build → Test → Deploy Dev → Approve → Deploy Staging → Deploy Prod

Use When: Standard application deployment

/harness pipeline create my-app \
  --template standard-cicd \
  --service my-app

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GitOps

Description: Build image → Push manifest → ArgoCD syncs

Use When: GitOps deployment approach with Argo CD

/harness pipeline create my-app-gitops \
  --template gitops \
  --gitops-connector argocd

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Canary Deployment

Description: Deploy 5% → Verify → 25% → Verify → 100%

Use When: Risk-reducing gradual deployments

/harness pipeline create my-app-canary \
  --template canary \
  --canary-percentage 5

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Blue-Green Deployment

Description: Deploy to inactive → Verify → Switch → Cleanup

Use When: Zero-downtime deployments with instant rollback

/harness pipeline create my-app-blue-green \
  --template blue-green

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Best Practices

1. Always validate before deploying: Use pipeline validate --strict
2. Use templates for consistency: Don't create pipelines from scratch
3. Version your templates: Follow semantic versioning
4. Document variables: Clearly define all pipeline inputs
5. Test in dev first: Always validate in lower environments
6. Monitor deployments: Use --wait-for Success for critical deployments
7. Review execution logs: Check real-time logs during deployment

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Integration with Other Commands

# Scaffold with Harness integration
/scaffold nodejs-app my-app --harness

# Validate after scaffolding
/harness pipeline validate ./harness/pipeline.yaml

# Deploy from scaffolded project
/harness deploy my-app --environment dev

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Error Reference

Error	Solution
Service not found	Create service in Harness first
Invalid environment	Check environment exists in project
Connector not found	Create and configure connector
Insufficient permissions	Check RBAC roles and permissions
Pipeline validation failed	Review error details and fix YAML

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See Also

• /scaffold - Scaffold projects with Harness integration
• /template - Template management
• /generate - Code generation

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