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You do not have to write a pipeline to get one. Point Ankra at a repository, and it reads the code, decides what the service is and how to test it, and commits a complete .ankra/pipeline.yaml in a pull request. That pipeline tests, builds, scans, gates and publishes from the first push.
ship runs the whole road: register the application, open the setup pull request, build the first image, deploy it and verify it. Run it again and it carries on from wherever it stopped. To read the setup pull request before anything deploys, use ankra application add . --name my-service --wait instead.

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What happens when you register a repository

  1. Detect. Ankra reads the files that name a stack: package.json (Next.js, Vite, React, Express, NestJS), requirements.txt or pyproject.toml (FastAPI, Django, Flask), go.mod, Cargo.toml, pom.xml or build.gradle, Gemfile (Rails), composer.json (Laravel) and mix.exs. Failing those it counts file types, and a root index.html with nothing else is a static site.
  2. Dockerfile. A Dockerfile you already have is adopted as it is. Otherwise Ankra generates one whose final stage applies OS package upgrades and runs as a non-root user, on a maintained toolchain release.
  3. Components. A monorepo gets one component per service. Ankra decides them in a fixed order: what .ankra/ankra.yaml declares (always wins), then what the repository already carries, then what the AI proposed, then what the tree implies. Names stay stable across re-runs, so stage names never shift under you.
  4. Tailor. An AI step adapts the standard pipeline to the repository, using the same render and validate tools you can call. With no AI available, rule-based templates produce the same shape.
  5. Record. The pipeline is validated, planned, and stored as the definition of record before the pull request even opens.

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What the generated pipeline contains

A monorepo gets one file. Each component has its own chain (build-web, scan-web, gate-web, publish-web), path-filtered to its directory, all sharing one checkout and one run. A component at the repository root is not filtered.

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The setup pull request

The pull request carries .ankra/pipeline.yaml, .ankra/ankra.yaml, the Dockerfile when Ankra generated it, and .ankra/manifests/.
  • The pull request is a proposal, not a gate. Because the definition is already recorded, the next push to your branch builds whether or not you merge it. Merging is how the file reaches Git, where you own it from then on.
  • When the setup pull request’s own build or gate fails, Ankra’s AI commits a fix to the setup branch, so the pull request you review is one that passes.
  • After a failed setup, ankra application retry <application-id> runs it again.

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Which file governs a run

Once the file is committed, it is yours. Ankra never rewrites a pipeline you committed, never merges its own opinions into it, and never flips a setting for you. Improvements Ankra makes to generated pipelines (a new cache layout, say) reach new applications. For an existing one, copy the block from these docs. The application records where its builds come from as pipeline_source: ankra application get <application-id> -o json shows it, with a reason. pipeline_file_committed_no_ci_cluster means the file is fine and your organisation has not chosen a CI cluster yet: an administrator sets one with ankra org ci-settings set --cluster <cluster>.

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Already have CI? Convert it

One call converts the workflow, stores the result as the definition of record, switches the application to Ankra Pipelines at once, switches Ankra’s generated workflow off, and opens a pull request that adds the pipeline and removes the generated workflow. A workflow your repository wrote itself is never touched. --keep-workflows keeps the generated workflow running beside the pipeline while you compare.
What converts, and how. Nothing is dropped silently. The result is always a starting point to review, never a black box. Migrate from GitHub Actions covers the review checklist after conversion, and how to run both side by side before you switch.