Configure Author DB Change

Step-by-step guide to enable LLM-powered change authoring in Harness and automatically open a pull request against a target Git repository.

This guide explains how to enable an LLM-driven change authoring workflow in Harness Database DevOps that generates migration artifacts (e.g., Liquibase changesets or SQL migration scripts), commits them to a temporary branch, and opens a Pull Request (PR) against a target Git branch for review and CI validation. The workflow preserves GitOps principles (auditability, review gates, CI checks) while accelerating authoring through LLM assistance.

Prerequisites

Before configuring LLM change authoring, ensure you have the following:

• An active Harness account with Database DevOps enabled.

• Access to a Git repository where database migration artifacts will be stored.

Interactive Guide

Configure Harness AI and DB Schema

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Enable Harness AI

1. Log in to your Harness account.

2. Navigate to Account Settings > Default Settings > Harness AI.

3. Toggle the Harness AI switch to enable it for your account.

4. Then click on Database DevOps and in LLM Authoring Test and Commit Pipeline field point to the LLM pipeline identifier, e.g., dbops_llm_test_preview which we will create in the next step.

Step 2: Create a pipeline with Author DB Change steps

1. Go to the Pipelines section in Harness.

2. Click on Create Pipeline, and click on Add Stage and select the Custom Stage

3. Provide the desired name for your pipeline, and click on Add. (Make sure that the pipeline identifier is same as mentioned in LLM pipeline identifier in step 1)

4. Create a New Step Group.

5. Click on Add Step and select the DB Test and Preview step from the list of available steps.

Database DevOps Test and Preview

IMPORTANT

Leave schema and instance set as runtime input, i.e., <+input>, as these will be provided by the LLM change authoring.

1. Click on Add Step again and select the Run Step from the list of available steps.

2. Configure the Run step to run the following script to create a Pull Request in your Git repository with the generated migration artifacts.

• First, add a pipeline variable (or step input) named $REPO_TYPE with allowed values: "github", "bitbucket", "harness". (This variable will determine the Git provider and API used for creating the Pull Request).

• In the Run step configuration, set the image to prontotools/alpine-git-curl:latest which has git and curl installed, and set the shell to Sh.

• Then use the following unified script, replacing the common placeholders with your actual values:

#!/bin/bash
set -e

# All configuration is read from step environment variables — no edits needed below. <a href="#all-configuration-is-read-from-step-environment-variables-no-edits-needed-below" id="all-configuration-is-read-from-step-environment-variables-no-edits-needed-below"></a>

cd dbops/DBTestAndPreview_1
git config --global user.email "$USER_EMAIL"
git config --global user.name  "$USER_NAME"

# ── Set remote URL ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── <a href="#set-remote-url" id="set-remote-url"></a>
case "$REPO_TYPE" in
  github)
    ENCODED_EMAIL="${USER_EMAIL//@/%40}"
    REMOTE_URL="https://${ENCODED_EMAIL}:<+secrets.getValue("github")>@github.com/${USERNAME}/${REPO}.git"
    ;;
  bitbucket)
    REMOTE_URL="https://${USERNAME}:<+secrets.getValue("bitbucket")>@bitbucket.org/${WORKSPACE}/${REPO}.git"
    ;;
  harness)
    REMOTE_URL="https://${HARNESS_CODE_NAME}:<+secrets.getValue("harness_api_token")>@git.harness.io/${ACCOUNT_ID}/${ORG_ID}/${PROJECT_ID}/${REPO}.git"
    ;;
  *)
    echo "ERROR: Unsupported REPO_TYPE '${REPO_TYPE}'. Must be github, bitbucket, or harness."
    exit 1
    ;;
esac

# ── Push to a new branch ────────────────────────────────────────────────────── <a href="#push-to-a-new-branch" id="push-to-a-new-branch"></a>
git remote remove origin 2>/dev/null || true
git remote add origin "$REMOTE_URL"
git fetch origin
DEFAULT_BRANCH=$(git remote show origin | grep 'HEAD branch' | awk '{print $NF}')
DEFAULT_BRANCH="${DEFAULT_BRANCH:-main}"
echo "Default branch: $DEFAULT_BRANCH"

git add .
git commit -m "Updating changeset in changelog file"
NEW_BRANCH="changelog-update-$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S)"
git checkout -b "$NEW_BRANCH"
git push -u origin "$NEW_BRANCH"

# ── Open a Pull Request ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────── <a href="#open-a-pull-request" id="open-a-pull-request"></a>
case "$REPO_TYPE" in
  github)
    PR_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST \
      -H "Authorization: token '<+secrets.getValue("github")>'" \
      -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
      "https://api.github.com/repos/${USERNAME}/${REPO}/pulls" \
      -d "{\"title\":\"Automated changelog update\",\"head\":\"${NEW_BRANCH}\",\"base\":\"${DEFAULT_BRANCH}\"}")
    PR_URL=$(echo "$PR_RESPONSE" | grep '"html_url"' | head -1 | sed -E 's/.*"html_url": *"([^"]+)".*/\1/')
    ;;
  bitbucket)
    PR_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST \
      -u "${USERNAME}:<+secrets.getValue("bitbucket")>" \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      "https://api.bitbucket.org/2.0/repositories/${WORKSPACE}/${REPO}/pullrequests" \
      -d "{\"title\":\"Automated changelog update\",\"source\":{\"branch\":{\"name\":\"${NEW_BRANCH}\"}},\"destination\":{\"branch\":{\"name\":\"${DEFAULT_BRANCH}\"}},\"close_source_branch\":true}")
    PR_URL=$(echo "$PR_RESPONSE" | grep -o '"html":{"href":"[^"]*"' | sed 's/"html":{"href":"//;s/"$//')
    ;;
  harness)
    PR_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -w "\n__HTTP_STATUS__%{http_code}" -X POST \
      "https://app.harness.io/code/api/v1/repos/${REPO}/pullreq?accountIdentifier=${ACCOUNT_ID}&orgIdentifier=${ORG_ID}&projectIdentifier=${PROJECT_ID}" \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
      -H "x-api-key: <+secrets.getValue("harness_api_token")>" \
      -d "{\"title\":\"Automated changelog update\",\"source_branch\":\"${NEW_BRANCH}\",\"target_branch\":\"${DEFAULT_BRANCH}\",\"is_draft\":false}")
    HTTP_STATUS=$(echo "$PR_RESPONSE" | grep "__HTTP_STATUS__" | sed 's/__HTTP_STATUS__//')
    BODY=$(echo "$PR_RESPONSE" | grep -v "__HTTP_STATUS__")
    if [ "$HTTP_STATUS" -lt 200 ] || [ "$HTTP_STATUS" -ge 300 ]; then
      echo "❌ Failed to create PR (HTTP $HTTP_STATUS)"
      echo "$BODY"
      exit 1
    fi
    PR_NUMBER=$(echo "$BODY" | grep -o '"number":[0-9]*' | head -1 | sed 's/"number"://')
    PR_URL="https://app.harness.io/ng/account/${ACCOUNT_ID}/module/code/orgs/${ORG_ID}/projects/${PROJECT_ID}/repos/${REPO}/pull-requests/${PR_NUMBER}"
    ;;
esac

echo "Pull request created: $PR_URL"
export CHANGESET_PR_LINK="$PR_URL"

Setup the following environment variables in the Run step configuration, ensuring that sensitive values like github, bitbucket, and harness_api_token are stored securely in Harness secrets and referenced appropriately:

Variable Name	Type	Description	Example
REPO_TYPE	String	Target Git provider	github, bitbucket, harness
USER_EMAIL	String	Git commit author email	[e-mail]
USER_NAME	String	Git commit author name	Jane Doe
USERNAME	String	Git provider username (GitHub/Bitbucket only)	janedoe
REPO	String	Repository name	my-database-repo
WORKSPACE	String	Workspace slug (Bitbucket only)	mycompany
ORG_ID	String	Organization identifier (Harness Code only)	default
PROJECT_ID	String	Project identifier (Harness Code only)	my_project
ACCOUNT_ID	String	Account identifier (Harness Code only)	abc123
HARNESS_CODE_NAME	String	Harness Code username (Harness Code only)	code_token_toewv

Database DevOps LLM Authoring Environment Variables

NOTE

If the target Git provider is Harness Code, ensure that the REPO_TYPE is set to harness.

You can also set USER_NAME and USER_EMAIL to the user who started the pipeline via expression: <+pipeline.startingUser.email> and <+pipeline.startingUser.name> to automatically attribute the commit and PR to the user who initiated the change authoring process.

Database DevOps Pipeline Trigger

Step 3: Author your first DB change

1. Select your Database DevOps project from the Harness dashboard.

2. Navigate to your desired Database Schema.

3. Click on Edit Schema to open the schema details page and select the Primary DB Instance (Optional) from the dropdown.

4. Click on the Author DB Change tab.

5. In the Author DB Change chat window, mention the changes you want to make to the database schema. For example, you can type:

   Add a new column named Quantity under the tableName Items which is a non-null, with integer datatype.

   

   Database DevOps LLM Authoring
6. Once satisfied with the changes, Click on the Test and Preview button. The LLM will process your request and generate the appropriate migration artifacts (e.g., changesets or SQL scripts).

7. You can monitor the pipeline execution status via the Chat Window. Once the pipeline completes successfully, a Pull Request will be created in your Git repository with the generated migration artifacts since the pipeline is configured to create a Pull Request.

Visual Pipeline Example

Open PR with the changes

Pipeline YAML Example

pipeline:
  name: LLM Authoring
  identifier: LLM_Authoring
  projectIdentifier: DBMarlin
  orgIdentifier: default
  tags: {}
  stages:
    - stage:
        name: LLm Authoring
        identifier: LLm_Authoring
        description: "This stage is used for testing the LLM generated changeset and creating a PR with the changeset file in the git repository."
        type: Custom
        spec:
          execution:
            steps:
              - stepGroup:
                  name: LLM
                  identifier: LLM
                  steps:
                    - step:
                        type: DBTestAndPreview
                        name: DBTestAndPreview_1
                        identifier: DBTestAndPreview_1
                        spec:
                          connectorRef: docker
                          dbSchema: <+input>
                          dbInstance: <+input>
                          changeset: <+input>
                        timeout: 10m
                    - step:
                        type: Run
                        name: Git Merge
                        identifier: Git_Merge
                        spec:
                          connectorRef: docker
                          image: prontotools/alpine-git-curl
                          shell: Sh
                          command: |-
                            #!/bin/bash
                            set -e

                            cd dbops/DBTestAndPreview_1
                            git config --global user.email "$USER_EMAIL"
                            git config --global user.name  "$USER_NAME"

                            # ── Set remote URL ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
                            case "$REPO_TYPE" in
                              github)
                                ENCODED_EMAIL="${USER_EMAIL//@/%40}"
                                REMOTE_URL="https://${ENCODED_EMAIL}:<+secrets.getValue("github")>@github.com/${USERNAME}/${REPO}.git"
                                ;;
                              bitbucket)
                                REMOTE_URL="https://${USERNAME}:<+secrets.getValue("account.bitbucket")>@bitbucket.org/${WORKSPACE}/${REPO}.git"
                                ;;
                              harness)
                                # Fix 1: hardcoded username, Fix 2: correct host and path format
                                REMOTE_URL="https://${HARNESS_CODE_NAME}:<+secrets.getValue("harness_api_token")>@git.harness.io/${ACCOUNT_ID}/${ORG_ID}/${PROJECT_ID}/${REPO}.git"
                                ;;
                              *)
                                echo "ERROR: Unsupported REPO_TYPE '${REPO_TYPE}'. Must be github, bitbucket, or harness."
                                exit 1
                                ;;
                            esac

                            # ── Push to a new branch ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
                            git remote remove origin 2>/dev/null || true
                            git remote add origin "$REMOTE_URL"
                            git fetch origin
                            DEFAULT_BRANCH=$(git remote show origin | grep 'HEAD branch' | awk '{print $NF}')
                            DEFAULT_BRANCH="${DEFAULT_BRANCH:-main}"
                            echo "Default branch: $DEFAULT_BRANCH"
                            echo "── Current directory ──"
                            pwd
                            echo "── Git status ──"
                            git status
                            echo "── All files ──"
                            find . -type f | grep -v ".git" | sort

                            git add .
                            git commit -m "Updating changeset in changelog file"
                            NEW_BRANCH="changelog-update-$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S)"
                            git checkout -b "$NEW_BRANCH"
                            git push -u origin "$NEW_BRANCH"

                            # ── Open a Pull Request ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────
                            case "$REPO_TYPE" in
                              github)
                                PR_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST \
                                  -H "Authorization: token '<+secrets.getValue("github")>'" \
                                  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
                                  "https://api.github.com/repos/${USERNAME}/${REPO}/pulls" \
                                  -d "{\"title\":\"Automated changelog update\",\"head\":\"${NEW_BRANCH}\",\"base\":\"${DEFAULT_BRANCH}\"}")
                                PR_URL=$(echo "$PR_RESPONSE" | grep '"html_url"' | head -1 | sed -E 's/.*"html_url": *"([^"]+)".*/\1/')
                                ;;
                              bitbucket)
                                PR_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST \
                                  -u "${USERNAME}:<+secrets.getValue("account.bitbucket")>" \
                                  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
                                  "https://api.bitbucket.org/2.0/repositories/${WORKSPACE}/${REPO}/pullrequests" \
                                  -d "{\"title\":\"Automated changelog update\",\"source\":{\"branch\":{\"name\":\"${NEW_BRANCH}\"}},\"destination\":{\"branch\":{\"name\":\"${DEFAULT_BRANCH}\"}},\"close_source_branch\":true}")
                                PR_URL=$(echo "$PR_RESPONSE" | grep -o '"html":{"href":"[^"]*"' | sed 's/"html":{"href":"//;s/"$//')
                                ;;
                              harness)
                                PR_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -w "\n__HTTP_STATUS__%{http_code}" -X POST \
                                  "https://app.harness.io/code/api/v1/repos/${REPO}/pullreq?accountIdentifier=${ACCOUNT_ID}&orgIdentifier=${ORG_ID}&projectIdentifier=${PROJECT_ID}" \
                                  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
                                  -H "x-api-key: <+secrets.getValue("harness_api_token")>" \
                                  -d "{\"title\":\"Automated changelog update\",\"source_branch\":\"${NEW_BRANCH}\",\"target_branch\":\"${DEFAULT_BRANCH}\",\"is_draft\":false}")
                                HTTP_STATUS=$(echo "$PR_RESPONSE" | grep "__HTTP_STATUS__" | sed 's/__HTTP_STATUS__//')
                                BODY=$(echo "$PR_RESPONSE" | grep -v "__HTTP_STATUS__")
                                if [ "$HTTP_STATUS" -lt 200 ] || [ "$HTTP_STATUS" -ge 300 ]; then
                                  echo "❌ Failed to create PR (HTTP $HTTP_STATUS)"
                                  echo "$BODY"
                                  exit 1
                                fi
                                PR_NUMBER=$(echo "$BODY" | grep -o '"number":[0-9]*' | head -1 | sed 's/"number"://')
                                PR_URL="https://app.harness.io/ng/account/${ACCOUNT_ID}/module/code/orgs/${ORG_ID}/projects/${PROJECT_ID}/repos/${REPO}/pull-requests/${PR_NUMBER}"
                                ;;
                            esac

                            echo "Pull request created: $PR_URL"
                            export CHANGESET_PR_LINK="$PR_URL"
                          envVariables:
                            REPO_TYPE: harness
                            USER_EMAIL: <+pipeline.triggeredBy.email>
                            USER_NAME: <+pipeline.triggeredBy.name>
                            REPO_TYPE: <+input>
                            USER_EMAIL: <+pipeline.triggeredBy.email>
                            USER_NAME: <+pipeline.triggeredBy.name>
                            ACCOUNT_ID: <+input>
                            ORG_ID: <+input>
                            PROJECT_ID: <+input>
                            HARNESS_CODE_NAME: <+input>
                            REPO: <+input>
                  stepGroupInfra:
                    type: KubernetesDirect
                    spec:
                      connectorRef: gke
        tags: {}

Next steps

• Go to Get started with changelogs to understand how Liquibase changesets are structured and executed in Harness Database DevOps.

• Go to Create a pipeline in Database DevOps to build the pipeline that runs your LLM-authored migrations.

• Go to Automated rollback for database schemas to configure rollback strategies for failed deployments.