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Automated Activities

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Automated activities execute without human intervention, enabling efficient and consistent release execution.

What are Automated Activities?​

An automated activity is an activity that encapsulates a pipeline. It executes as part of a process when its dependencies are met.

Pipeline Activities​

Pipeline activities are the primary type of automated activities. They:

  • Encapsulate pipelines: The activity contains or references a Harness pipeline
  • Pass inputs: Activity variables are mapped to pipeline inputs
  • Track execution: Monitor pipeline execution status
  • Capture outputs: Pipeline outputs can be used in subsequent activities

Example (YAML)​

This example shows an activity in a process referencing a pipeline.

phase:
  id: deploy_phase
  name: Deploy to Staging1 Phase
  activities:
    - activity: WaitingActivity
      id: WaitingActivity
      name: WaitingActivity
      depends-on: []
      data:
        pipeline:
          pipeline: default/MyProject/MyPipeline
          inputSet: {}

Best Practices​

Idempotency​

Design activities to be idempotent:

  • Safe to retry
  • No side effects on repeat
  • Consistent results

Error Handling​

Implement robust error handling:

  • Clear error messages
  • Appropriate retries
  • Failure notifications

Logging​

Ensure proper logging:

  • Execution logs
  • Error details
  • Performance metrics

Testing​

Test automated activities:

  • Unit testing
  • Integration testing
  • Failure scenario testing