Automate Common Workflows

Atmos Workflows combine multiple commands into executable units of work, which makes them useful for packaging the commands your operators run every day.

Workflows can call other workflows and be combined with Custom Commands. Usually, we use workflows to orient operators, validate configuration, or wrap a common sequence of built-in Atmos commands.

Defining workflows is entirely optional. You already learned how to deploy the stack with atmos terraform deploy --all -s dev; use workflows when you want to package that guidance for your project.

Configure Your Project to Support Workflows

To define workflows, update your atmos.yaml to tell it where to find your workflows.

Add the following workflows section and configure the base path to the workflows:

workflows:
  # Can also be set using 'ATMOS_WORKFLOWS_BASE_PATH' ENV var, or '--workflows-dir' command-line arguments
  # Supports both absolute and relative paths
  base_path: "stacks/workflows"

Create an Atmos Workflow

Now, let's create a workflow in the stacks/workflows directory.

Terminal

   │   # Centralized stacks configuration
   └── stacks/
       └── workflows/
           └── weather.yaml

Add the following Atmos workflow to the stacks/workflows/weather.yaml file:

name: Workflows for Weather Station
description: Operator workflows for managing Weather Station

workflows:
  operator/orient:
    description: |
      Show the stack list, component instances, validation command, and
      day-to-day commands an operator uses for this quick-start stack.
    steps:
      - name: stacks
        type: stage
        title: Stack list

      - name: show-stacks
        command: list stacks

      - name: instances
        type: stage
        title: Component instances

      - name: show-instances
        command: list instances

      - name: commands
        type: table
        title: Quick-start operator commands
        columns:
          - task
          - command
        data:
          - task: Validate manifests
            command: atmos validate stacks
          - task: Preview stack
            command: atmos terraform plan --all -s <stack>
          - task: Deploy stack
            command: atmos terraform deploy --all -s <stack>
          - task: Destroy stack
            command: atmos terraform destroy --all -s <stack> -auto-approve

Run the Atmos Workflow

Run the workflow for the dev stack:

atmos workflow operator/orient -f weather -s dev

The atmos workflow CLI command supports the --dry-run flag. If passed, the command will just print information about the executed workflow steps without executing them. For example:

atmos workflow operator/orient -f weather -s dev --dry-run

Executing the workflow 'operator/orient' from 'stacks/workflows/weather.yaml'

Executing workflow step: stacks
Executing workflow step: atmos list stacks
Executing workflow step: instances
Executing workflow step: atmos list instances -s dev
Executing workflow step: commands

tip

For bulk Terraform operations, keep using explicit selectors such as --all, --components, or --query. Refer to atmos workflow for more information on the atmos workflow CLI command.

Want to go deeper on this topic?

Workflows can do a lot more than we're showing here. Workflows support templates, and can call other workflows. Learn More