Pipeline Triggers

Pipeline Triggers

Triggers determine when a pipeline runs. FlightStack supports multiple trigger types, and a single pipeline can have multiple triggers.

Trigger Types

Manual

Run the pipeline on demand by clicking a button.

Configuration: None required

Use cases:

• Production deployments
• Ad-hoc builds
• Testing pipeline changes

On Push

Run when code is pushed to matching branches.

Configuration:

Option	Description	Example
Branch Filter	Regex pattern for branches	main, develop, feature/.*

Examples:

• main - Only main branch
• main\|develop - Main or develop
• feature/.* - Any feature branch
• .* - All branches

On Tag

Run when a Git tag is created.

Configuration:

Option	Description	Example
Tag Pattern	Regex for tag names	v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+

Examples:

• v.* - Any tag starting with v
• v[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+ - Semantic versions (v1.0.0)
• release-.* - Release tags

On PR (Pull Request)

Run when a pull request is opened, synchronized, or reopened.

Configuration:

Option	Description	Example
Source Branch	PR source branch filter	feature/.*
Target Branch	PR target branch filter	main

Events:

• PR opened
• New commits pushed to PR
• PR reopened after closing

Tip

On PR triggers are great for running tests and analysis before merging.

Scheduled

Run on a cron schedule.

Configuration:

Option	Description	Example
Cron Expression	Standard cron format	0 2 * * *
Timezone	Timezone for schedule	UTC, America/New_York

Cron Format:

┌───────────── minute (0 - 59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0 - 23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1 - 31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1 - 12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0 - 6) (Sunday = 0)
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

Common schedules:

Schedule	Cron	Description
Nightly	0 2 * * *	2 AM daily
Weekly	0 2 * * 1	2 AM Mondays
Hourly	0 * * * *	Every hour

Multiple Triggers

A pipeline can have multiple triggers. Any matching trigger will start the pipeline.

   ┌──────────┐     ┌──────────┐
   │ On Push  │     │ On Tag   │
   │ (main)   │     │ (v*)     │
   └────┬─────┘     └────┬─────┘
        │                │
        └───────┬────────┘
                │
                ▼
           ┌─────────┐
           │  Build  │
           └─────────┘

Trigger Variables

Triggers provide context variables available in jobs:

Variable	Description
{{trigger}}	Trigger type (push, tag, pr, etc.)
{{branch}}	Branch name
{{tag}}	Tag name (for tag triggers)
{{commit}}	Commit SHA
{{commitMessage}}	Commit message
{{author}}	Commit author

Active vs Inactive

Each trigger has an active/inactive toggle:

• Active: Trigger will start pipeline runs
• Inactive: Trigger is configured but won’t fire

This lets you temporarily disable triggers without removing them.

Best Practices

1. Use specific branch patterns - Avoid .* for pushes; be selective
2. Separate production triggers - Use manual for production, auto for staging
3. Add PR triggers for validation - Run tests on every PR
4. Schedule off-peak - Run nightly builds during low-usage hours