Automate and Integrate your WebOps Workflow with Quicksilver

Hook into platform workflows to automate your Pantheon WebOps workflow. Tell Pantheon which script you want to run, and the platform will run it automatically every time you or another team member triggers the corresponding workflow. View (and contribute) to a growing set of example scripts. Find examples to enable functionality like chat-ops, database sanitization, deployment logging, and automated testing operations with a CI server.

For example, committing a pantheon.yml file with the following contents to the root of your site's code repository with the script adapted from slack_notification will post to Slack every time you deploy:

api_version: 1

workflows:
  deploy:
    after:
      - type: webphp
        description: Post deployment notification to Slack
        script: private/scripts/slack_deploy_notification.php

Add the following after the previous snippet to have it automatically log the deployment to New Relic:

      - type: webphp
        description: Log to New Relic
        script: private/scripts/new_relic_deploy.php

WebOps Workflow and Stage

Specify the workflows you want to hook into (e.g., deploy or sync_code) the workflow stage (before or after) and the location of the script relative to the root of your site's docroot.

Quicksilver and the Deploy Hook

Before using a Quicksilver hook for a deploy workflow, deploy your pantheon.yml file into an environment.

Quicksilver scripts that trigger on the deploy hook operate on the state of the code at the time of the deploy, not the state of the code after the deploy. This means that new or updated code is not available until the deployment finishes even though the deploy hook is triggered at the start of the deploy.

Script Type and Location

Quicksilver currently supports webphp scripting, which runs a PHP script via the same runtime environment as the website itself. PHP scripts are subject to the same limits as any code on the platform, like timeouts, and cannot be batched. In the future we may add additional types. The commands will run in order, and only execute the next when the previous has finished or timed out.

We recommend setting up a dedicated directory in the docroot (e.g., private/scripts) for tracking these files. If your site uses a nested docroot, the scripts directory needs to be located in the web subdirectory of your site's code repository (e.g., web/private/scripts), but the script paths in your pantheon.yml file should not include the web/ path prefix and should resemble the examples above.

Hooks

You can hook into the following workflows:

Variables

When a workflow runs, there are variables that are made available through the $_POST global variable, in addition to the standard $_ENV and $_SERVER objects. These variables include the following:

For examples on how to use these variables, see the Quicksilver Examples repository.

Secrets

Your script may require tokens, passwords, or other information that should be protected. These values should be stored securely. You can do this with a third-party key management service like Lockr, or with a storage solution in your site's private files path.

For the latter, the Terminus Secrets Plugin provides a convenient way to manage secret data in JSON files in your site's private files path.

Debugging via Terminus

Use the following Terminus commands for debugging Quicksilver.

Stream New Workflows to the Console

Follow the WebOps activity of your site with terminus workflow:watch <site>.

Explore Previous Workflows

List and show previous workflows and their corresponding Quicksilver operations with the following commands:

• terminus workflow:list <site>
• terminus workflow:info:logs <site> --id=<workflow>
• terminus workflow:info:operations <site> --id=<workflow>
• terminus workflow:info:status <site> --id=<workflow>

Troubleshooting

MultiDev Creation Hook Does Not Run When Expected

Quicksilver hooks for the create_cloud_development_environment workflow will not be detected when creating a Multidev environment if the pantheon.yml file does not exist on the Dev environment. As a workaround, commit the pantheon.yml file on Dev before creating a Multidev environment.

Deploying Configuration Changes or Quicksilver Hooks to Multidev

If a pantheon.yml file does not exist on the Dev environment, configuration changes will not be detected when creating a Multidev environment. As a workaround, make some modification the pantheon.yml file and re-commit to the Multidev environment. You will then receive a notice indicating configuration changes have been detected and applied to the Multidev environment:

remote:
remote: PANTHEON NOTICE:
remote:
remote: Changes to `pantheon.yml` detected.
remote:
remote: Successfully applied `pantheon.yml` to the 'new-feature' environment.
remote:
remote:

Autopilot VRT Hook Does Not Run When Expected

For some Autopilot users, Quicksilver hooks are not detected due to timing issues with Multidev creation. If your Quicksilver autopilot_vrt scripts are not running, first make sure that your scripts are defined in the Dev environment, and then try deleting your Autopilot Multidev from the dashboard. Be sure to also delete the Autopilot branch, and then create the Autopilot Multidev again in the Dashboard. Once you do this, your scripts should start running after the visual regression tests complete.

See Also

• The pantheon.yml Configuration File
• Quicksilver Examples Repository