pipeline configuration

overview#

each project in overlord can define a skill pipeline — a sequence of stages that the ai agent executes for every task. pipelines drive the entire task lifecycle, from initial development through testing and code review.

how pipelines work#

a pipeline consists of multiple stages. each stage corresponds to a skill command that overlord injects into the agent's pty terminal. the pipeline runner:

injects the skill command for the current stage into the pty
monitors agent output for completion markers
automatically advances to the next stage
handles errors, retries, and manual intervention

pipeline definition#

pipelines are configured per-project in json format via the admin dashboard or api:

[
  {
    "name": "develop",
    "command": "/develop {description}",
    "timeout": 1800
  },
  {
    "name": "test",
    "command": "/run-tests",
    "timeout": 600
  },
  {
    "name": "review",
    "command": "/review-and-commit",
    "timeout": 900,
    "confirm": true
  }
]

stage options#

each stage supports the following options:

field	type	description
`name`	string	stage identifier (displayed in dashboard)
`command`	string	command to inject into the agent pty
`timeout`	number	max seconds before the stage is marked failed
`confirm`	boolean	pause and wait for human confirmation before executing
`choices`	string[]	present a list of options for the user to choose from
`input`	boolean	pause and wait for free-text input from the user

confirmation stages#

when a stage has "confirm": true, the pipeline pauses and sends a notification through all connected channels (web dashboard, bot, cli). the task enters SUSPENDED status until a user confirms.

confirmation can be done via:

web dashboard — click the confirm button on the task detail page
bot — @bot confirm #42
cli — ov task confirm 42 --stage 2

choice stages#

stages with "choices" present the user with a list of options:

{
  "name": "deploy-target",
  "command": "/deploy {choice}",
  "choices": ["staging", "production", "both"]
}

the selected choice is interpolated into the command template.

template variables#

stage commands support template variables:

variable	description
`{description}`	task description
`{branch}`	git branch name
`{project}`	project key
`{choice}`	user's choice (for choice stages)
`{input}`	user's input (for input stages)

default pipeline#

if no pipeline is configured, overlord uses a single-stage default:

[
  {
    "name": "develop",
    "command": "/develop {description}",
    "timeout": 3600
  }
]

info

pipelines are project-specific. the exact content depends entirely on the skills configured in your agent — overlord makes no assumptions about what the stages do.

development workflow agent skill