This document outlines how to configure Drone CI to trigger pipelines specifically for pull requests. By setting up pull request triggers, you can automate your continuous integration and continuous delivery workflows, ensuring code quality and consistency before merging changes.

Understanding Drone CI Pull Request Triggers

Drone CI allows you to define specific events that should initiate a pipeline run. For pull requests, this means your build, test, and deployment processes can be automatically executed whenever a new pull request is opened, updated, or merged. This is crucial for maintaining a robust development workflow.

Configuring the Pipeline for Pull Requests

The core of configuring pull request triggers lies within the .drone.yml file. You specify the event type as pull_request to activate the pipeline under these conditions. This ensures that your pipeline only runs when a pull request is active, optimizing resource usage and providing timely feedback to developers.

Example Drone CI Configuration

Below is a sample .drone.yml configuration that demonstrates how to set up a pipeline to trigger on pull requests. This example includes basic steps for environment setup, success notifications, and failure notifications.

---
# https://docs.drone.io/pipeline/triggers/

kind: pipeline
type: docker
name: default

trigger:
  event:
    - pull_request

platform:
  os: linux
  arch: amd64

workspace:
  path: /drone/src

steps:
  - name: greeting
    image: busybox
    environment:
      OWNER: Ruan
    commands:
      - echo "dumps env"
      - env

  - name: send-success
    image: busybox
    when:
      status: [ success ]
    commands:
      - echo "build succeeded"

  - name: send-failure
    image: busybox
    when:
      status: [ failure ]
    commands:
      - echo "build failed"

Best Practices for Pull Request Pipelines

To maximize the effectiveness of your pull request pipelines, consider the following best practices:

• Keep builds fast: Optimize your build and test steps to provide quick feedback.
• Isolate dependencies: Use Docker images to ensure consistent and isolated build environments.
• Conditional execution: Utilize the when clause to run specific steps only when necessary (e.g., sending notifications on success or failure).
• Clear notifications: Configure notifications to alert developers of build status changes.

Further Resources

• Drone CI Triggers Documentation
• Drone CI Steps Configuration
• Drone CI Event Types