Documentation

Everything you need to wire up your first pipeline, master the CLI, and configure caching, secrets, and runners. Copy, paste, ship.

Quickstart

Get from zero to a green pipeline in four steps. You'll need a Git repository and the Buildkit CLI.

1

Install the CLI

Grab the binary with a single command — no runtime dependencies.

2

Authenticate

Log in and link your Git provider so checks post back automatically.

3

Init a pipeline

Scaffold a buildkit.yml tuned to your detected stack.

4

Push & run

Commit, push, and watch your first build go green in the dashboard.

terminal — install & first run
# 1. install the CLI (macOS / Linux)
$ curl -fsSL https://get.buildkit.dev | sh

# 2. authenticate & link your repo
$ buildkit login
 opening browser… authenticated ✓

# 3. scaffold a pipeline for this repo
$ buildkit init
 detected node 20 · wrote buildkit.yml

# 4. push and run
$ git push
 pipeline #1 queued · live at app.buildkit.dev
Tip: run buildkit run --local to execute the same pipeline on your machine before pushing.

CLI reference

The buildkit binary is the fastest way to manage pipelines, runners, and secrets. The most common commands:

buildkit --help
buildkit <command> [options]

  init            scaffold a buildkit.yml for this repo
  run             trigger a pipeline (--local, --cache)
  logs            stream live logs for a run
  secret set      add an encrypted, scoped secret
  runner install  register a self-hosted runner
  cache prune     clear cached artifacts for a branch
  status          show the latest pipeline result

Configuration

Pipelines are declared in a single buildkit.yml at the root of your repo. Below is a complete, production-ready example.

buildkit.yml
version: 1
stages: [install, test, build, deploy]

cache:
  key: "deps-{{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}"
  paths: [node_modules, .next/cache]

jobs:
  test:
    stage: test
    matrix: { node: [18, 20, 22] }
    run: npm ci && npm test -- --shard=$SHARD

  build:
    stage: build
    needs: [test]
    run: npm run build

  deploy:
    stage: deploy
    needs: [build]
    when: branch == "main"
    secrets: [DEPLOY_KEY]
    run: buildkit deploy ./dist
Reference: every field is documented in the full config schema, including matrix expansion, conditional when expressions, and environment scoping.

Guides

Deep-dive walkthroughs for the features teams reach for most.

Optimizing caching

Design cache keys, scope by branch, and push your hit rate above 80%.

Read guide

Parallelizing tests

Shard suites by timing data and fan out across runners safely.

Read guide

Secrets & OIDC

Drop long-lived keys and authenticate to your cloud with federated tokens.

Read guide

Self-hosted runners

Register a runner pool, add GPU labels, and configure autoscaling.

Read guide

Deploy previews

Spin up ephemeral environments per pull request with auto-teardown.

Read guide

Monorepo pipelines

Use path filters to build only the packages a commit actually touched.

Read guide

Ready to run your first pipeline?

The Free plan includes 2,000 build minutes a month — more than enough to follow this quickstart end to end.