Guardrails / build

Dependency updates are automated

build/dependency-updates-configured@v1

The repository configures a tool that opens the dependency update, so upgrades arrive as reviewable pull requests rather than as a task nobody has time for.

Id	build/dependency-updates-configured
Version	v1
Category	build
Default severity	warning
Interpreter	python3
Timeout	30 seconds
Violations tolerated	0
Collects	files

Collectors

This guardrail gathers nothing itself. It depends on the collectors below, which the CLI runs once per build before any check, and reads what they found out of GUARDRAIL_FACTS. A collector that collects nothing skips this guardrail rather than failing it.

Collector	Gathers	Inputs it is given
files	Presence, size and line counts of the well known files a repository is expected to carry, plus any extra path the guardrail asks for.	paths

The inputs above are this guardrail's own, passed straight through. Configuring one in buildnote.json changes what is collected, and two guardrails configured the same way share the one collection.

Configuration

{
  "guardrails": {
      "failOn": "error",
      "comment": true,
      "checks": [
          {
              "use": "build/dependency-updates-configured@v1",
              "severity": "warning",
              "with": {
                  "paths": ".github/dependabot.yml,.github/dependabot.yaml,renovate.json,renovate.json5,.renovaterc,.renovaterc.json,.github/renovate.json"
              },
              "exemptions": []
          }
      ]
  }
}

Inputs

Input	Description	Default	Environment variable
paths	Comma separated paths, any one of which satisfies the guardrail.	.github/dependabot.yml,.github/dependabot.yaml,renovate.json,renovate.json5,.renovaterc,.renovaterc.json,.github/renovate.json	GUARDRAIL_INPUT_PATHS

How to fix

Configure Dependabot with .github/dependabot.yml:

version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: gradle
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: weekly
  - package-ecosystem: github-actions
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: weekly

Renovate, configured with renovate.json, is the same answer. Either way the upgrade arrives as a pull request the tests run against, which is the only form in which it competes for attention with the rest of the work. An unautomated dependency is upgraded when a vulnerability forces it, which is the worst moment to be moving several major versions at once.

More in build

• build/gradle-version-floor. The Gradle version the wrapper pins is at or above the floor the team sets, so the build runs on a toolchain that is still supported.
• build/runs-on-hosted-ci. The artifact was built by a CI platform rather than on somebody's workstation, so the build is attributable and repeatable.
• build/wrapper-distribution-verified. The Gradle wrapper pins the checksum of the distribution it downloads, so the toolchain cannot be swapped underneath the build.

All 4 build guardrails