The self-service portal to automate the mundane
Coastline is a web service that enables users to make Requests for predefined Request Templates, that trigger workflows to automate mundane tasks (like giving users access, creating new resources, etc.).
The Platform Team defines Request Templates and associated Workflows using CUE, and Coastline provides a web portal for users to login and make Requests (based on the Request Templates).
There is an approval process for Requests, and once approved, the server triggers a workflow.
Coastline is aimed at Platform Teams who maintain infrastructure and tooling for software teams, to provide a self-service portal for automating mundane tasks.
The goal of Coastline is to automate simple tasks to provide better developer experience and allow platform teams to focus on things that matter.
Below is a simple example request and workflow for requesting Cat Facts from: https://catfact.ninja/
package demo
import (
"encoding/json"
"github.com/verifa/coastline/tasks/http"
)
request: #CatFact: {
kind: "CatFact"
description: "Cat fact max length \(spec.maxLength)"
serviceSelector: {
matchLabels: {
tool: "cat-facts"
}
}
spec: {
// Max length of cat fact
maxLength: int | *100
}
}
workflow: CatFact: {
input: request.#CatFact
step: api: http.Get & {
url: "https://catfact.ninja/fact"
request: {
params: {
max_length: "\(input.spec.maxLength)"
}
}
}
output: {
fact: json.Unmarshal(step.api.response.body).fact
}
}Coastline's server has a --dev mode which is intended for exploring Coastline without setting anything up.
To give you a quick feel for Coastline, it comes packaged with some demo data to request useful things like:
- Cat facts
- Pokemon facts
To run a demo environment of Coastline with these capabilities you will need the request templates and workflows available in the demo folder.
git clone https://github.com/verifa/coastline.git
# Build from source and run coastline
# TODO: add docs to download and run from binary: https://github.com/verifa/coastline/releases
# TODO: add docs on running from Docker: https://hub.docker.com/r/verifa/coastline
make build run
# Go to http://localhost:3000
# Login (without credentials in dev mode)
# Explore and enjoy, and don't forget to tell us what you learnt :)Request Template - A request template is written in CUE and defines the specification (i.e. inputs/parameters) for a Request which users can make
Request - A request is made by users according to a specific Request Template
Trigger - A trigger is automatically created when a Request is approved
Workflow - A workflow is written in CUE and defines what should happen when a trigger for a Request is made
Task - Workflows execute tasks that actually do something (like making HTTP requests)
This code is released under the Apache-2.0 License.