TEP-0147 Dynamic Matrix

Proposing a new section for matrix which allows to specify the explicit list of combinations dyanmically Signed-off-by: Priti Desai <[email protected]>
tektoncd · Oct 16, 2023 · eaf1428 · eaf1428
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+---
+status: implementable
+title: Dynamic Matrix
+creation-date: '2023-10-05'
+last-updated: '2023-10-12'
+authors: [
+  '@pritidesai'
+]
+see-also:
+  - TEP-0118
+  - TEP-0090
+---
+
+# TEP-0147: Dynamic Matrix
+
+<!-- toc -->
+- [Summary](#summary)
+- [Motivation](#motivation)
+  - [Goals](#goals)
+  - [Non-Goals](#non-goals)
+  - [Use Cases](#use-cases)
+- [Proposal](#proposal)
+  - [`matrix.strategy` initialized by the `pipelineRun`](#matrixstrategy-initialized-by-the-pipelinerun)
+  - [`matrix.strategy` specified by a task result](#matrixstrategy-specified-by-a-task-result)
+  - [GitHub Actions](#github-actions)
+- [References](#references)
+<!-- /toc -->
+
+## Summary
+
+Matrix feature of Tekton Pipelines allows pipeline authors to specify multiple concurrent execution of the same task.
+The same task can be executed in parallel based on the number of input parameters or a combination of parameters.
+
+Matrix supports specifying [implicit](https://github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/blob/main/docs/matrix.md#generating-combinations)
+and [explicit](https://github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/blob/main/docs/matrix.md#explicit-combinations) combinations of
+parameters.
+
+- With implicit combinations, a `pipelineTask` is defined with a list of parameters and one or more values for each
+parameter. Tekton controller generates an exhaustive list of combinations based on the specified parameters. Based on
+the generated list of combinations, a `pipelineTask` is fanned out and executed with each combination.
+
+```yaml
+    matrix:
+      params:
+        - name: platform
+          value: $(params.platforms[*])
+        - name: browser
+          value: $(params.browsers[*])
+  ...
+```
+
+- With explicit combinations, a `pipelineTask` is defined with a list of combinations and Tekton controller fans out the
+task based on the number of combinations. Each running instance receives unique combination of input parameters.
+
+```yaml
+    matrix:
+        include:
+          - params:
+              - name: platform
+                value: "linux"
+              - name: browser
+                value: "chrome"
+          - params:
+              - name: platform
+                value: "mac"
+              - name: browser
+                value: "safari"
+  ...
+```
+
+Both implicit and explicit combinations fit well with many use cases. At the same time, creating a sharable pipeline with
+existing `matrix` syntax is not possible when a list of combinations are specified at the runtime through `pipelineRun`.
+
+```yaml
+apiVersion: tekton.dev/v1
+kind: Pipeline
+metadata:
+  name: cd-pipeline
+spec:
+  workspaces:
+    - shared-workspace
+  params:
+    - name: image-1
+    - name: image-2
+    - name: image-3
+    - name: dockerfile-1
+    - name: dockerfile-2
+    - name: dockerfile-3
+  tasks:
+    - name: build
+      taskRef:
+        name: kaniko
+      workspaces:
+        - name: source
+          workspace: shared-workspace
+      matrix:
+        include:
+          - name: build-1
+            params:
+              - name: IMAGE
+                value: $(params.image-1)
+              - name: DOCKERFILE
+                value: $(params.dockerfile-1)
+          - name: build-2
+            params:
+              - name: IMAGE
+                value: $(params.image-2)
+              - name: DOCKERFILE
+                value: $(params.dockerfile-2)
+          - name: build-3
+            params:
+              - name: IMAGE
+                value: $(params.image-3)
+              - name: DOCKERFILE
+                value: $(params.dockerfile-3)
+---
+
+apiVersion: tekton.dev/v1beta1
+kind: PipelineRun
+metadata:
+  generateName: cd-pipelinerun-
+spec:
+  pipelineRef:
+    name: cd-pipeline
+  params:
+    - name: image-1
+      value: "image-1"
+    - name: dockerfile-1
+      value: "path/to/1/Dockerfile"
+    - name: image-2
+      value: "image-2"
+    - name: dockerfile-2
+      value: "path/to/2/Dockerfile"
+    - name: image-3
+      value: "image-3"
+    - name: dockerfile-3
+      value: "path/to/3/Dockerfile"
+```
+
+## Motivation
+
+It is a common practice to execute a `pipeline` either by creating a `PipelineRun` object or through `TriggerTemplate`.
+Generally, a list of `params` are specified as part of the `PipelineRun` which might be initialized statically or
+through a [trigger template params](https://github.com/tektoncd/triggers/blob/main/docs/triggertemplates.md#structure-of-a-triggertemplate).
+Now, running a shared `pipeline` with `matrix` where the values for each instance of fanned out task is dynamically specified
+at the runtime is not possible with the existing `matrix` syntax. In this proposal, we would like to extend `matrix`
+syntax to provide an option to dynamically specify a list of explicit combinations
+
+### Goals
+
+- Be able to author a sharable pipeline with `matrix` such that a task can fan out based on the explicit combinations
+which are specified dynamically.
+
+### Non-Goals
+
+- Matrix explicit combination mechanism only supports a `param` of type `string` and not adding support for any
+other type.
+
+### Use Cases
+
+Let's revisit the example of build pipeline from [TEP-0118](0118-matrix-with-explicit-combinations-of-parameters.md#define-explicit-combinations-in-the-matrix).
+A pipeline `pipeline-to-build-images-from-a-single-repo` has three explicit combinations defined in the pipeline such
+that `kaniko` can fan out and create three separate `taskRun`s. The values for each combination can be furthered
+dynamically specified using the `params` as seen in the example in the [summary](#summary).
+
+```yaml
+apiVersion: tekton.dev/v1beta1
+kind: Pipeline
+metadata:
+  name: pipeline-to-build-images-from-a-single-repo
+spec:
+  workspaces:
+    - name: shared-workspace
+  tasks:
+    - ...
+    - name: kaniko-build
+      taskRef:
+        name: kaniko
+      workspaces:
+        - name: source
+          workspace: shared-workspace
+      matrix:
+        include:
+          - name: build-1
+            params:
+              - name: IMAGE
+                value: "image-1"
+              - name: DOCKERFILE
+                value: "path/to/Dockerfile1"
+          - name: build-2
+            params:
+              - name: IMAGE
+                value: "image-2"
+              - name: DOCKERFILE
+                value: "path/to/Dockerfile2"
+          - name: build-3
+            params:
+              - name: IMAGE
+                value: "image-3"
+              - name: DOCKERFILE
+                value: "path/to/Dockerfile3"
+    - ...
+```
+
+This `pipeline` is part of a catalog and shared across multiple teams. Now, the teams are building their own applications
+using this `pipeline` and different teams have different number of images to built as part of their application. This way
+of specifying `matrix` combinations in a `pipeline` is constant and can not be utilized for an application with
+different number of images.
+
+## Proposal
+
+We propose adding a field - `strategy` of type `string` - within the `matrix` section. This allows pipeline authors to
+maintain a single pipeline in a catalog and allow the users to specify the list of explicit combinations for each
+instance dynamically through `pipelineRun` or a trigger template or a task result.
+
+The `matrix.strategy` is of type `string` where its value is a list of objects in key:value pairs. The controller reads
+a stringified JSON payload in a form of `{"include": a list of combinations}` and creates an equivalent number of
+instances based on the length of the specified list.
+
+When `matrix.strategy` is specified, no other `matrix` fields will be allowed i.e. `matrix.params` and `matrix.include`
+are not permitted with `matrix.strategy`. This restriction will help avoid any undesired conflicts after the `matrix`
+is resolved. 
+
+### `matrix.strategy` initialized by the `pipelineRun`
+
+The `Pipeline` addressing this use case will be defined as shown below:
+
+```yaml
+apiVersion: tekton.dev/v1beta1
+kind: Pipeline
+metadata:
+  name: pipeline-to-build-images-from-a-single-repo
+spec:
+  params:
+    - name: matrix-strategy
+  workspaces:
+    - name: shared-workspace
+  tasks:
+    - ...
+    - name: kaniko-build
+      taskRef:
+        name: kaniko
+      workspaces:
+        - name: source
+          workspace: shared-workspace
+      matrix:
+        strategy: $(params.matrix-strategy)
+```
+
+A `PipelineRun` can be created to execute the above `pipeline` to build 1 image:
+
+```yaml
+apiVersion: tekton.dev/v1beta1
+kind: PipelineRun
+metadata:
+  generateName: pipelineRun-
+spec:
+  pipelineRef:
+    name: pipeline-to-build-images-from-a-single-repo
+  params:
+    - name: matrix-strategy
+      value: "{\"include\":[{\"IMAGE\":\"image-1\",\"DOCKERFILE\":\"path/to/Dockerfile1\"}]}"
+```
+
+`PipelineRun` can be created to execute the above `pipeline` to build 3 images:
+
+```yaml
+apiVersion: tekton.dev/v1beta1
+kind: PipelineRun
+metadata:
+  generateName: pipelineRun-
+spec:
+  pipelineRef:
+    name: pipeline-to-build-images-from-a-single-repo 
+  params:
+    - name: matrix-strategy
+      value: "{\"include\":[{\"IMAGE\":\"image-1\",\"DOCKERFILE\":\"path/to/Dockerfile1\"},{\"IMAGE\":\"image-2\",\"DOCKERFILE\":\"path/to/Dockerfile2\"},{\"IMAGE\":\"image-3\",\"DOCKERFILE\":\"path/to/Dockerfile3\"}]}"
+```
+
+### `matrix.strategy` specified by a task result
+
+```yaml
+apiVersion: tekton.dev/v1beta1
+kind: Pipeline
+metadata:
+  name: pipeline-to-build-images-from-a-single-repo
+spec:
+  workspaces:
+    - name: shared-workspace
+  tasks:
+    - ...
+    - name: pre-requisite
+      taskSpec:
+        results:
+          - name: matrix-strategy
+        steps:
+          - name: read-strategy
+            image: alpine
+            script: |
+              # this strategy can be read from a JSON file in the repo
+              echo -n "{\"include\":[{\"IMAGE\":\"image-1\",\"DOCKERFILE\":\"path/to/Dockerfile1\"}]}" | tee $(results.matrix-strategy.path)
+    - name: kaniko-build
+      params:
+        - name: matrix-strategy
+          value: $(tasks.read-matrix-strategy.results.matrix-strategy)
+      taskRef:
+        name: kaniko
+      workspaces:
+        - name: source
+          workspace: shared-workspace
+      matrix:
+        strategy: $(params.matrix-strategy)
+---
+
+apiVersion: tekton.dev/v1beta1
+kind: PipelineRun
+metadata:
+  generateName: pipelineRun-
+spec:
+  pipelineRef:
+    name: pipeline-to-build-images-from-a-single-repo
+```
+
+### GitHub Actions
+
+This syntax is inspired by the GitHub actions syntax similar to the rest of the sections of `matrix`.
+
+[GitHub actions](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/expressions#example-returning-a-json-object)
+does support specifying a list of jobs in which a JSON payload is set in one job and passed to the next job using
+`output` and `fromJSON`.
+
+```yaml
+name: build
+on: push
+jobs:
+  job1:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      matrix: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.matrix }}
+    steps:
+      - id: set-matrix
+        run: echo "matrix={\"include\":[{\"project\":\"foo\",\"config\":\"Debug\"},{\"project\":\"bar\",\"config\":\"Release\"}]}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+  job2:
+    needs: job1
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    strategy:
+      matrix: ${{ fromJSON(needs.job1.outputs.matrix) }}
+    steps:
+      - run: build
+```
+
+The proposal here is to support a string version of JSON object right now but this can be extended in future to support
+an expression language such as CEL. The current proposal does not bind us to any expression language but provides an
+opportunity to support additional expression language along with a JSON payload.
+
+## References
+
+- [#7170]: https://github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/issues/7170
+- [Tekton Pipelines PoC]: https://github.com/tektoncd/pipeline/pull/7180
+- [Dynamic Matrix in GitHub Actions]: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/65056670/is-it-possible-to-have-a-dynamic-strategy-matrix-in-a-workflow-in-github-actions
+- [GitHub Actions Matrix]: https://adamtheautomator.com/github-actions-matrix/
diff --git a/teps/README.md b/teps/README.md
@@ -131,3 +131,4 @@ This is the complete list of Tekton TEPs:
 |[TEP-0140](0140-producing-results-in-matrix.md) | Producing Results in Matrix | implementable | 2023-08-21 |
 |[TEP-0141](0141-platform-context-variables.md) | Platform Context Variables | proposed | 2023-08-21 |
 |[TEP-0145](0145-cel-in-whenexpression.md) | CEL in WhenExpression | implementable | 2023-10-01 |
+|[TEP-0147](0147-dynamic-matrix.md) | Dynamic Matrix | implementable | 2023-10-12 |