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Tekton Cloud Native CI/CD

Tekton runs CI/CD pipelines as Kubernetes custom resources. Learn how Tekton works, how to build pipelines with Tasks and Pipelines, and when to choose it.

Luca BertonMarch 31, 20262 min read

Tekton runs CI/CD pipelines natively on Kubernetes. Each step runs in a container. Each pipeline is a Kubernetes custom resource. If your infrastructure is Kubernetes, your CI/CD can be too.

Core Concepts

Tasks

A Task is a sequence of steps that run in containers:

yaml
apiVersion: tekton.dev/v1
kind: Task
metadata:
  name: build-and-push
spec:
  params:
    - name: image
      type: string
  workspaces:
    - name: source
  steps:
    - name: build
      image: gcr.io/kaniko-project/executor:latest
      args:
        - --dockerfile=Dockerfile
        - --destination=$(params.image)
        - --context=dir://$(workspaces.source.path)

Pipelines

A Pipeline chains Tasks together:

yaml
apiVersion: tekton.dev/v1
kind: Pipeline
metadata:
  name: ci-pipeline
spec:
  params:
    - name: repo-url
      type: string
    - name: image
      type: string
  workspaces:
    - name: shared-workspace
  tasks:
    - name: clone
      taskRef:
        name: git-clone
      params:
        - name: url
          value: $(params.repo-url)
      workspaces:
        - name: output
          workspace: shared-workspace

    - name: test
      runAfter: ["clone"]
      taskRef:
        name: run-tests
      workspaces:
        - name: source
          workspace: shared-workspace

    - name: build
      runAfter: ["test"]
      taskRef:
        name: build-and-push
      params:
        - name: image
          value: $(params.image)
      workspaces:
        - name: source
          workspace: shared-workspace

PipelineRuns

A PipelineRun executes a Pipeline with specific parameters:

yaml
apiVersion: tekton.dev/v1
kind: PipelineRun
metadata:
  generateName: ci-run-
spec:
  pipelineRef:
    name: ci-pipeline
  params:
    - name: repo-url
      value: https://github.com/myorg/my-app
    - name: image
      value: ghcr.io/myorg/my-app:latest
  workspaces:
    - name: shared-workspace
      volumeClaimTemplate:
        spec:
          accessModes: ["ReadWriteOnce"]
          resources:
            requests:
              storage: 1Gi
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Installation

bash
# Install Tekton Pipelines
kubectl apply -f https://storage.googleapis.com/tekton-releases/pipeline/latest/release.yaml

# Install Tekton Triggers (for webhooks)
kubectl apply -f https://storage.googleapis.com/tekton-releases/triggers/latest/release.yaml

# Install Tekton Dashboard
kubectl apply -f https://storage.googleapis.com/tekton-releases/dashboard/latest/release.yaml

# Install CLI
brew install tektoncd-cli

Triggers: Webhook-Driven Pipelines

yaml
apiVersion: triggers.tekton.dev/v1beta1
kind: EventListener
metadata:
  name: github-listener
spec:
  triggers:
    - name: github-push
      bindings:
        - ref: github-push-binding
      template:
        ref: ci-pipeline-template

Push to GitHub → webhook fires → EventListener creates a PipelineRun → pipeline executes.

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Tekton vs Other CI Systems

FeatureTektonGitHub ActionsJenkins
Runs onKubernetesGitHub cloudAnywhere
DefinitionKubernetes YAMLGitHub YAMLGroovy/YAML
ScalingKubernetes-nativeGitHub-managedManual
Self-hostedYes (required)OptionalYes
Reusable tasksTekton HubMarketplacePlugin system
Vendor lock-inNone (K8s standard)GitHubNone

When to Choose Tekton

Good fit: - Your infrastructure is Kubernetes-first - You need complete control over CI/CD infrastructure - Compliance requires self-hosted CI/CD - You want CI/CD pipelines as Kubernetes resources (GitOps-managed) - Multi-cloud environments where vendor-neutral CI matters

Not ideal: - Small teams without Kubernetes expertise - Projects already using GitHub Actions effectively - Teams that prefer managed CI/CD over self-hosted

Tekton is powerful but operationally heavy. You are running a CI/CD platform, not just using one.

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Luca Berton

Docker Captain, IT automation expert, Red Hat Summit & KubeCon speaker. Building hands-on education for DevOps engineers at CopyPasteLearn.

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