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Selecting a workflow to run using pipeline parameters

Language Icon 1 month ago · 3 min read
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You might find that you want to manually trigger a specific workflow to run using the API but still run a workflow on every push to your project. To achieve this, use pipeline parameters to decide which workflow(s) to run.

config.yml

The following example defaults to running the build workflow, but allows control of which other workflow to run using the API:

version: 2.1

parameters:
  action:
    type: enum
    enum: [build, report]
    default: build

jobs:
  build:
    docker:
      - image: cimg/base:2023.11
    steps:
      - checkout
      - run: ./run-tests.sh

  report:
    docker:
      - image: cimg/base:2023.11
    steps:
      - checkout
      - run: ./create-report.sh

workflows:
  build:
    when:
      equal: [ build, << pipeline.parameters.action >> ]
    jobs:
      - build

  report:
    when:
      equal: [ report, << pipeline.parameters.action >> ]
    jobs:
      - report

Supply parameter with API

The action parameter will default to build on pushes to the project. Below is an example of supplying a different value to action using the API v2 Trigger a New Pipeline endpoint to select a different workflow to run.

In this example, the workflow named report would run. Remember to substitute project-slug with your values.

If your project code is integrated with CircleCI via the GitHub App, GitLab or Bitbucket Data Center, you will need to use the new Trigger a new pipeline endpoint rather than the endpoint used in this example. 
curl -X POST https://circleci.com/api/v2/project/{project-slug}/pipeline \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json" \
  -H "Circle-Token: API_KEY" \
  -d '{ "parameters": { "action": report } }'

To find your project slug, follow these steps:

  1. Head to the CircleCI web app and select your org from the cards on your user homepage.

  2. Select Projects from the sidebar and locate your project from the list. You can use the search to help.

  3. Select the ellipsis menu more icon next to your project and select Project Settings. The project slug is listed on the project settings homepage.

    • GitHub App: Project slug starts with circleci followed by UUIDs. For example, circleci/34R3kN5RtfEE7v4sa4nWAU/4nYdoKGkb6RXn7JGt8SQtg).

    • GitHub OAuth app: Project slug is human readable. For example, github/circleci/circleci-demo-workflows.

Next steps

For more information on using API v2 endpoints, see the API Reference Documentation and the API Developers Guide end-to-end example.