# CI/CD Gate Flow

## Overview

The CI/CD Gate Flow describes how StellaOps integrates into continuous integration and deployment pipelines to provide automated security gates. The flow covers CLI-based scanning, policy evaluation, and pass/fail decisions that control pipeline progression.

**Business Value**: Shift-left security by catching vulnerabilities before deployment, with deterministic, reproducible verdicts that integrate into existing DevOps workflows.

## Actors

| Actor | Type | Role |
|-------|------|------|
| CI Pipeline | System | GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, etc. |
| StellaOps CLI | Tool | Executes scans from pipeline |
| Gateway | Service | API entry point |
| Scanner | Service | Performs image analysis |
| Policy Engine | Service | Evaluates security policies |
| Attestor | Service | Signs scan results |

## Prerequisites

- StellaOps CLI installed in CI environment
- API credentials configured (token or OIDC)
- Policy set defined for the pipeline
- Container image built and available

## Supported CI/CD Platforms

| Platform | Integration Method | Credentials |
|----------|-------------------|-------------|
| GitHub Actions | Action + CLI | OIDC or PAT |
| GitLab CI | Job template + CLI | CI_JOB_TOKEN or PAT |
| Azure DevOps | Task + CLI | Service connection |
| Jenkins | Plugin + CLI | Credentials binding |
| CircleCI | Orb + CLI | Context variables |
| Tekton | Task + CLI | Kubernetes secrets |

## Flow Diagram

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                            CI/CD Gate Flow                                       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

┌────────────┐  ┌───────────┐  ┌─────────┐  ┌─────────┐  ┌────────┐  ┌─────────┐
│ CI Pipeline│  │StellaOps  │  │ Gateway │  │ Scanner │  │ Policy │  │ Attestor│
│            │  │   CLI     │  │         │  │         │  │        │  │         │
└─────┬──────┘  └─────┬─────┘  └────┬────┘  └────┬────┘  └───┬────┘  └────┬────┘
      │               │             │            │           │            │
      │ docker build  │             │            │           │            │
      │───────┐       │             │            │           │            │
      │       │       │             │            │           │            │
      │<──────┘       │             │            │           │            │
      │               │             │            │           │            │
      │ stellaops     │             │            │           │            │
      │ scan          │             │            │           │            │
      │ --policy=prod │             │            │           │            │
      │──────────────>│             │            │           │            │
      │               │             │            │           │            │
      │               │ POST /scans │            │           │            │
      │               │────────────>│            │           │            │
      │               │             │            │           │            │
      │               │             │ Dispatch   │           │            │
      │               │             │───────────>│           │            │
      │               │             │            │           │            │
      │               │             │            │ Analyze   │           │
      │               │             │            │ image     │           │
      │               │             │            │───┐       │           │
      │               │             │            │   │       │           │
      │               │             │            │<──┘       │           │
      │               │             │            │           │            │
      │               │             │            │ Evaluate  │           │
      │               │             │            │──────────>│           │
      │               │             │            │           │            │
      │               │             │            │           │ Apply     │
      │               │             │            │           │ rules     │
      │               │             │            │           │───┐       │
      │               │             │            │           │   │       │
      │               │             │            │           │<──┘       │
      │               │             │            │           │            │
      │               │             │            │ Verdict   │           │
      │               │             │            │<──────────│           │
      │               │             │            │           │            │
      │               │             │            │ Sign      │           │
      │               │             │            │──────────────────────>│
      │               │             │            │           │            │
      │               │             │            │ DSSE      │            │
      │               │             │            │<──────────────────────│
      │               │             │            │           │            │
      │               │             │ Result     │           │            │
      │               │             │<───────────│           │            │
      │               │             │            │           │            │
      │               │ Verdict     │            │           │            │
      │               │<────────────│            │           │            │
      │               │             │            │           │            │
      │ Exit code     │             │            │           │            │
      │ (0=pass,      │             │            │           │            │
      │  1=fail)      │             │            │           │            │
      │<──────────────│             │            │           │            │
      │               │             │            │           │            │
      │ [if pass]     │             │            │           │            │
      │ docker push   │             │            │           │            │
      │───────┐       │             │            │           │            │
      │       │       │             │            │           │            │
      │<──────┘       │             │            │           │            │
      │               │             │            │           │            │
```

## Step-by-Step

### 1. Pipeline Configuration

#### GitHub Actions Example

```yaml
name: Build and Scan

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  build-and-scan:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: read
      id-token: write  # For OIDC

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Build Docker image
        run: |
          docker build -t myapp:${{ github.sha }} .

      - name: Install StellaOps CLI
        run: |
          curl -sSL https://get.stellaops.io/cli | sh
          echo "$HOME/.stellaops/bin" >> $GITHUB_PATH

      - name: Authenticate with OIDC
        run: |
          stellaops auth login --oidc \
            --issuer ${{ secrets.STELLAOPS_OIDC_ISSUER }} \
            --client-id ${{ secrets.STELLAOPS_CLIENT_ID }}

      - name: Scan image
        id: scan
        run: |
          stellaops scan myapp:${{ github.sha }} \
            --policy production \
            --format sarif \
            --output results.sarif \
            --attestation \
            --fail-on violation

      - name: Upload SARIF to GitHub Security
        if: always()
        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v2
        with:
          sarif_file: results.sarif

      - name: Push to registry
        if: steps.scan.outcome == 'success'
        run: |
          docker tag myapp:${{ github.sha }} ghcr.io/org/myapp:${{ github.sha }}
          docker push ghcr.io/org/myapp:${{ github.sha }}
```

#### GitLab CI Example

```yaml
stages:
  - build
  - scan
  - deploy

variables:
  STELLAOPS_API_URL: https://api.stellaops.local

build:
  stage: build
  script:
    - docker build -t $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHA .
    - docker push $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHA

scan:
  stage: scan
  image: stellaops/cli:latest
  script:
    - stellaops auth login --token $STELLAOPS_TOKEN
    - stellaops scan $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHA
        --policy production
        --fail-on violation
  artifacts:
    reports:
      sast: gl-sast-report.json

deploy:
  stage: deploy
  needs: [scan]
  script:
    - kubectl set image deployment/myapp app=$CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHA
```

### 2. CLI Authentication

The CLI supports multiple authentication methods:

| Method | Command | Use Case |
|--------|---------|----------|
| Token | `stellaops auth login --token $TOKEN` | CI/CD with secrets |
| OIDC | `stellaops auth login --oidc` | GitHub/GitLab OIDC |
| Interactive | `stellaops auth login` | Local development |
| Keyless | `stellaops auth login --keyless` | Sigstore OIDC |

### 3. Scan Execution

CLI submits scan request and waits for completion:

```bash
stellaops scan docker.io/myorg/myapp:v1.2.3 \
  --policy production \
  --format json \
  --output scan-results.json \
  --attestation \
  --timeout 5m \
  --fail-on violation
```

#### CLI Options

| Option | Description | Default |
|--------|-------------|---------|
| `--policy` | Policy set to evaluate against | `default` |
| `--format` | Output format (json, sarif, table) | `table` |
| `--output` | Write results to file | stdout |
| `--attestation` | Generate DSSE attestation | false |
| `--timeout` | Maximum wait time | 10m |
| `--fail-on` | Exit 1 on: `violation`, `warning`, `any` | `violation` |
| `--quiet` | Suppress progress output | false |

### 3b. AI Code Guard (optional)

Run AI code guard checks on a change set and emit CI-friendly output:

```bash
stella guard run \
  --policy .stellaops.yml \
  --format sarif \
  --out guard.sarif
```

Recommended exit behavior:
- pass: exit 0
- review: exit 0 (with warning in report)
- block: exit 1

### 4. Policy Evaluation

Policy engine evaluates findings against CI-specific rules:

```yaml
# Policy Set: production
version: "stella-dsl@1"
name: production

rules:
  - name: block-critical
    condition: severity == 'critical' AND vex_status != 'not_affected'
    action: FAIL

  - name: block-high-unfixed
    condition: severity == 'high' AND fixed_version == null
    action: FAIL

  - name: block-known-exploited
    condition: kev == true
    action: FAIL

  - name: require-sbom
    condition: sbom_complete == false
    action: FAIL
    message: "SBOM must cover all detected packages"

gates:
  ci:
    max_critical: 0
    max_high_unfixed: 0
    require_attestation: true
```

### 5. Verdict and Exit Code

CLI translates verdict to exit code:

| Verdict | Exit Code | Pipeline Result |
|---------|-----------|-----------------|
| PASS | 0 | Continue |
| WARN | 0 (or 1 if `--fail-on warning`) | Continue with warning |
| FAIL | 1 | Block deployment |
| ERROR | 2 | Pipeline failure |

### 6. SARIF Integration

CLI outputs SARIF for IDE and GitHub integration:

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/oasis-tcs/sarif-spec/master/Schemata/sarif-schema-2.1.0.json",
  "version": "2.1.0",
  "runs": [
    {
      "tool": {
        "driver": {
          "name": "StellaOps",
          "version": "2.1.0",
          "informationUri": "https://stellaops.io"
        }
      },
      "results": [
        {
          "ruleId": "CVE-2024-1234",
          "level": "error",
          "message": {
            "text": "Critical vulnerability in lodash@4.17.20"
          },
          "locations": [
            {
              "physicalLocation": {
                "artifactLocation": {
                  "uri": "package-lock.json"
                }
              }
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}
```

### 7. Attestation Storage

If `--attestation` is specified, CLI stores attestation:

```bash
# View attestation
stellaops attestation show --scan $SCAN_ID

# Verify attestation
stellaops attestation verify --image myapp:v1.2.3 --policy production
```

Attestation is stored as DSSE envelope:
```json
{
  "payloadType": "application/vnd.in-toto+json",
  "payload": "eyJfdHlwZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vaW4tdG90by5pby9TdGF0ZW1lbnQvdjEi...",
  "signatures": [
    {
      "keyid": "sha256:abc123...",
      "sig": "MEQCI..."
    }
  ]
}
```

## Gate Behaviors

### Soft Gate (Warning Only)

```yaml
# .stellaops.yaml
gates:
  ci:
    mode: soft  # Report but don't fail
    notify:
      - slack://security-channel
```

### Hard Gate (Blocking)

```yaml
gates:
  ci:
    mode: hard  # Fail pipeline on violations
    exceptions:
      - CVE-2024-9999  # Known false positive
```

### Progressive Gate

```yaml
gates:
  ci:
    mode: progressive
    thresholds:
      - branch: main
        max_critical: 0
        max_high: 5
      - branch: develop
        max_critical: 2
        max_high: 20
      - branch: feature/*
        mode: soft  # Warn only on feature branches
```

## Data Contracts

### CLI Scan Output Schema

```typescript
interface CliScanOutput {
  scan_id: string;
  image: string;
  digest: string;
  verdict: 'PASS' | 'WARN' | 'FAIL';
  confidence: number;
  summary: {
    critical: number;
    high: number;
    medium: number;
    low: number;
  };
  violations: Array<{
    cve: string;
    severity: string;
    package: string;
    rule: string;
    message: string;
  }>;
  attestation?: {
    digest: string;
    rekor_log_index?: number;
  };
  timing: {
    queued_ms: number;
    scan_ms: number;
    policy_ms: number;
    total_ms: number;
  };
}
```

## Error Handling

| Error | Exit Code | Recovery |
|-------|-----------|----------|
| Auth failure | 2 | Check credentials |
| Image not found | 2 | Verify image reference |
| API timeout | 2 | Retry with --timeout |
| Policy not found | 2 | Check policy name |
| Network error | 2 | Check connectivity |

## Observability

### Metrics

| Metric | Type | Labels |
|--------|------|--------|
| `cli_scan_total` | Counter | `verdict`, `ci_platform` |
| `cli_scan_duration_seconds` | Histogram | `ci_platform` |
| `cli_gate_blocked_total` | Counter | `policy`, `reason` |

### CI/CD Annotations

GitHub Actions annotations:
```
::error file=package-lock.json::CVE-2024-1234: Critical vulnerability in lodash@4.17.20
::warning file=Dockerfile::Using outdated base image
```

## Related Flows

- [Scan Submission Flow](02-scan-submission-flow.md) - Underlying scan mechanics
- [Policy Evaluation Flow](04-policy-evaluation-flow.md) - Policy rule details
- [Binary Delta Attestation Flow](15-binary-delta-attestation-flow.md) - Attestation details