Pipelines concepts

A Task is the smallest configurable unit in a Pipeline and is essentially a function of inputs and outputs that inform the Pipeline build. It can run individually or as a part of a Pipeline. A Pipeline includes one or more Tasks, with a Task consisting of one or more steps. Steps are a series of commands that are sequentially executed by the Task.

A Pipeline is a series of Tasks that are executed to build complex workflows that automate the build, deployment and delivery of applications. It is a collection of PipelineResources,Parameters, and one or more Tasks. A Pipeline interacts with the outside world, by using PipelineResources, which are given to Tasks as inputs and outputs.

A PipelineRun is used to run and manage the execution of the Pipeline. PipelineRun initiates the creation of a TaskRun for each Task being executed in the Pipeline.

TaskRun is auto-created by a PipelineRun for each Task in a Pipeline and results from running an instance of a Task. It can also be manually created if a Task runs outside of a Pipeline.

A PipelineResource is an object that is used as an input and output for pipeline Tasks. For example, if an input is a Git repository and an output is a container image built from that Git repository, these are both classified as PipelineResources. PipelineResources currently support Git Resources, Image Resources, Cluster Resources, and Storage Resources.

For more information on pipeline concepts, see the Tekton documentation.