No-Mistakes Pipeline Steps: Complete Guide to Built-in Checks and Customization

The no-mistakes pipeline automates PR validation through 15+ built-in steps—including Intent, Lint, Document, Evidence, CI, Rebase, and PR creation—each customizable via the .no-mistakes.yaml configuration file.

The kunchenguid/no-mistakes repository implements a fully automated CI pipeline that validates, fixes, and merges pull requests through a deterministic sequence of no-mistakes pipeline steps. Each step implements the pipeline.Step interface defined in internal/pipeline/pipeline.go and is orchestrated by the executor in internal/pipeline/executor.go. All behavior is controlled through the repository-wide .no-mistakes.yaml configuration file, parsed by internal/config/config.go.

Built-in No-Mistakes Pipeline Steps

The pipeline consists of specialized steps located under internal/pipeline/steps. The executor invokes these in a deterministic order, with each step capable of returning SkipRemaining to halt further processing.

Validation and Analysis Steps

These steps inspect code quality, intent, and documentation coverage before allowing the pipeline to proceed.

Intent (StepIntent) – Extracts the high-level intent of the PR (e.g., "add feature", "fix bug") and validates the user-provided description against the actual code changes. Implementation lives in internal/pipeline/steps/intent.go.

Lint (StepLint) – Executes the configured linter (default: golangci-lint) and surfaces style or static-analysis findings. Source file: internal/pipeline/steps/lint.go.

Document (StepDocument) – Ensures code changes are reflected in documentation files (e.g., README.md or docs/), utilizing the document agent when gaps are detected. Found in internal/pipeline/steps/document.go.

Evidence (StepEvidence) – Collects supporting artifacts such as screenshots or test logs, attaching them to PR comments for reviewer visibility. Implementation: internal/pipeline/steps/evidence.go.

Integration and CI Steps

These steps handle external platform integration and continuous execution environments.

CI – GitHub (StepCI) – Executes repository-defined CI checks including tests and static analysis, with automatic fixing capabilities when enabled. Located in internal/pipeline/steps/ci.go.

CI – GitLab (StepCIGitLab) – Mirrors the GitHub CI functionality using GitLab APIs and webhooks. Source: internal/pipeline/steps/ci_gitlab.go.

CI – Bitbucket (StepCIBitbucket) – Provides CI integration for Bitbucket pipelines. Found in internal/pipeline/steps/ci_bitbucket.go.

Shell (StepShell) – Runs user-specified shell commands defined under commands.test, commands.lint, or similar keys in a controlled subprocess environment. Implementation: internal/pipeline/steps/shell.go.

Demo (StepDemo) – Optionally runs live demonstrations (e.g., spinning up containers) to verify end-to-end functionality. Located in internal/pipeline/steps/demo.go.

Git Workflow Steps

These steps manage branch synchronization and push safety.

Rebase (StepRebase) – Rebases the feature branch onto the latest remote default branch, handling force-push detection, bundled-default-branch detection, and conflict resolution via the agent. Source: internal/pipeline/steps/rebase.go.

Force-Push Safety (StepForcePush) – Determines whether git push --force-with-lease is safe based on remote-branch state and patch-ID comparison. Implementation: internal/pipeline/steps/forcepush.go.

Push (StepPush) – Pushes the rebased branch back to the remote, utilizing the lease decision from the Force-Push Safety step. Found in internal/pipeline/steps/push.go.

PR Management Steps

These steps handle pull request creation and human-in-the-loop review processes.

PR (StepPR) – Creates or updates the pull request on the configured platform (GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket). Source: internal/pipeline/steps/pr.go.

PR-Summary (StepPRSummary) – Generates a concise summary of the PR including title, description, findings, and review status, posting it as a comment. Implementation: internal/pipeline/steps/prsummary.go.

Review (StepReview) – When auto-fix is disabled, pauses the pipeline to present findings to a human reviewer and waits for approval or rejection. Found in internal/pipeline/steps/review.go.

How to Customize No-Mistakes Pipeline Steps

All customization flows through .no-mistakes.yaml at the repository root, which is merged with defaults defined in internal/config/defaults.go.

Configuration via .no-mistakes.yaml

The configuration file supports granular control over step behavior:

commands:
  test: "go test -race ./..."
  lint: "golangci-lint run ./..."

auto_fix:
  review: 1
  ci: 0

ci_timeout: "30d"

intent:
  prompt: "You are reviewing a feature addition…"

review:
  template: "Please check the following…"

push:
  force: true

pr:
  draft: true
  labels: ["automerge"]

Disabling and Skipping Steps

Remove the corresponding configuration entry to skip a step. For example, omit commands.lint to disable the Lint step, or set auto_fix.ci: 0 to require manual approval for CI failures.

Use the CLI flag --skip-steps for temporary per-run suppression:

no-mistakes run --skip-steps=document,evidence

Adding Custom Shell Commands

The Shell step executes arbitrary commands defined under the commands key. The findings are automatically fed into the Review gate.

commands:
  security-scan: "gosec ./..."
  benchmark: "go test -bench=. ./..."

Runtime Overrides with CLI Flags

The CLI accepts --set <key>=<value> flags parsed by internal/cli/flags.go to override YAML values for a single execution:

no-mistakes run --set intent.prompt="You are reviewing a security patch…" \
                --set ci_timeout="7d"

Extending with Custom Step Implementations

To add a custom step, implement the pipeline.Step interface using helpers from internal/pipeline/steps/common.go, then register the step in pipeline.NewExecutor. Expose configuration knobs under a top-level key (e.g., my_step:) and read them via cfg.Get("my_step.some_option").

Summary

• No-mistakes pipeline steps include 15+ built-in implementations covering validation (Intent, Lint, Document), CI integration (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket), Git workflow (Rebase, Force-Push, Push), and PR management (PR, PR-Summary, Review).
• Each step implements the pipeline.Step interface and is orchestrated by internal/pipeline/executor.go.
• All customization happens through .no-mistakes.yaml, supporting command overrides, auto-fix toggles, timeouts, and PR metadata.
• Steps can be disabled by removing configuration entries or using --skip-steps flags.
• Custom steps require implementing the interface and registering in pipeline.NewExecutor.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I disable the automatic linting step in the no-mistakes pipeline?

Remove the commands.lint entry from your .no-mistakes.yaml file, or set auto_fix.lint: 0 to require manual approval. Alternatively, use the --skip-steps=lint CLI flag to suppress it for a single run.

What is the difference between the Force-Push Safety and Push steps?

The Force-Push Safety step (StepForcePush) analyzes remote-branch state and patch-IDs to determine if --force-with-lease is safe, while the Push step (StepPush) executes the actual push command using that safety determination. They work sequentially to prevent accidental overwrites.

Can I add custom validation steps without modifying the Go source code?

For simple validations, use the Shell step by adding commands under commands.* in .no-mistakes.yaml. For complex logic requiring state management or custom interfaces, you must implement the pipeline.Step interface in Go and register it in internal/pipeline/executor.go, as shown in internal/pipeline/steps/common.go.

How does the CI step handle platform differences between GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket?

The pipeline provides three separate implementations: StepCI for GitHub (internal/pipeline/steps/ci.go), StepCIGitLab (internal/pipeline/steps/ci_gitlab.go), and StepCIBitbucket (internal/pipeline/steps/ci_bitbucket.go). Each uses platform-specific APIs and hooks, but presents a unified interface to the executor and supports the same ci_timeout and auto_fix configuration options.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}