Create ArgoCD Application in Backstage

This custom scaffolder action allows you to create ArgoCD Application as part of your software template.

I wrote this for a KubeCon talk without knowing much TypeScript. Be careful if you decide to use it.

Getting Started

Add to your Backstage app.

# From your Backstage root directory
yarn add --cwd packages/backend @muvaf/create-argocd-application

# To be able to keep using the built-in actions.
yarn add --cwd packages/backend @backstage/integration

IMPORTANT NOTE: This custom action uses POD_NAMESPACE environment variable to determine the namespace of the ArgoCD Application resource. Make sure you set it when you deploy your Backstage app. An example addition to your container could be like the following:

env:
  - name: POD_NAMESPACE
    valueFrom:
      fieldRef:
        fieldPath: metadata.namespace

Append it to your existing actions in packages/backend/src/plugins/scaffolder.ts

import { CatalogClient } from '@backstage/catalog-client';
import { createRouter, createBuiltinActions } from '@backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend';
import { ScmIntegrations } from '@backstage/integration';
import { Router } from 'express';
import type { PluginEnvironment } from '../types';
import { argocdCreateHelmApplication, githubWaitLastWorkflow } from "@muvaf/create-argocd-application";

export default async function createPlugin(
  env: PluginEnvironment,
): Promise<Router> {
  const catalogClient = new CatalogClient({ discoveryApi: env.discovery });
  const integrations = ScmIntegrations.fromConfig(env.config);

  const builtInActions = createBuiltinActions({
    integrations,
    catalogClient,
    config: env.config,
    reader: env.reader,
  });

  const actions = [
      ...builtInActions,
      argocdCreateHelmApplication(),
      githubWaitLastWorkflow({ integrations })
  ]

  return await createRouter({
    actions,
    catalogClient,
    logger: env.logger,
    config: env.config,
    database: env.database,
    reader: env.reader,
    identity: env.identity,
  });
}

Done! You can now use the action in your software templates.

apiVersion: scaffolder.backstage.io/v1beta3
kind: Template
metadata:
  name: chart-with-argocd
  title: Chart with ArgoCD
spec:
  steps:
    - id: argocd-create
      name: Create ArgoCD Application
      action: argocd:create-helm-application
      input:
        name: ${{ parameters.serviceName }}
        chart:
          name: ${{ (parameters.repoUrl | parseRepoUrl).repo }}
          repo: ghcr.io/${{ (parameters.repoUrl | parseRepoUrl).owner }}
          version: 9.9.9