Add Custom Tekton Triggers

To run a custom pipeline on a webhook event, you have two options: attach a labeled Tekton Trigger to the platform-managed EventListener of your Git server, or run a dedicated EventListener with its own webhook. The first option needs no webhook management at all; the second gives you full control over which events your Git provider sends.

Choose an Approach

	Option 1: Platform EventListener	Option 2: Dedicated EventListener
Webhook	Managed by the platform — nothing to create	Created manually in the Git provider
Available events	Only the event types the platform webhook subscribes to (merge request, comment, push)	Any events the Git provider offers — you pick them in the webhook
Setup effort	Label one Trigger	EventListener + Ingress + webhook
Isolation	Shares the Git server's EventListener	Fully separate pipeline entry point

Pick option 1 when your pipeline reacts to the standard code-review events. Pick option 2 when you need other event types (tags, releases, pipeline events) or want your custom CI fully isolated from the platform flow.

Option 1: Attach to the Platform EventListener

note

Declarative trigger registration requires codebase-operator v2.35.0 or later. On earlier versions, custom Triggers must be added to the EventListener spec.triggers list manually — see Legacy approach.

For every Git server, KubeRocketCI creates an EventListener named edp-<gitserver> that receives all webhook events for that VCS. The EventListener serves the union of two sources:

• the built-in spec.triggers list — the stock review and build triggers;
• any Trigger in the namespace matching spec.labelSelector — your custom triggers.

# Managed by codebase-operator — shown for reference, do not edit
spec:
  labelSelector:
    matchLabels:
      app.edp.epam.com/gitServer: gitlab   # value = GitServer resource name
  triggers:
    - triggerRef: gitlab-build
    - triggerRef: gitlab-review

The label selector is reconciled by the operator: existing EventListeners gain it automatically on operator upgrade, and it is restored if removed.

Create a Custom Trigger

The example below runs a pipeline when a Merge Request comment contains /deploy-preview (GitLab). Adapt the interceptors to your VCS and event type.

apiVersion: triggers.tekton.dev/v1beta1
kind: Trigger
metadata:
  name: gitlab-deploy-preview
  labels:
    app.edp.epam.com/gitServer: gitlab # registers this Trigger with EventListener edp-gitlab
spec:
  interceptors:
    - ref:
        name: "gitlab"
        kind: ClusterInterceptor
      params:
        - name: "secretRef"
          value:
            secretName: ci-gitlab
            secretKey: secretString
        - name: "eventTypes"
          value: ["Note Hook"]
    - ref:
        name: "cel"
        kind: ClusterInterceptor
      params:
        - name: "filter"
          value: "body.object_attributes.note.startsWith('/deploy-preview')"
  bindings:
    - ref: gitlab-binding-preview
  template:
    ref: gitlab-deploy-preview-template

The label value must be the GitServer resource name (kubectl get gitservers), which matches the provider name on default installations.

Verify the Trigger Is Registered

The EventListener evaluates the same label query on every incoming event, so you can preview exactly what it will serve:

kubectl get triggers -l app.edp.epam.com/gitServer=gitlab -n <namespace>

If your Trigger is listed, it is registered. After sending a matching event, confirm the fired pipeline:

kubectl get pipelineruns -l triggers.tekton.dev/trigger=gitlab-deploy-preview -n <namespace>

Option 2: Run a Dedicated EventListener

A dedicated EventListener runs alongside the platform one and is not touched by the operator, so you own its full lifecycle: the listener, its exposure, and the webhook.

Create the EventListener

Use your own label key so the listener serves only your triggers:

apiVersion: triggers.tekton.dev/v1beta1
kind: EventListener
metadata:
  name: my-custom-el
spec:
  serviceAccountName: tekton-triggers-sa-<namespace>
  labelSelector:
    matchLabels:
      app.edp.epam.com/eventlistener: my-custom-el

Label your Triggers with the same key/value (app.edp.epam.com/eventlistener: my-custom-el) to register them — same mechanism as option 1, but against your own listener.

Expose the EventListener

Tekton creates a Service named el-my-custom-el on port 8080. Publish it with an Ingress (or Route on OpenShift):

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: my-custom-el
spec:
  rules:
    - host: el-my-custom-el.<dns-wildcard>
      http:
        paths:
          - path: /
            pathType: Prefix
            backend:
              service:
                name: el-my-custom-el
                port:
                  number: 8080

Create the Webhook Manually

In your Git provider, add a webhook on the repository (or group/organization):

1. URL: the Ingress host, e.g. https://el-my-custom-el.<dns-wildcard>.
2. Secret token: the value your Trigger's interceptor validates (for the platform secrets: secretString key of the ci-gitlab / ci-github secret, or a secret you create yourself).
3. Events: select exactly the event types your pipeline needs — this is the main advantage of a dedicated listener: tag pushes, releases, or any other events the platform webhook does not subscribe to.

For GitLab: Settings → Webhooks; for GitHub: Settings → Webhooks → Add webhook (content type application/json).

Verify

Send a matching event (or use the provider's webhook test button) and check the listener pod and the fired pipeline:

kubectl logs deploy/el-my-custom-el -n <namespace>
kubectl get pipelineruns -l triggers.tekton.dev/eventlistener=my-custom-el -n <namespace>

Legacy Approach

Before declarative registration, custom Triggers were added by patching the EventListener spec.triggers list directly. This still works — the operator never modifies that list — but patched entries are lost if the EventListener is recreated. Prefer labels for anything permanent.

warning

Do not combine both mechanisms for the same Trigger. A Trigger that is listed in spec.triggers and carries the label is served twice, producing two PipelineRuns per event.

Related Articles

• KubeRocketCI: Tekton Overview
• Add Git Server
• Annotations and Labels