Halon's plans
When you ask Halon for something that takes more than one step, such as a release, a migration or a fix across two systems, it writes a short plan first and keeps it up to date while it works. You see the plan as a checklist in the chat, and in Slack when you asked in a thread.
What a plan shows
Section titled “What a plan shows”Halon says the plan back in two short lines and starts. The plan has your goal in your words and one step per action, each naming where it happens, such as GitHub or the checkout service. Every step moves on the checklist as Halon works:
| Mark | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Empty circle | Not started |
| Spinner | Running |
| Tick | Done |
| Cross | Failed, with why, quoting the provider |
| Dash | Skipped |
A step that changes something shows how to put it back, written before the change runs, such as Undo: Roll checkout back to the deploy before. Once the change has run, Halon updates it with what came back, such as the deploy it replaced.
A plan does not ask you for a yes on its own. Each change in it asks you when it runs, as any change Halon makes does, and approval rules still apply. See Approvals.
Checking that it worked
Section titled “Checking that it worked”A plan that changes something always ends with a check. For the minutes since the change, Halon reads how what it touched stands now, and its error rate and latency compared with its usual levels. The check step shows what Halon read and one of Worked, Did not work or Could not check. When nothing connected can show it, Halon says what is missing.
Once every step has ended, Halon reports the outcome against your goal, with links to the pages that show it, such as the run or the deploy, and offers the next step it would take, such as “Shall I watch checkout’s error rate for an hour?”. The checklist keeps the same report.
When part of it fails
Section titled “When part of it fails”If a change fails, or the check finds the changes did not work, Halon stops. It tells you which steps are done, which failed and why, and which have not started, and the plan offers two buttons:
- Retry hands the plan back to Halon, which reads how things stand now and carries on from the step that failed.
- Undo asks first, then has Halon put back what the plan changed, newest first, from the undo each change was written with, and check that everything is back. The undo shows as a plan of its own, and each change in it asks you as usual.
You can also say either in the chat in your own words.
Planning for later
Section titled “Planning for later”Ask for a time, such as “release to production on Saturday at 6am”, and Halon makes a workflow that runs once at that time rather than a plan. It shows you a card first with when it runs, each step and what it will be able to do, and makes it once you confirm. A time without a time zone is read in yours. See Making a workflow.
Who can press the buttons
Section titled “Who can press the buttons”In a dashboard chat, only you can cancel, retry or undo its plans. In a Slack thread, anyone in the channel can. On the dashboard each press confirms itself with a message, and in Slack the plan redraws. A press that cannot go through says why.