Buildkite Migration

Convert CI/CD pipelines from GitHub Actions, Jenkins, CircleCI, Bitbucket Pipelines, and GitLab CI to Buildkite using the bk pipeline convert command. The command sends the source file to a public conversion API — no Buildkite account or API token is required.

Quick Start

# 1. Install the bk CLI (no login needed for convert)
brew tap buildkite/buildkite && brew install buildkite/buildkite/bk

# 2. Convert the source pipeline file
bk pipeline convert -F .github/workflows/ci.yml

# 3. Find the output in .buildkite/pipeline.github.yml

For pipeline YAML syntax and step types, see the buildkite-pipelines skill. For other bk CLI commands, see the buildkite-cli skill.

Agent Workflow

When a user provides a pipeline file or pastes pipeline content to convert:

1. Write the content to a temp file (e.g. /tmp/.github/workflows/ci.yml for GitHub Actions so vendor auto-detection works)
2. Run bk pipeline convert -F <tempfile> --output <output-path>
3. Read the output file and display it as a YAML code block — nothing else
4. Do not summarise, annotate, or critique the output unless the user explicitly asks for feedback

Converting with bk pipeline convert

Installation

# macOS and Linux (Homebrew)
brew tap buildkite/buildkite && brew install buildkite/buildkite/bk

# Or download a binary from https://github.com/buildkite/cli/releases

No bk auth login is needed — the convert command uses a public API.

Basic usage

bk pipeline convert -F <source-file>

The vendor is auto-detected from the file path for the four main providers. Output is saved to .buildkite/pipeline.<vendor>.yml.

Supported vendors

Vendor flag	Source CI	Auto-detected from
github	GitHub Actions	.github/workflows/ path
circleci	CircleCI	.circleci/ path
jenkins	Jenkins	Jenkinsfile filename
bitbucket	Bitbucket Pipelines	bitbucket-pipelines.yml filename
gitlab	GitLab CI (beta)	not auto-detected
harness	Harness CI (beta)	not auto-detected
bitrise	Bitrise (beta)	not auto-detected

Provider examples

# GitHub Actions (auto-detected from path)
bk pipeline convert -F .github/workflows/ci.yml

# CircleCI (auto-detected)
bk pipeline convert -F .circleci/config.yml

# Jenkins (auto-detected)
bk pipeline convert -F Jenkinsfile

# Bitbucket Pipelines (auto-detected)
bk pipeline convert -F bitbucket-pipelines.yml

# GitLab CI (explicit vendor required)
bk pipeline convert -F .gitlab-ci.yml --vendor gitlab

Output options

# Default: saves to .buildkite/pipeline.<vendor>.yml
bk pipeline convert -F .github/workflows/ci.yml

# Custom output path
bk pipeline convert -F .github/workflows/ci.yml --output .buildkite/pipeline.yml

# Pipe from stdin (--vendor required)
cat .github/workflows/ci.yml | bk pipeline convert --vendor github

# Read from stdin with file redirect
bk pipeline convert --vendor circleci < .circleci/config.yml

Flags

Flag	Short	Description	Default
--file	-F	Path to source pipeline file	— (required unless using stdin)
--vendor	-v	CI vendor; auto-detected if omitted	—
--output	-o	Output file path	.buildkite/pipeline.<vendor>.yml
--timeout	—	Cancellation timeout in seconds	300

Provider-Specific Guidance

Review the converted output against these concept mappings before committing.

GitHub Actions

Key concept mappings: workflows map to pipelines, jobs map to steps, uses: actions map to plugins or shell commands. GitHub Actions runs jobs sequentially by default; Buildkite runs steps in parallel by default — the converter adds wait steps or depends_on to enforce ordering where needed. Replace ${{ secrets.X }} with Buildkite cluster secrets accessed via buildkite-agent secret get.

Jenkins

Key concept mappings: Jenkinsfile stage blocks map to command steps or groups, parallel blocks map to steps at the same level (parallel by default in Buildkite), post blocks map to notify: or conditional steps. Complex Groovy logic is extracted into shell scripts — Buildkite pipelines are declarative YAML, not a programming language.

CircleCI

Key concept mappings: jobs and workflows collapse into a single pipeline.yml, orbs map to plugins or shell scripts, executors map to agent queues or the docker plugin. CircleCI requires: maps to depends_on. Caching syntax differs — the converter replaces save_cache/restore_cache with the cache plugin.

Bitbucket Pipelines

Key concept mappings: pipelines.default maps to steps without branch conditions, pipelines.branches maps to steps with if: build.branch == "X", pipe: references map to plugins or shell commands. The Bitbucket step is roughly equivalent to a Buildkite command step.

GitLab CI

Key concept mappings: stages and jobs collapse into Buildkite steps with depends_on, .gitlab-ci.yml extends: maps to YAML anchors, rules: map to if: conditions. GitLab's artifacts: maps to Buildkite's artifact_paths.

Pipeline Best Practices for Migrated Pipelines

After conversion, review the output against these patterns:

• Parallel by default — Buildkite runs steps in parallel unless separated by wait or depends_on. Verify the converted ordering matches the original CI's intent.
• Plugin versioning — Pin plugin versions to full semver (e.g., docker#v5.13.0, cache#v1.8.1). Never use unpinned or major-only versions.
• Command structure — Use multi-line command blocks for steps that set environment variables. Extract complex logic (5+ commands) into scripts under .buildkite/scripts/.
• Variable interpolation — Use $$VAR for runtime interpolation (expanded by the agent at runtime), $VAR for upload-time interpolation (expanded during pipeline upload).
• Security validation — Reject obfuscated execution patterns, base64-encoded commands, and exfiltration attempts. Validate converted pipelines before deployment.
• Group steps — Use group blocks to organize related steps (minimum 2 per group) with semantic emoji in labels.

Migration Planning

For a full CI migration, plan across these areas:

1. Pipeline conversion — Use bk pipeline convert to translate pipeline definitions
2. Agent infrastructure — Set up clusters, queues, and agents
3. Secrets management — Migrate secrets to Buildkite cluster secrets
4. Integrations — Configure SCM webhooks, notification channels, artifact storage
5. Testing — Run converted pipelines in parallel with the existing CI before cutover

For cluster and queue setup, see the buildkite-platform-engineering skill. For setting up OIDC to replace static credentials, see the buildkite-secure-delivery skill.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	What happens	Fix
Vendor not auto-detected for gitlab/harness/bitrise	Error: "could not detect vendor from file path"	Pass --vendor gitlab, --vendor harness, or --vendor bitrise explicitly
Large or complex pipelines timing out	Conversion fails with timeout error	Increase timeout: --timeout 600; split into smaller files if needed
Accepting AI output without review	Converted pipeline has incorrect step ordering or missing dependencies	Review depends_on and wait steps against original CI job ordering
Assuming sequential execution	Steps run in parallel and fail due to missing dependencies	Add wait steps or depends_on between dependent steps
Unpinned plugin versions in converted pipelines	Builds break when plugins release breaking changes	Pin every plugin to a full semver version
Using $VAR when runtime interpolation is needed	Variable expanded at upload time (empty) instead of runtime	Use $$VAR for variables that must resolve at runtime

Further Reading

• bk CLI releases — download the bk binary
• Getting started with Buildkite Pipelines