Build golden path CI/CD workflows in Red Hat Developer Hub

From CI/CD to developer platform: Using Red Hat Developer Hub for your pipeline (part 2)

September 25, 2026
Rishabh Singh
Related topics:
Platform engineeringCI/CDDeveloper productivityGitOpsDeveloper tools
Related products:
Red Hat Developer HubRed Hat OpenShift GitOpsRed Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces

In Build a unified CI/CD control plane with Red Hat Developer Hub, we set up a Red Hat Developer Hub instance on OpenShift, configured secrets, enabled dynamic plug-ins for Tekton, Argo CD, Quay, and Kubernetes, and configured role-based access control (RBAC) policies and service account permissions.

In this second part, we complete the platform setup by authoring a golden path software template, then step into the developer's shoes to scaffold a new application and monitor its entire CI/CD lifecycle directly from the Red Hat Developer Hub console.

Platform engineer sets up the golden path template

To establish standardized developer workflows, platform engineers begin by configuring golden path templates that embed organizational best practices.

Step 1: Create the software template

A template provides scaffolding for developers to create new projects with embedded best practices, reducing overhead.

Red Hat Developer Hub makes the template available via the self-service screen in the console. Created for a simple Go project, this sample template:

  1. Collects project info (name, owner, system, registry, namespace, and cluster)
  2. Stamps out a Go project skeleton with a Tekton pipeline, Argo CD manifests, a devfile, and catalog-info.yaml
  3. Publishes the repository to GitHub
  4. Creates an Argo CD application pointing to the repository's manifests/ directory
  5. Registers the component in Red Hat Developer Hub's catalog

The template contains 3 main sections:

  • parameters: The form the developer fills out across 5 pages
  • steps: Actions executed after the developer selects Create
  • output.links: Links displayed on the completion success page

Note

The template uses rishabhsvats-org for allowed owners in the GitHub picker and rhn_support_rissingh/simple-go as the default image repository. Replace these with your GitHub organization and Quay.io path.

The catalog-info.yaml file within the skeleton folder registers the entity in Red Hat Developer Hub. Its annotations map enabled plug-ins to displayed user interface (UI) data. Missing or incorrect annotations are the primary reason plug-in tabs appear empty:

AnnotationPlug-inWhat it shows
backstage.io/kubernetes-idKubernetesPods, deployments, and resource status
backstage.io/kubernetes-namespaceKubernetesTarget namespace to query
backstage.io/kubernetes-label-selectorKubernetesResource filters matching labels
janus-idp.io/tektonTektonPipelineRuns, TaskRuns, and logs
argocd/app-selectorArgo CD (Roadie)Sync status, health, and history
quay.io/repository-slugQuayImage tags, digests, and layers
backstage.io/source-locationCoreLinks back to the source repository

Step 2: Register the template in Red Hat Developer Hub

To make the template available to developers:

  1. Open Red Hat Developer Hub in your browser and log in with GitHub.
  2. Navigate to Catalog → Register Existing Component.

  3. Enter the URL to your template file:

    https://github.com/rishabhsvats/devspaces-pipeline-examples-rhdh/blob/main/template.yaml

The template will now appear on the Create page. Figure 1 shows the successful registration of the software template repository in Red Hat Developer Hub.

Register Template in RHDH
Figure 1: Red Hat Developer Hub registers the template file and imports the generated catalog entities.

Developer uses the golden path

With the platform setup complete, developers log in to Red Hat Developer Hub using GitHub credentials, select the template to scaffold a new application, and monitor the automated CI/CD pipeline from a single view.

Step 1: Scaffold a new component

Navigate to the Catalog tab in Red Hat Developer Hub, locate OpenShift Dev Spaces CI/CD Pipeline with Tekton & ArgoCD, and select Launch Template. 

Template selection page in RHDH
Figure 2: The Self-service catalog view displays available golden path templates for application scaffolding.

Complete the 5-page form:

  1. Application Info: Enter the component name (for example, my-go-app), select an owner, and specify a system name.
  2. Image Registry: Select quay.io and enter your repository path (for example, your-username/my-go-app).
  3. OpenShift Details: Enter the target namespace (pipeline-test) and cluster identifier (ID).
  4. Git Repository: Select your GitHub organization and enter the repository name.
  5. ArgoCD: Accept default settings (openshift-gitops namespace, auto-sync, and auto-heal).

Select Create. Red Hat Developer Hub fetches the skeleton, publishes it to GitHub, creates the Argo CD application, and registers the component in the catalog. Figure 3 illustrates the initial configuration page of the 5-page application scaffolding wizard.

Template form filled in with sample values
Figure 3: Developers specify application metadata, registry paths, and target cluster details across the scaffolding form.

Once it's complete, a success page provides direct links to the new repository, catalog entry, Argo CD application, OpenShift pipeline view, and a Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace (Figure 4).

Scaffolding success page showing links to the repository, catalog entry, ArgoCD application, Tekton pipelines, and Dev Spaces
Figure 4: The completed task execution screen provides quick links to the new Git repository, Argo CD application, and Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces workspace.

Step 2: View the component in the software catalog

In the catalog, select the newly generated entity (for example, devspaces-pipeline-examples-rhdh). The component overview page displays metadata, quick links, and the EntityArgoCDOverviewCard, which shows current deployment health and sync status at a glance. Figure 5 shows the entity overview page within the Red Hat Developer Hub catalog.

Catalog component overview page showing the ArgoCD overview card
Figure 5: The Overview tab renders entity metadata, quick links, and real-time deployment sync status using the Argo CD overview card.

Step 3: CI—Tekton pipeline runs

Making a commit in the repository triggers the Tekton PipelineRun. Navigating to the CI tab displays real-time execution status, task duration, and logs for each step (clone-repo, build-go, build-image, update-deployment) directly inside Red Hat Developer Hub.

Step 4: CD—Argo CD sync status

Select the CD tab. The embedded EntityArgoCDHistoryCard renders a chronological history of deployment sync events, showing statuses, revisions, and timestamps without requiring access to the Argo CD console. Figure 6 shows the chronological deployment history and sync status in the CD tab.

The Argo CD history table in the CD tab shows a recent deployment event updating the simple-go container image to the latest version.
Figure 6: The CD tab integrates Argo CD deployment history directly into Red Hat Developer Hub to help developers quickly verify image updates.

Step 5: Topology view

Select the Topology tab. This plug-in visualizes deployed Kubernetes resources (deployments, services, and routes) and their interconnections. Selecting graph nodes reveals pod counts, image tags, and route URLs without running oc get commands.

Step 6: Quay container images

Select the Image Registry tab. The Quay plug-in shows container image tags created by pipeline commits, digests, file sizes, creation timestamps, and manifest details directly in the portal, as shown in Figure 7.

RHDH CI tab showing a PipelineRun with task details and status
Figure 7: The Image Registry tab lists published image tags, creation timestamps, and digest manifests from Quay.

Step 7: Kubernetes pod details

Select the Kubernetes tab. This tab, shown in Figure 8, displays running pods, statuses, restart counts, and age. Expanding individual pods exposes container metrics, environment variables, and live pod logs.

RHDH Kubernetes tab
Figure 8: The Kubernetes tab summarizes cluster resources, target namespaces, and running pod counts.

Expanding a specific pod entry reveals container-level metrics and runtime details, as shown in Figure 9.

RHDH Kubernetes tab showing pod details with status and container info
Figure 9: Expanded pod diagnostics display container memory and CPU usage alongside real-time pod logs.

Conclusion

Building a complete CI/CD loop with Red Hat OpenShift GitOps and Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines automates release delivery, but managing separate operational consoles introduces overhead. Red Hat Developer Hub provides a unified management layer bringing pipeline runs, deployment sync status, container image registries, pod diagnostics, and topology graphs into a single interface.

While setting up Red Hat Developer Hub, configuring plug-ins, applying RBAC policies, and authoring templates require upfront platform engineering investment, every application scaffolded from the golden path template gains automated CI/CD integration and full operational observability out of the box.