---
title: Gremlin CI/CD User Guide
description: 
published: true
date: 2026-04-28T20:56:45.863Z
tags: 
editor: markdown
dateCreated: 2026-04-28T20:56:45.863Z
---

# Gremlin CI/CD — Operator Guide

> **NetGrimoire Infrastructure Reference**
> How to write, structure, and manage Swarm stacks for the Gremlin CI/CD pipeline.
> For pipeline architecture, see [Gremlin CI/CD Pipeline](gremlin-cicd-wiki.md).

---

## How It Works

Push any `.yml` or `.yaml` file under `swarm/` to `traveler/services` and Gremlin takes over:

1. Fetches the file and classifies it (Swarm, Pocket, or plain Compose)
2. Runs all schema checkers
3. If issues found and all are fixable — auto-fixes and recommits
4. If issues found and unfixable — sends ntfy alert, stops
5. If all checks pass — runs Ollama audit, then deploys
6. After deploy — updates Gatus monitoring config

You get ntfy notifications at every stage. A clean push produces one notification: ✅ Deploy Complete.

---

## Required Stack Structure

Every Swarm service must have these elements. Missing any will block deployment.

```yaml
services:
  myservice:
    image: vendor/image:tag
    environment:
      PUID: "1964"
      PGID: "1964"
      TZ: America/Chicago
    volumes:
      - /DockerVol/myservice:/data        # pinned — requires node.hostname
      # or
      - /data/nfs/znas/Docker/myservice:/data  # floating — no hostname needed
    networks:
      - netgrimoire
    deploy:
      restart_policy:
        condition: any
        delay: 5s
        max_attempts: 3
        window: 120s
      placement:
        constraints:
          - node.platform.arch != aarch64
          - node.platform.arch != arm
          - node.hostname == znas          # required when using /DockerVol/
      labels:
        caddy: myservice.netgrimoire.com
        caddy.reverse_proxy: myservice:8080
        caddy.import_1: crowdsec
        caddy.import_2: authentik

        monitor.name: MyService
        monitor.url: https://myservice.netgrimoire.com

        homepage.group: NetGrimoire
        homepage.name: MyService
        homepage.icon: myservice.png
        homepage.href: https://myservice.netgrimoire.com
        homepage.description: My service description

        diun.enable: "true"

networks:
  netgrimoire:
    external: true
```

---

## Volume Path Rules

| Path type | Example | Placement constraint |
|---|---|---|
| `/DockerVol/` | `/DockerVol/myservice:/data` | `node.hostname` **required** |
| `/data/nfs/znas/` | `/data/nfs/znas/Docker/myservice:/data` | `node.hostname` **forbidden** |

Valid hostnames for `node.hostname`: `docker3`, `docker4`, `docker5`, `znas`, `dockerpi1`

---

## Identity Rules

**Method 1** — LinuxServer.io and homelab images (preferred):
```yaml
environment:
  PUID: "1964"
  PGID: "1964"
```

**Method 2** — Official Docker Hub images:
```yaml
user: "1964:1964"
```

**Exemption** — Images that manage their own users (Authentik, MailCow):
```yaml
labels:
  gremlin.uid.exempt: "true"
  gremlin.uid.reason: "Authentik manages its own internal user context"
```

---

## Caddy Label Rules

```yaml
caddy: myservice.netgrimoire.com      # hostname only — no https:// prefix
caddy.reverse_proxy: myservice:8080   # service name and port — no IP addresses
caddy.import_1: crowdsec              # mandatory
caddy.import_2: authentik             # mandatory
```

Services without a public URL (internal sidecars, databases):
```yaml
gremlin.caddy.skip: "true"
```

---

## Monitor Labels

Gremlin writes monitor endpoints to Gatus after each successful deploy.

```yaml
monitor.name: MyService               # display name in Gatus
monitor.url: https://myservice.netgrimoire.com
monitor.type: http                    # optional: http | tcp | ping | dns (default: http)
monitor.interval: "60"                # optional: seconds, minimum 20 (default: 60)
```

Services that should not be monitored:
```yaml
gremlin.monitor.skip: "true"
```

TCP example (for non-HTTP services):
```yaml
monitor.type: tcp
monitor.url: myservice:5432
```

---

## Homepage Labels

```yaml
homepage.group: Media                 # dashboard group
homepage.name: MyService              # display name
homepage.icon: myservice.png          # icon filename
homepage.href: https://myservice.netgrimoire.com
homepage.description: Brief description
```

Services that should not appear on Homepage:
```yaml
gremlin.homepage.skip: "true"
```

> **Auto-fix note:** If homepage labels are missing, Gremlin derives them from the caddy: label and service name. Group defaults to "New", icon defaults to "servicename.png". Review and correct after auto-fix.

---

## Gremlin Directives

All directives go inside `deploy.labels`. All are opt-out — a stack with no `gremlin.*` labels gets full treatment.

### Pipeline Control

```yaml
gremlin.enable: "true"
# Set false to have Gremlin ignore this file entirely on push.
# Default: true

gremlin.checks: "all"
# Comma-separated checker IDs to run, or "all".
# Example: "swarm-syntax,identity,caddy"
# Default: all

gremlin.checks.skip: ""
# Comma-separated checker IDs to skip.
# Example: "homepage,monitor"
# Default: (none)
```

### Auto-fix Control

```yaml
gremlin.autofix: "true"
# Set false to disable all auto-fixing.
# Default: true

gremlin.autofix.skip: "false"
# Set true to notify but never attempt to fix.
# Default: false

gremlin.autofix.skip_fields: ""
# Comma-separated fields to skip during fix.
# Example: "hostname,uid"
# Default: (none)
```

### Deploy Control

```yaml
gremlin.deploy: "true"
# Set false to run checks and fixes but never deploy.
# Use for test stacks or stacks managed manually.
# Default: true

gremlin.deploy.strategy: "stack"
# Deployment method. Values: stack | helm | kubectl
# Default: stack
```

### Identity Exemptions

```yaml
gremlin.uid.exempt: "false"
# Set true to skip PUID/PGID/user checks.
# Use for images that manage their own users.
# Default: false

gremlin.uid.reason: ""
# Documents why uid.exempt is set.
# Required when uid.exempt is true.
```

### Placement Control

```yaml
gremlin.arm.allow: "false"
# Set true to allow ARM/Pi deployment.
# Removes ARM exclusion constraints.
# Default: false
```

### Service-level Skip Labels

```yaml
gremlin.caddy.skip: "false"      # skip Caddy label validation
gremlin.homepage.skip: "false"   # skip Homepage label validation
gremlin.monitor.skip: "false"    # skip monitor label validation
gremlin.diun.skip: "false"       # skip Diun label validation
gremlin.network.skip: "false"    # skip network validation (whole stack)
```

### Ollama Context

```yaml
gremlin.context: ""
# Free text passed to Ollama audit as ground truth.
# Ollama will not flag anything the context explains.
# Example: "OIDC_CLIENT_SECRET in plain text is intentional — no secrets manager in use"
```

### Notification Control

```yaml
gremlin.notify: "true"           # false = suppress all ntfy for this stack
gremlin.notify.level: "all"      # all | failures | none
```

---

## Checker IDs

Use these IDs with `gremlin.checks` and `gremlin.checks.skip`:

| ID | What it checks |
|---|---|
| `swarm-syntax` | Forbidden fields: version, container_name, hostname, restart, depends_on, dnsrr |
| `identity` | PUID/PGID 1964 or user: "1964:1964" |
| `network` | netgrimoire overlay network |
| `placement` | ARM exclusions, DockerVol/hostname rules, restart_policy |
| `caddy` | caddy: label, reverse_proxy, import_1/import_2 |
| `homepage` | group, name, icon, href, description |
| `monitor` | monitor.name, monitor.url, optional type/interval |
| `legacy-labels` | Flags kuma.* labels for removal |
| `diun` | diun.enable: "true" |

---

## Common Patterns

### Internal sidecar (database, cache)

```yaml
  postgres:
    image: postgres:15
    environment:
      POSTGRES_USER: myapp
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: secret
    volumes:
      - /DockerVol/myapp/postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    networks:
      - netgrimoire
    deploy:
      restart_policy:
        condition: any
        delay: 5s
        max_attempts: 3
        window: 120s
      placement:
        constraints:
          - node.platform.arch != aarch64
          - node.platform.arch != arm
          - node.hostname == docker4
      labels:
        gremlin.caddy.skip: "true"
        gremlin.homepage.skip: "true"
        gremlin.monitor.skip: "true"
        diun.enable: "true"
```

### Test stack (never deployed)

```yaml
      labels:
        gremlin.deploy: "false"
        # ... other labels
```

### ARM/Pi service

```yaml
      labels:
        gremlin.arm.allow: "true"
        # ... other labels
      placement:
        constraints:
          - node.hostname == dockerpi1
```

### Image requiring root

```yaml
      labels:
        gremlin.uid.exempt: "true"
        gremlin.uid.reason: "Image requires root — does not support PUID/PGID"
        # ... other labels
```

---

## Forbidden Fields

These fields are automatically removed by Gremlin:

| Field | Reason |
|---|---|
| `version:` (top-level) | Obsolete in Compose v3 |
| `container_name:` | Conflicts with Swarm service naming |
| `hostname:` (service-level) | Conflicts with Swarm DNS |
| `restart:` (service-level) | Use `deploy.restart_policy` instead |
| `depends_on:` | Not supported in Swarm mode |
| `links:` | Not supported in Swarm mode |

These fields cause an **unfixable** block:

| Field | Reason |
|---|---|
| `endpoint_mode: dnsrr` | Breaks internal DNS resolution |
| Missing `deploy:` block | File treated as plain Compose, not Swarm |

---

## Troubleshooting

**"Missing deploy: block" — file skipped as non-Swarm**
Your compose file has no `deploy:` section. Add a `deploy:` block to each service for Swarm compatibility.

**"uses /DockerVol/ but has no node.hostname constraint" — unfixable**
Add a `node.hostname` constraint to your `deploy.placement.constraints`. Gremlin cannot guess which node to pin it to.

**Ollama keeps blocking on legitimate config**
Add `gremlin.context` to explain the situation. Ollama treats context as ground truth and will not flag it.

**Auto-fix loop — fixes applied but same issues keep appearing**
The fixer is finding the labels but the checker isn't recognizing them after insertion. Check label indentation — labels inside `deploy.labels` must be indented 8 spaces.

**Deploy skipped every time**
Check `gremlin.deploy` — if set to `"false"` the pipeline validates and fixes but never deploys.

---

## Related

- [Gremlin CI/CD Pipeline](gremlin-cicd-wiki.md)
- [NetGrimoire Stack Standards](stack-standards.md)
- [Gatus](gatus.md)