Build Worker API

AppVeyor Build Worker is the service running on build VM. It provides REST API for sending real-time messages and test results to the build console, and pushing artifacts.

To access Build Worker API from your scripts, AppVeyor provides the command-line utility appveyor.exe and PowerShell module.

API URL is stored in APPVEYOR_API_URL environment variable and it is localhost with a random port, e.g. http://localhost:9023/

Add message

build messages

PowerShell

Add-AppveyorMessage -Message <string>
       [-Category <category> {Information | Warning | Error}]
       [-Details <string>]

Example:

Add-AppveyorMessage "This is a test message"

Command line

appveyor AddMessage <message> [options]

Options are similar to PowerShell cmdlet parameters.

REST

POST api/build/messages

Request body (JSON):

{
    "message": "This is a test message",
    "category": "warning",
    "details": "Additional information for the message"
}

Add compilation message

PowerShell

Add-AppveyorCompilationMessage -Message <string>
       [-Category <category> {Information | Warning | Error}] [-Details <string>]
       [-FileName <string>] [-Line <int>] [-Column <int>] [-ProjectName <string>]
       [-ProjectFileName <string>]

Example:

Add-AppveyorCompilationMessage "Unreachable code detected" -Category Warning -FileName "Program.cs" -Line 1 -Column 3

Command line

appveyor AddCompilationMessage <message> [options]

Options are similar to PowerShell cmdlet parameters.

REST

POST api/build/compilationmessages

Request body (JSON):

{
    "message": "This is a test message",
    "category": "warning",
    "details": "Additional information for the message",
    "fileName": "program.cs",
    "line": "1",
    "column": "10",
    "projectName": "MyProject",
    "projectFileName": "MyProject.csproj"
}

Set environment variable

PowerShell

Set-AppveyorBuildVariable -Name <string> -Value <string>

Example:

Set-AppveyorBuildVariable 'MyVar1' 'This is a test message'

Command line

appveyor SetVariable -Name <string> -Value <string>

REST

POST api/build/variables

Request body (JSON):

{
    "name": "variable_name",
    "value": "hello, world!"
}

Add tests

build messages

PowerShell

Add-AppveyorTest -Name <string> -Framework <string> -FileName <string>
       [-Outcome <outcome> { None | Running | Passed | Failed | Ignored | Skipped
       | Inconclusive | NotFound |  Cancelled | NotRunnable}] [-Duration <long>]
       [-ErrorMessage <string>] [-ErrorStackTrace <string>]
       [-StdOut <string>] [-StdErr <string>]

AddTest options:

  -Name             - Required. The name of test.
  -Framework        - Required. The name of testing framework, e.g. NUnit, xUnit, MSTest.
  -FileName         - Required. File name containing test.
  -Outcome          - Test outcome: None, Running, Passed, Failed, Ignored, Skipped, Inconclusive, NotFound, Cancelled, NotRunnable
  -Duration         - Test duration in milliseconds.
  -ErrorMessage     - Error message of failed test.
  -ErrorStackTrace  - Error stack trace of failed test.
  -StdOut           - Standard console output from the test.
  -StdErr           - Error output from the test.

Example:

Add-AppveyorTest -Name "Test A" -Framework NUnit -Filename a.exe -Outcome Passed -Duration 1000 # in milliseconds

Command line

appveyor AddTest <name> [options]

Options are similar to PowerShell cmdlet parameters.

REST

To add a single test:

POST api/tests

Request body (JSON):

{
    "testName": "Test A",
    "testFramework": "NUnit",
    "fileName": "tests.dll",
    "outcome": "Passed",
    "durationMilliseconds": "1200",
    "ErrorMessage": "",
    "ErrorStackTrace": "",
    "StdOut": "",
    "StdErr": ""
}

To add tests in a batch:

POST api/tests/batch

Request body (JSON):

[
    {
        "testName": "Test A",
        "testFramework": "NUnit",
        "fileName": "tests.dll",
        "outcome": "Passed",
        "durationMilliseconds": "1200",
        "ErrorMessage": "",
        "ErrorStackTrace": "",
        "StdOut": "",
        "StdErr": ""
    },
    {
        "testName": "Test B",
        "testFramework": "xUnit",
        "fileName": "tests.dll",
        "outcome": "Passed",
        "durationMilliseconds": "10"
    },
    ...
]

Update tests

PowerShell

Update-AppveyorTest -Name <string> -Framework <string> -FileName <string>
       -Outcome <outcome> { None | Running | Passed | Failed | Ignored | Skipped
       | Inconclusive | NotFound |  Cancelled | NotRunnable}] [-Duration <long>
       [-ErrorMessage <string>] [-ErrorStackTrace <string>]
       [-StdOut <string>] [-StdErr <string>]

Example:

Add-AppveyorTest -Name "Test A" -Framework NUnit -FileName a.exe -Outcome Running
Start-sleep -s 10
Update-AppveyorTest -Name "Test A" -Framework NUnit -FileName a.exe -Outcome Passed -Duration 10000

Command line

appveyor UpdateTest -Name <name> [options]

Options are similar to PowerShell cmdlet parameters.

REST

To update a single test (test is matched by name):

PUT api/tests

Request body (JSON):

{
    "testName": "Test A",
    "testFramework": "NUnit",
    "fileName": "tests.dll",
    "outcome": "Passed",
    "durationMilliseconds": "1200",
    "ErrorMessage": "",
    "ErrorStackTrace": "",
    "StdOut": "",
    "StdErr": ""
}

To update tests in a batch (tests are matched by name):

PUT api/tests/batch

Request body (JSON):

[
    {
        "testName": "Test A",
        "outcome": "Passed",
        "durationMilliseconds": "1200"
    },
    {
        "testName": "Test B",
        "outcome": "Passed",
        "durationMilliseconds": "10"
    },
    ...
]

Push artifact

build messages

PowerShell

Push-AppveyorArtifact <path> [-FileName <string>] [-DeploymentName <string>]
       [-Type <type> {Auto, WebDeployPackage}]
       [-Verbosity <string> {Normal, Minimal, Quiet}]

Example:

Push-AppveyorArtifact mypackage.nupkg

Options available:

  • <path>: the path to the file to upload, relative to your project’s checkout (e.g. if you build out of tree, it might be ..\cmake\installer.zip).
  • -FileName: the new name for the published file (effectively renames it during upload).
  • -DeploymentName: an arbitrary tag that allows you to group together multiple files and deploy them using this name as the artifact in appveyor.yml, instead of the path to the files.

Command line

appveyor PushArtifact <path> [options]

Options are similar to PowerShell cmdlet parameters.

REST

POST api/artifacts

Request body (JSON):

{
    "path": "c:\projects\myproject\mypackage.nupkg",
    "fileName": "mypackage.nupkg",
    "name": null,
    "type": "NuGetPackage"
}

Response body (JSON) contains temporary URL for uploading artifact. If this is an appveyor.com address, like this:

"https://ci.appveyor.com/api/artifacts/abc123/mypackage.nupkg"

Then the file can be uploaded using WebClient, e.g. in PowerShell:

(New-Object System.Net.WebClient).UploadFile( `
    "https://ci.appveyor.com/api/artifacts/abc123/mypackage.nupkg", `
    "c:\projects\myproject\mypackage.nupkg")

However, if the URL contains storage.googleapis.com, things are a little different. First, send a PUT to the returned URL containing the contents of the file in the body. Then, the artifact must be finalised with another call to the API endpoint:

PUT api/artifacts

Request body (JSON):

{
    "fileName": "mypackage.nupkg",
    "size": <file_size_in_bytes>
}

Update build details

build details

PowerShell

Update-AppveyorBuild [-Version <string>] [-Message <string>]
       [-CommitId <string>] [-Committed <DateTime>]
       [-AuthorName <string>] [-AuthorEmail <string>]
       [-CommitterName <string>] [-CommitterEmail <string>]

Be careful - if you set Version make sure it is unique for the current project.

Example:

$version = Get-Date -Format "mmddyyyy-HHmm"
Update-AppveyorBuild -Version "1.0-$version"

Example to title build for Gist from GitHub, the typically empty commit subject/message confuses AppVeyor:

$gitData = ConvertFrom-StringData (git log -1 --format=format:"commitId=%H%nmessage=%s%ncommitted=%aD" | out-string)
if ($gitData['message'] -eq "") { $gitData['message'] = "No commit message available for $($gitData['commitid'])" }
# View the data with Write-Output @gitData
Update-AppveyorBuild @gitData

Command line

appveyor UpdateBuild [options]

Options are similar to PowerShell cmdlet parameters. Example:

appveyor UpdateBuild -Version "1.0-$version"

REST

PUT api/build

Request body (JSON):

{
    "version": "1.0.2-rc1",
    "message": "This is my custom build commit message",
    "commitId": "12345abc",
    "committed": "Sat, 22 Feb 2014 00:39:25",
    "authorName": "John",
    "authorEmail": "john@smith.com",
    "committerName": "Jack",
    "committerEmail": "jack@brown.com"
}

Start new build

Call AppVeyor API to start a new build of specified project.

PowerShell

Start-AppveyorBuild -ApiKey <string>
       [-AccountName <string>]
       -ProjectSlug <string>
       [-Branch <string>]
       [-EnvironmentVariables <Hashtable>]

Example:

Start-AppveyorBuild -ApiKey $env:api_key -ProjectSlug 'deploy-web' -EnvironmentVariables @{
   var1 = 'value1'
   var2 = 'value2'
}

Parameters:

-ApiKey                - Required. AppVeyor account API key.
-AccountName           - Optional. AppVeyor account name.
-ProjectSlug           - Required. Project slug (from URL).
-Branch                - Optional. Default project branch is used if not specified.
-EnvironmentVariables  - Optional. Environment variables in the form var1=value1,var2=value2, ...

We recommend placing ApiKey value to environment variable (either General tab of project settings or as secure variable in appveyor.yml).

Command line

appveyor Start-AppveyorBuild [options]

Options are similar to PowerShell cmdlet parameters. The only exception is -EnvironmentVariables that should have the following format:

var1=value1,var2=value2, ...

Forcibly terminate current build with success

  • Do not actually use build Worker API, but use the same command line and PowerShell snap-in.
  • Can be called from any script except Finalize scripts (on_success, on_failure and on_finish).

PowerShell

Exit-AppveyorBuild

Command line

appveyor exit

Note that by default successful Finalize steps (on_success, on_finish scripts and build cache save) are being called even if build is forcibly terminated with commands above. To skip Finalize steps after build was forcibly terminated, set “tweak” environment variable APPVEYOR_SKIP_FINALIZE_ON_EXIT to true.

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