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abhi433's avatar
abhi433
Copper Contributor
Mar 29, 2023

Identifying a pipeline type

I need to identify weather a azure pipeline is deploying an application or just infrastructure of some kind. I need to do this by parsing Azure releases API's json. There are no naming conventions, tags, or naming of release definition's name or anything which identifies the release as a infra or application release. Is there any key in releases API or deployments API or can I expand some parameter which can help me identify this with certainity?

azure devops

1 Reply

  • Kidd_Ip's avatar
    Kidd_Ip
    MVP
    Sep 13, 2025

    No Direct Key for "Type" unfortunately, neither the Releases API nor the Deployments API includes a direct key like "type": "application" or "type": "infrastructure". However, you can infer the pipeline’s purpose by inspecting a few strategic fields:
    1. Artifacts Section
    Look at the artifacts array in the release definition:
    •    If the artifact is from a build pipeline, it likely relates to application deployment.
    •    If the artifact is from a repository (e.g., ARM templates, Bicep files, Terraform), it’s likely infrastructure.

    "artifacts": [
  {
    "type": "Build",
    "definitionReference": {
      "project": { "id": "..." },
      "definition": { "id": "123", "name": "WebApp-CI" }
    }
  }
]


    2. Tasks and Deployment Steps
    Expand the environments > deployPhases > workflowTasks section:
    •    Look for tasks like AzureRmWebAppDeployment, DotNetCoreCLI, or PublishBuildArtifacts → Application
    •    Look for tasks like AzureResourceManagerTemplateDeployment, TerraformCLI, or BicepDeploy → Infrastructure
    3. Release Variables or Parameters
    Sometimes developers embed hints in variables or releaseParameters. You can scan for keywords like:
    •    "resourceGroup", "templateFile", "infra" → Infrastructure
    •    "appName", "slotName", "packagePath" → Application
    4. Deployment Target
    Check the environment or deploymentGroup:
    •    If it targets a VM or Kubernetes cluster, it might lean infrastructure.
    •    If it targets an App Service or Function App, it’s likely application.

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