🔗 Integrating the Early CLI in Any CI/CD

The Early CLI lets you run AI-powered test generation on any CI/CD platform — Jenkins, CircleCI, GitLab CI, Bitbucket Pipelines, and more. It mirrors the GitHub Action's logic and behavior but runs as a standalone CLI.

📦 Setup Overview

To get started, follow these steps:

1. Install the CLI

JavaScript / TypeScript
Python

npm install -g @earlyai/cli

See NPM Installation

npm install -g @earlyai/cli
pip install py-agent

Both packages are required: @earlyai/cli is the main CLI, and py-agent is the Python test generation engine.

2. Configure Required Inputs

All inputs are passed as environment variables:

API_KEY → Your Early API key
TOKEN → SCM token (e.g., GitHub PAT, Bitbucket App Password) → See SCM Support and Token Permissions
REF_NAME → Branch name
SCM_PROVIDER → e.g., github or bitbucket

JavaScript / TypeScript
Python

Optional: AUTO_COMMIT, MAX_CONCURRENCY, NODE_OPTIONS, LINT_COMMAND, BASE_REF

See Memory Tuning
See Lint & Formatting

Optional: AUTO_COMMIT, AUTO_COMMIT_SKIP_CI, MAX_CONCURRENCY, TEST_FRAMEWORK (defaults to pytest), BASE_REF

The CLI auto-detects Python projects from file extensions and project markers (pyproject.toml, setup.py, requirements.txt).

3. Run the CLI

Use this command:

early generate-pr

🧪 GitHub Actions Example

JavaScript / TypeScript
Python

name: Early PR Test Generation

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write
  packages: read

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened]
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  early-test-generation:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          ref: ${{ github.head_ref }}

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm clean-install

      - name: Install Early CLI
        run: npm install -g @earlyai/cli

      - name: Early PR Test Generation
        continue-on-error: true
        env:
          API_KEY: ${{ secrets.EARLY_API_KEY }}
          TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
          REF_NAME: ${{ github.head_ref }}
          BASE_REF: ${{ github.base_ref }}
          NODE_OPTIONS: "--max-old-space-size=5120"
        run: early generate-pr

name: Early PR Test Generation

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write
  packages: read

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened]
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  early-test-generation:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          ref: ${{ github.head_ref }}

      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: "3.11"

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20

      - name: Install project dependencies
        run: pip install -r requirements.txt

      - name: Install Early CLI and py-agent
        run: |
          npm install -g @earlyai/cli
          pip install py-agent

      - name: Early PR Test Generation
        continue-on-error: true
        env:
          API_KEY: ${{ secrets.EARLY_API_KEY }}
          TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}
          REF_NAME: ${{ github.head_ref }}
          BASE_REF: ${{ github.base_ref }}
          TEST_FRAMEWORK: pytest
          MAX_CONCURRENCY: "3"
        run: early generate-pr

🧪 Jenkins Example

JavaScript / TypeScript
Python

pipeline {
  agent any
  environment {
    API_KEY = credentials('early-api-key')
    TOKEN = credentials('github-pat')
    REF_NAME = 'main'
    SCM_PROVIDER = 'github'
    AUTO_COMMIT = 'true'
    NODE_OPTIONS = '--max-old-space-size=5120'
    LINT_COMMAND = 'npx --no eslint $early_filename --fix'
    PRETTIER_COMMAND = 'npx --no prettier $early_filename --write'
  }
  stages {
    stage('Install CLI') {
      steps {
        sh 'npm install -g @earlyai/cli'
      }
    }
    stage('Run CLI') {
      steps {
        sh 'early generate-pr'
      }
    }
  }
}

pipeline {
  agent any
  environment {
    API_KEY = credentials('early-api-key')
    TOKEN = credentials('github-pat')
    REF_NAME = 'main'
    SCM_PROVIDER = 'github'
    AUTO_COMMIT = 'true'
    TEST_FRAMEWORK = 'pytest'
    MAX_CONCURRENCY = '3'
  }
  stages {
    stage('Install CLI and py-agent') {
      steps {
        sh 'npm install -g @earlyai/cli'
        sh 'pip install py-agent'
      }
    }
    stage('Install Python Dependencies') {
      steps {
        sh 'pip install -r requirements.txt'
      }
    }
    stage('Run CLI') {
      steps {
        sh 'early generate-pr'
      }
    }
  }
}

🔁 CircleCI Example

JavaScript / TypeScript
Python

jobs:
  generate-tests:
    docker:
      - image: cimg/node:20.5
    steps:
      - checkout
      - run:
          name: Install CLI
          command: npm install -g @earlyai/cli
      - run:
          name: Generate Tests
          command: early generate-pr
          environment:
            API_KEY: $EARLY_API_KEY
            TOKEN: $GITHUB_TOKEN
            REF_NAME: main
            SCM_PROVIDER: github
            AUTO_COMMIT: true
            NODE_OPTIONS: "--max-old-space-size=5120"
            LINT_COMMAND: "npx --no eslint $early_filename --fix"
            PRETTIER_COMMAND: "npx --no prettier $early_filename --write"

jobs:
  generate-tests:
    docker:
      - image: cimg/python:3.11-node
    steps:
      - checkout
      - run:
          name: Install CLI and py-agent
          command: |
            npm install -g @earlyai/cli
            pip install py-agent
      - run:
          name: Install Python Dependencies
          command: pip install -r requirements.txt
      - run:
          name: Generate Tests
          command: early generate-pr
          environment:
            API_KEY: $EARLY_API_KEY
            TOKEN: $GITHUB_TOKEN
            REF_NAME: main
            SCM_PROVIDER: github
            AUTO_COMMIT: true
            TEST_FRAMEWORK: pytest
            MAX_CONCURRENCY: "3"

💻 Local Run Example

JavaScript / TypeScript
Python

export API_KEY=xxx
export TOKEN=xxx
export REF_NAME=main
export SCM_PROVIDER=github
export AUTO_COMMIT=true

early generate-pr

export API_KEY=xxx
export TOKEN=xxx
export REF_NAME=main
export SCM_PROVIDER=github
export AUTO_COMMIT=true
export TEST_FRAMEWORK=pytest

early generate-pr

✅ Success Criteria

JavaScript / TypeScript
Python

New test files appear alongside source files
Logs include coverage analysis and test generation
Pipeline exits cleanly with no errors
Coverage improves for previously low-tested areas

New test files appear in .early.test/ sibling folders (e.g., src/utils.early.test/test_my_func_early.py)
Logs show file scanning, function extraction, and test generation progress
Generated test files are auto-committed and pushed to the branch (when AUTO_COMMIT=true)
Pipeline exits cleanly with no errors

❌ Exit Codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Configuration or environment issue
2	Generation or validation failure
3	Commit/push failure

📦 Setup Overview​

1. Install the CLI​

2. Configure Required Inputs​

3. Run the CLI​

🧪 GitHub Actions Example​

🧪 Jenkins Example​

🔁 CircleCI Example​

💻 Local Run Example​

✅ Success Criteria​

❌ Exit Codes​

📎 Related Topics​

🧵 Next Steps​