generated: '2026-08-27'
method: searched
source: https://woodpecker-ci.org/docs/usage/local-execution, https://woodpecker-ci.org/docs/cli
summary: >-
  Woodpecker publishes no hosted API sandbox and no test-mode credentials — there is no
  hosted service, so there are no test-vs-live keys to document. What it does publish is a
  first-class LOCAL rehearsal surface: `woodpecker-cli exec` runs a workflow file straight
  from a checkout with no server, and a linter that validates the file against the
  published JSON Schema before it is pushed. Every install also ships a web console. Both
  are recorded here honestly for what they are; nothing about test cards, test tokens or
  test clocks applies to this product.
test_vs_live_keys:
  applicable: false
  note: Self-hosted software. Tokens are minted by the operator's own server; there is no test mode.
local_execution:
  command: woodpecker-cli exec
  docs: https://woodpecker-ci.org/docs/usage/local-execution
  purpose: >-
    "Use it to test pipeline changes before pushing them, to debug a workflow without
    waiting for a server run, or to replay a server pipeline with downloaded metadata."
    (verbatim from the docs page)
  examples_published:
  - woodpecker-cli exec .woodpecker/my-first-workflow.yaml
  - woodpecker-cli exec .woodpecker/
  - woodpecker-cli exec --backend-engine docker .woodpecker/my-first-workflow.yaml
  - woodpecker-cli exec --backend-engine local .woodpecker/my-first-workflow.yaml
  metadata_override:
    flags: [--pipeline-event, --commit-branch, --commit-sha, --repo, --metadata-file]
    purpose: >-
      Override the automatically-set metadata to exercise conditions such as branches,
      pull requests, tags and events without producing them for real.
    caveat: >-
      The docs warn explicitly that the metadata file "is not a stable, portable API: its
      format is only guaranteed for the same server and CLI version it came from."
  secrets:
    note: >-
      Secrets are NOT downloaded from the server for local runs. Values must be passed
      explicitly with --secrets key=value or --secrets-file pointing at a git-ignored
      local YAML file.
  fixture_values_published: false
  fixture_note: >-
    The project publishes no canned test values (no magic identifiers, no test cards, no
    sample tokens). The docs examples use obvious placeholders. Nothing is invented here.
linter:
  command: woodpecker-cli lint
  schema: json-schema/woodpecker-ci-pipeline-schema.json
  schema_url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/woodpecker-ci/woodpecker/main/pipeline/frontend/yaml/linter/schema/schema.json
  docs: https://woodpecker-ci.org/docs/usage/linter
  note: >-
    Validates a workflow file against the published draft-07 JSON Schema, and is also the
    channel through which deprecated syntax is surfaced (warning in minor N.x, error in
    major (N+1).0).
console:
  present: true
  kind: self-hosted web UI
  reference_instance: https://ci.woodpecker-ci.org/
  note: >-
    Every Woodpecker server ships a web console. The project runs its own public instance
    at ci.woodpecker-ci.org, which serves the reference Swagger UI at
    https://ci.woodpecker-ci.org/swagger/index.html. It is a live dogfooding deployment of
    the project's own CI, not a hosted sandbox offered to users, and writing to it requires
    an account on that server.
swagger_ui:
  url: https://ci.woodpecker-ci.org/swagger/index.html
  status: 200
  probed: '2026-08-27'
  note: >-
    Interactive Swagger UI is bundled with the server, so every operator gets a try-it
    console for their own instance.
test_clocks: false