User Guide
This section is for people who already have access to a Semaphore project. Everything here happens in the web interface or through the project API. Installing the server, configuring it, and connecting an identity provider are covered in the Admin Guide.
Work in Semaphore follows one chain. A project holds everything else. Inside it you register the resources a run needs: a repository with your playbooks or scripts, the keys used to reach it and your hosts, an inventory of target machines, and variable groups with values and secrets. A task template combines those into a definition of what to run, and every run of that template is a task. Schedules, workflows, and incoming webhooks start templates for you.
Set up a project
In this order, because each step depends on the previous one.
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Projects | Creating a project, the sections in the sidebar, backup and restore. |
| Teams | The four built-in roles, and custom roles on Enterprise. |
| Key Store | SSH keys, logins, and external secret storages. |
| Repositories | Git repositories and local paths that hold your automation. |
| Inventory | Hosts and connection settings for Ansible, workspaces for Terraform. |
| Variable Groups | Reusable variables and secrets passed into tasks. |
Define and run work
| Page | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Task Templates | Every field of the template form, plus template types. |
| Apps | What each application runs: Ansible, Terraform, OpenTofu, Terragrunt, and scripts. |
| Tasks | Starting a task, task statuses, logs, stopping, and re-running. |
| Schedules | Running templates on a cron schedule. |
| Workflows | Chaining templates with approvals and branching. |
| Integrations | Starting tasks from incoming webhooks. |
| Project runners | Sending a project's tasks to your own runners. |
| Your account | Personal settings and API tokens. |
Where to start
If someone has just added you to a project, read Projects to find your way around, then Tasks to run one and read its log. If you are setting a project up from scratch, follow the table above in order.
New to Semaphore entirely? Start with Getting Started.