ChatOps is deploying with style

I stumbled down the DevOps rabbit hole and I found myself loving ChatOps more and more. ChatOps gives a completely transparent view into what is going on with your projects and your team. Deployments, events, tickets, etc.. are all displayed in the chat that your team probably already uses.

At work we are using slack. It has its pros and cons. I like that our users can use IRC and XMPP to join, and aren’t limited to the slack application or web interface.

I’ve been working with Hubot, a bot written by the fine folks at Github. It’s extremely customizable, and scary. It can integrate with many different chat programs and become another member of the team.

But this new member is clever. It can deploy your app with a command. It can ambush you with pictures of pugs. It can coordinate your standups and interact with your internal tools.

Deploy your application? No way.

Yes way.

The possibilities are endless. If you can script it, Hubot will do it. Or..ambush you with funny gifs.

Remote workers are easy to keep in the loop with instant video chat using appear.in! This video chat service can also screenshare when using chrome.

There are tons of addons for Hubot. Check them out on node-modules

With proper workflows, ChatOps can utlimately replace and automate most of the tasks in your company.

Invite your team.
Choose your bot.
Animate some gifs.
Automate common tasks.

ChatOps is more than just the bots you choose. It’s open and transparent discussion. Members of the team can learn from eachother passively by reading what is going on in the chat. A new hire can just read the chat and get a hang of the flow.

Best part? I can literally be on my phone with a spotty 2g network connection and deploy our main application to production and get instant feedback. ChatOps.