Create Service

Create Service

Generate Harness Service YAML and push to Harness via MCP.

Instructions

1. Detect service type from codebase (if source code is available) - Scan the project for deployment manifests to auto-select the correct serviceDefinition.type and manifest configuration:

• k8s/, kubernetes/, manifests/ with YAML files → Kubernetes with K8sManifest
• kustomization.yaml → Kubernetes with Kustomize
• Chart.yaml, charts/, helm/ → NativeHelm with HelmChart
• task-definition.json → ECS with EcsTaskDefinition
• serverless.yml / template.yaml (SAM) → ServerlessAwsLambda
• function.json (Azure) → AzureWebApp
• .NET + Windows → WinRm
• Traditional app (JAR/WAR) without containers → Ssh
• See create-pipeline/references/codebase-analysis.md Step 4 for the full decision tree

1. Detect artifact source - Match Dockerfile registry references to artifact source type:

• Docker Hub → DockerRegistry
• *.dkr.ecr.*.amazonaws.com → Ecr
• gcr.io / *-docker.pkg.dev → Gcr
• *.azurecr.io → Acr

1. Confirm with user - Present detected service type, manifest type, and artifact source for confirmation
2. Generate YAML following the structure below
3. Create via MCP using harness_create with resource_type service

Service Structure

service:
  name: My Service
  identifier: my_service
  orgIdentifier: default
  projectIdentifier: my_project
  serviceDefinition:
    type: Kubernetes        # Kubernetes, NativeHelm, ECS, ServerlessAwsLambda, Ssh, WinRm, AzureWebApp, AzureFunction, CustomDeployment
    spec:
      artifacts:
        primary:
          primaryArtifactRef: docker_image
          sources:
            - identifier: docker_image
              type: DockerRegistry
              spec:
                connectorRef: dockerhub
                imagePath: myorg/myimage
                tag: 
      manifests:
        - manifest:
            identifier: k8s_manifest
            type: K8sManifest
            spec:
              store:
                type: Github
                spec:
                  connectorRef: github_connector
                  repoName: my-manifests
                  branch: main
                  paths: [manifests/]
      variables:
        - name: replicas
          type: String
          value: "3"

Deployment Types

Kubernetes Service

serviceDefinition:
  type: Kubernetes
  spec:
    artifacts:
      primary:
        primaryArtifactRef: main_image
        sources:
          - identifier: main_image
            type: DockerRegistry
            spec:
              connectorRef: dockerhub
              imagePath: myorg/api
              tag: 
    manifests:
      - manifest:
          identifier: manifests
          type: K8sManifest
          spec:
            store:
              type: Github
              spec:
                connectorRef: github
                repoName: k8s-manifests
                branch: main
                paths: [deploy/]

Helm Service

serviceDefinition:
  type: NativeHelm
  spec:
    artifacts:
      primary:
        primaryArtifactRef: chart
        sources:
          - identifier: chart
            type: DockerRegistry
            spec:
              connectorRef: dockerhub
              imagePath: myorg/api
              tag: 
    manifests:
      - manifest:
          identifier: helm_chart
          type: HelmChart
          spec:
            store:
              type: Http
              spec:
                connectorRef: helm_repo
            chartName: my-chart
            chartVersion: 
            helmVersion: V3

Kustomize Service

serviceDefinition:
  type: Kubernetes
  spec:
    artifacts:
      primary:
        primaryArtifactRef: main_image
        sources:
          - identifier: main_image
            type: DockerRegistry
            spec:
              connectorRef: dockerhub
              imagePath: myorg/api
              tag: 
    manifests:
      - manifest:
          identifier: kustomize
          type: Kustomize
          spec:
            store:
              type: Github
              spec:
                connectorRef: github
                repoName: k8s-config
                branch: main
                folderPath: overlays/production
            pluginPath: ""

ECS Service

serviceDefinition:
  type: ECS
  spec:
    artifacts:
      primary:
        primaryArtifactRef: ecr_image
        sources:
          - identifier: ecr_image
            type: Ecr
            spec:
              connectorRef: aws_connector
              region: us-east-1
              imagePath: my-image
              tag: 
    manifests:
      - manifest:
          identifier: task_def
          type: EcsTaskDefinition
          spec:
            store:
              type: Github
              spec:
                connectorRef: github
                repoName: ecs-config
                branch: main
                paths: [task-definition.json]

Serverless Lambda Service

serviceDefinition:
  type: ServerlessAwsLambda
  spec:
    artifacts:
      primary:
        primaryArtifactRef: s3_artifact
        sources:
          - identifier: s3_artifact
            type: AmazonS3
            spec:
              connectorRef: aws_connector
              region: us-east-1
              bucketName: my-deployments
              filePath: serverless-app.zip
    manifests:
      - manifest:
          identifier: serverless_manifest
          type: ServerlessAwsLambda
          spec:
            store:
              type: Github
              spec:
                connectorRef: github
                repoName: serverless-config
                branch: main
                paths: [serverless.yml]

Artifact Source Types

• DockerRegistry - Docker Hub (connectorRef, imagePath, tag)
• Ecr - AWS ECR (connectorRef, region, imagePath, tag)
• Gcr - Google GCR (connectorRef, registryHostname, imagePath, tag)
• GoogleArtifactRegistry - Google Artifact Registry (connectorRef, region, repositoryName, package, version)
• Acr - Azure ACR (connectorRef, subscriptionId, registry, repository, tag)
• ArtifactoryRegistry - JFrog Artifactory (connectorRef, repository, artifactPath, repositoryFormat, tag)
• Nexus3Registry - Nexus (connectorRef, repository, artifactPath, repositoryFormat, tag)
• GithubPackageRegistry - GitHub Packages (connectorRef, packageType, org, packageName, version)
• AmazonS3 - S3 (connectorRef, region, bucketName, filePath)
• GoogleCloudStorage - GCS (connectorRef, project, bucket, artifactPath)
• CustomArtifact - Custom source (scripts, delegateSelectors, version)

Creating via MCP

Call MCP tool: harness_create
Parameters:
  resource_type: "service"
  org_id: ""
  project_id: ""
  body: 

List existing services:

Call MCP tool: harness_list
Parameters:
  resource_type: "service"
  org_id: ""
  project_id: ""

Examples

• "Create a K8s service with Docker Hub artifact" - Kubernetes type with DockerRegistry source
• "Create a Helm service" - NativeHelm type with HelmChart manifest
• "Create an ECS service with ECR" - ECS type with Ecr artifact source

Performance Notes

• Verify that referenced connectors exist before creating the service definition.
• Ensure the deployment type matches the infrastructure type that will be used in the pipeline.
• For artifact sources, confirm the image path and registry are accessible.
• Quality of service configuration is more important than speed.

Troubleshooting

• CONNECTOR_NOT_FOUND - Create connector first or fix connectorRef
• DUPLICATE_IDENTIFIER - Service exists; use harness_update
• Artifact tag `` means the tag is provided at runtime

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: harness
• Source: harness/harness-skills
• License: Apache-2.0
• Homepage: https://developer.harness.io/docs/platform/harness-ai/harness-skills/

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.