Dagger (16,132 Stars) CI/CD Engine 2026: Write Pipelines in Python or Go, Run Anywhere

Dagger (16,132 stars) lets you write CI/CD pipelines as code in Python, Go or TypeScript - the same pipeline runs locally, in GitHub Actions, or in any runner. Here is the setup.

💡 What You Will Learn

Dagger (16,132 stars) lets you write CI/CD pipelines as code in Python, Go or TypeScript - the same pipeline runs locally, in GitHub Actions, or in any runner. Here is the setup.

📜 Table of Contents

• The short answer
• Why it is different
• Minimal Python pipeline
• Real-world usage tips
• FAQ

The short answer

dagger/dagger (16,132 stars, Go) is an automation engine for building, testing, and shipping any codebase. Instead of writing YAML that only works inside one CI vendor, you write pipelines in a real programming language. The pipeline runs the same way locally, in CI, or on any machine with a container runtime.

Why it is different

• Real languages: Python, Go, TypeScript - full IDE support, tests, and reusable functions
• Same pipeline everywhere: debug locally, then run unchanged in GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Jenkins
• Container-native: every step runs in a hermetic container, so builds are reproducible
• Caching built-in: content-addressed caching makes re-runs fast

Minimal Python pipeline

import dagger

async def main():
    async with dagger.Connection() as client:
        src = client.host().directory(".")
        python = (
            client.container()
            .from_("python:3.12")
            .with_directory("/src", src)
            .with_workdir("/src")
            .with_exec(["pip", "install", "-r", "requirements.txt"])
            .with_exec(["pytest"])
        )
        await python.stdout()

import asyncio
asyncio.run(main())

Install the SDK and run it:

pip install dagger-io
python pipeline.py

Real-world usage tips

• Start by containerizing your build steps - Dagger shines when every stage is a container.
• Use with_exec for steps and cache_volume for package caches (pip, npm).
• Keep pipelines in a ci/ folder and version them with your code.

FAQ

Does it replace GitHub Actions? Not entirely - you can use Dagger inside GitHub Actions as the pipeline engine, keeping triggers and hosting there.

Do I need Docker? A container runtime is required (Docker, containerd, or a remote engine).

Is it production-ready? Yes - it is used in production by many companies and the engine is Apache-2.0.

❓ FAQ

Does it replace GitHub Actions?

Not entirely - you can use Dagger inside GitHub Actions as the pipeline engine, keeping triggers and hosting there.

Do I need Docker?

container runtime is required (Docker, containerd, or a remote engine).

Is it production-ready?

Yes - it is used in production by many companies and the engine is Apache-2.0.