Partial Sections

SKA’s partial sections feature lets you maintain only specific portions of files while allowing developers to freely customize the rest.

How It Works

Use special markers in your template files to define centrally managed sections:

• ska-start:<identifier> - Marks the beginning of a managed section
• ska-end - Marks the end of a managed section

Everything inside these markers is controlled by the upstream template. Everything outside can be freely edited by developers.

Example: YAML Configuration

# codecov.yml - Only key4 section is managed by SKA
---
root:
  key1: value1
  key2: custom-value  # User can modify this
  key3: value3
  # ska-start:key4
  key4:
    subkey: "{{.appName}}"
    subkey2: standardized-value
  # ska-end
  key5: value5  # User can modify this too

When ska update runs:

• The key4 section is refreshed from the upstream template
• All other keys retain their local values

Marker Syntax

The markers work as comments in any file type:

YAML

# ska-start:section-name
managed: content
# ska-end

JavaScript/Go/Java

// ska-start:config
const config = { /* managed */ };
// ska-end

HTML/XML

<!-- ska-start:header -->
<header>Managed content</header>
<!-- ska-end -->

Shell/Python

# ska-start:env-setup
export PATH="$PATH:/managed/path"
# ska-end

Identifier Names

The identifier after ska-start: should be:

• Descriptive: ska-start:ci-step, ska-start:codecov-config
• Unique within the file: Each section needs a distinct name
• Stable: Don’t rename frequently as it affects update matching

Use Cases

CI/CD Pipelines

Keep build steps standardized while allowing custom stages:

.github/workflows/ci.yml

name: CI

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  # ska-start:standard-checks
  lint:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Run linter
        run: make lint
  # ska-end

  # Teams can add custom jobs below
  custom-tests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Custom test suite
        run: ./run-custom-tests.sh

Configuration Files

Standardize security settings while allowing application-specific config:

app-config.yml

app:
  name: "{{.appName}}"

  # ska-start:security
  security:
    csrf: enabled
    xss-protection: enabled
    content-security-policy: strict
  # ska-end

  # Application-specific settings
  features:
    beta-mode: true
    custom-feature: enabled

Docker Files

Maintain base image standards:

# ska-start:base
FROM node:20-alpine
WORKDIR /app
RUN apk add --no-cache dumb-init
# ska-end

# Custom build steps
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --only=production

COPY . .
CMD ["dumb-init", "node", "server.js"]

Best Practices

Partial Section Tips

• Keep sections small and focused - Easier to maintain and less merge friction
• Use clear identifiers - ska-start:security-headers is better than ska-start:section1
• Document the contract - Let developers know which sections are managed
• Don’t nest sections - Keep the structure flat and simple

Behavior on Update

When you run ska update:

1. SKA identifies all ska-start/ska-end blocks in both template and local files
2. Managed sections are refreshed with the latest upstream content
3. Content outside managed sections is preserved exactly as-is
4. New template variables are applied within managed sections