Pipeline editor - Empty State - MVC

Release notes

The pipeline editor is GitLab default tool for author and build your pipeline, previously the editor only worked if you are an existing users, new users would have to manually create a .gitlab-ci.yml configuration file before going into the editor, in this release we've added an empty state page to the pipeline editor which will allow you to create an empty pipeline file, providing you with an end to end experience without leaving the comfort of the editor.

Problem to solve

This is an MVC issue for the Pipeline Editor empty state.

The pipeline editor in its current form works only when a pipeline file is available.

MVC Proposal

In MVC approach we can start by addressing the scenario when there is no CI config file (whether it has a different name or doesn't exist).

• In that scenario we should show an empty state when the user navigates to Pipeline Editor, whether they use the sidebar navigation or "Set up CI/CD" button from the repository.
• The empty state shows a typical GitLab empty state with descriptive text, illustration and a CTA button.
• CTA button when clicked creates a new file, and if there's no branch, it creates a branch. If there's no repo, it should create a repo.
• The user it taken to a blank file in the Pipeline Editor, the file needs to be committed to create it.

Empty state with a CTA button	Clicking on CTA takes you to the newly created file (the alert is a separate follow-up issue