CI

Operations → Continuous Integration

CI/CD Pipeline

An automated sequence of build, test, package, and release steps for software changes.

CI/CD Pipeline diagram

Where it fits

A CI/CD pipeline automates build, test, package, and deployment steps. It is a key operations and engineering productivity concept.

Mental model

The pipeline turns source changes into validated, releasable artifacts through repeatable stages.

Example

A pull request may trigger unit tests, integration tests, image builds, security scans, and deployment to staging.

Common mistakes

Skipping tests to make the pipeline look fast.
Making deployments manual and undocumented.
Letting pipeline configuration become unreviewed infrastructure.

Build system, artifact, deployment, GitHub Actions, continuous integration.