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The CI/CD pipeline

A CI/CD pipeline is the automated path every code change takes to reach users. It builds, tests and ships software the same way, every time, so releases become routine instead of risky.

1. Commit

A developer pushes a small change to Git. This starts the pipeline.

2. Build

The code is compiled and packaged, usually as a container image.

3. Test

Unit tests, integration tests and security scans run automatically.

4. Release

A versioned artifact is stored in a registry, ready to deploy.

5. Deploy

The new version rolls out to staging, then production.

6. Monitor

Metrics, logs and alerts show how it behaves and feed back into the next change.

Key idea

CI means merge and test often. CD means you are always ready to release.

Tools you'll meet

GitHub Actions, Jenkins, GitLab CI, Docker, Argo CD and cloud tools like AWS CodePipeline. In our PayLab class, each of five services had its own pipeline.