CI/CD pipelines

Intermediate 12 min read

Run tests, checks and the build automatically on every push, and deliver only what passes.

Why it matters

People forget to run tests; machines do not. A pipeline makes every change go through the same checks and the same build, so a release is boring and repeatable.

Where it fits

What you will learn

Explain continuous integration, delivery and deployment.
Read a pipeline file: triggers, jobs and steps.
Decide which checks must pass before merging.

Before you start

Automated tests✓ Learned
Branches and pull requests✓ Learned

Three terms

Continuous integration — every push is built and tested automatically.
Continuous delivery — every change that passes is ready to release with one action.
Continuous deployment — every change that passes is released automatically.

A small pipeline

.github/workflows/ci.yml

name: CI
on:
  push:
  pull_request:

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 22
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run lint
      - run: npm test

GitHub Actions syntax. Other CI systems use the same ideas with different file formats.

Tip: Make the pipeline required for merging (branch protection). A check that can be skipped will be skipped.

Watch out: Pipelines often hold deploy credentials. Store them in the CI system's secret store, never in the pipeline file.

Official documentation and references

Documentation

GitHub Actions documentation ↗ Official · GitHub
GitLab CI/CD ↗ Official · GitLab

Guides

GitHub Actions quickstart ↗ Official · GitHub

Learn next

Containers with Docker ›✓ Learned

Automated tests✓ Learned
Build artifacts and versioning✓ Learned
Dependency and security scanning✓ Learned
Configuration and secrets✓ Learned

Done with this topic?

Reviewed 2026-10-23. Links go to the official documentation unless marked otherwise.