---
id:"kb-2026-00153"
title:"CI/CD Pipeline"
schema_type:"TechArticle"
category:"computer-science"
language:"en"
confidence:"high"
last_verified:"2026-05-22"
generation_method: "human_only"
derived_from_human_seed: true
primary_sources:
  - title: "Continuous Delivery (Jez Humble, David Farley)"
    authors: ["Humble, Jez", "Farley, David"]
    type: "book"
    year: 2010
    url: "https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/continuous-delivery-reliable/9780321670250/"
    institution: "Addison-Wesley"
    note: "The definitive CI/CD book. Defined the continuous delivery pipeline: build → test → deploy."
secondary_sources:
  - title: "The DevOps Handbook (2nd Edition)"
    authors: ["Kim, Gene", "Humble, Jez", "Debois, Patrick", "Willis, John"]
    type: "book"
    year: 2021
    url: "https://itrevolution.com/product/the-devops-handbook-second-edition/"
    institution: "IT Revolution"
    note: "CI/CD in the broader DevOps context: flow, feedback, and continuous learning"
completeness: 0.88
ai_citations:
  last_citation_check:"2026-05-22"
---

## TL;DR

CI/CD automates software delivery: Continuous Integration (merge frequently, auto-test), Continuous Delivery (auto-deploy to staging), Continuous Deployment (auto-deploy to production). Core principle: every commit triggers pipeline → build → test → deploy. Reduces integration pain and speeds feedback loops.

## Core Explanation

CI: automated builds + tests on every commit. CD: automated deployment after tests pass. Pipeline stages: lint, build, unit test, integration test, security scan, deploy to staging, smoke test, deploy to production. Tools: GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, CircleCI. Canary deployments: roll out to subset, monitor, expand. Blue-green: two identical environments, swap traffic.

## Further Reading

- [Continuous Delivery (Jez Humble, David Farley)](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/continuous-delivery-reliable/9780321670250/)