What is CI/CD?
The pipeline between "it works on my machine" and "it is live". Here is what each letter means.
In short
CI/CD stands for continuous integration and continuous delivery or deployment. Continuous integration means every change is merged often and checked by an automated build and test run. Continuous delivery means every change that passes can be released at the push of a button; continuous deployment releases it automatically. Together they form the pipeline that ships software safely.
Also called: Continuous integration, Continuous delivery, Continuous deployment, CI/CD pipeline
Why it matters when your prototype goes to production
In a prototype, publishing is a button and nothing checks what it publishes. With real users, every release is a chance to break something that worked yesterday. A CI/CD pipeline makes each release boring: the same build, the same tests and the same steps, every time, with a record of what shipped when.
| Stage | What happens | What it catches |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous integration | Build and run the tests on every change | Broken code before it merges |
| Continuous delivery | Package and release to staging, ready for production | Problems in a production-like setting |
| Continuous deployment | Release to production automatically when checks pass | Nothing extra; it removes the wait |
How often to deploy is a business choice. Our Starter plan includes two production deployments a week; Growth includes continuous deployment. Either way, every release goes through the same pipeline. On Looph, 10,387 automated tests pass in CI before anything ships.
Common questions
What is the difference between continuous delivery and continuous deployment?
With continuous delivery every passing change is ready to release and a person presses the button. With continuous deployment it is released automatically.
How do you measure a CI/CD pipeline?
DORA's research uses five software delivery metrics: change lead time, deployment frequency, failed deployment recovery time, change fail rate and deployment rework rate.
Related terms
Read next
Sources
More on this: Production architecture & security · All glossary terms
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