ci-cd-patterns

name	ci-cd-patterns
description	Design and implement CI/CD pipeline patterns for reliable, fast, and secure software delivery. Use when building or optimizing build and deployment pipelines.

CI/CD Patterns

Activate this skill when designing or optimizing CI/CD pipelines.

When to Use

• Designing new CI/CD pipelines
• Optimizing build times and caching
• Implementing deployment strategies
• Adding security scanning to pipelines
• Setting up multi-environment promotion
• Configuring GitOps workflows

Pipeline Stages

1. Validate: lint, format check, schema validation
2. Build: compile, bundle, create artifacts
3. Test: unit, integration, contract tests
4. Scan: SAST, dependency audit, container scan
5. Package: build container image, push to registry
6. Deploy: apply to target environment
7. Verify: smoke tests, health checks, canary analysis

Deployment Strategies

• Rolling: gradual replacement, zero-downtime
• Blue-Green: instant switch between environments
• Canary: route percentage of traffic to new version
• Feature Flags: deploy dark, enable incrementally

Rules

• Fail fast: cheapest checks run first
• Cache aggressively: dependencies, layers, build artifacts
• Pin versions: actions, base images, dependencies
• Use OIDC: no long-lived credentials in CI
• Separate build from deploy for auditability
• Every deployment must be reversible
• Quality gates must block on failure
• Pipeline changes require code review