CI/CD Setup Checklist

Configure a reliable CI/CD pipeline with automated testing, build optimization, deployment strategies, and production monitoring.

Checklist: CI/CD Setup (engineering)

A well-configured CI/CD pipeline is the foundation of reliable software delivery. This checklist covers the essential components from version control hooks through deployment automation to production monitoring, ensuring every code change is tested, built, and deployed consistently.

Checklist Items

  1. Configure automated test execution on every PR [critical]: Run unit, integration, and linting checks automatically on every pull request before merge.
  2. Set up automated build and artifact creation [critical]: Create reproducible build pipelines that produce versioned, deployable artifacts.
  3. Implement deployment automation [critical]: Automate deployment to staging and production with rollback capability and approval gates.
  4. Configure environment variable management [important]: Use a secrets manager for sensitive configuration. Never hardcode credentials in pipelines.
  5. Set up branch protection rules [important]: Require passing CI checks and code review approval before merging to main branches.
  6. Add build caching for faster pipelines [important]: Cache dependencies, Docker layers, and build artifacts to reduce pipeline execution time.
  7. Configure deployment notifications [important]: Send Slack or email notifications on successful deploys, failures, and rollbacks.
  8. Set up staging environment parity [recommended]: Ensure staging mirrors production configuration, data patterns, and infrastructure as closely as possible.
  9. Implement canary or blue-green deployments [recommended]: Deploy to a subset of servers first and verify health before rolling out to all instances.
  10. Add pipeline performance monitoring [recommended]: Track build times, test execution times, and deployment frequency to identify bottlenecks.

Common Mistakes

  • Slow pipelines that developers skip: Optimize build caching, parallelize tests, and keep total pipeline time under 10 minutes for fast feedback.
  • No rollback mechanism: Every deployment should be reversible. Keep previous artifacts available and automate rollback triggers.
  • Secrets in pipeline configuration: Use dedicated secrets managers like Vault or cloud-native solutions. Never store credentials in YAML files.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which CI/CD tool should I use?
GitHub Actions for GitHub-hosted repos, GitLab CI for GitLab repos, and CircleCI or Jenkins for complex multi-repo setups. Choose based on your existing toolchain.
How fast should my CI pipeline be?
Aim for under 10 minutes for PR checks. Longer pipelines reduce developer productivity and encourage skipping CI.
Should I deploy on every merge to main?
For most teams, yes. Continuous deployment reduces batch size, making each release smaller and safer.