--- title: "CI/CD & Automation Glossary" lang: "en" author: "Mohammad Abu Mattar" canonical: https://mkabumattar.com/post/ci-cd-and-automation --- [Home](/)›[Glossary](/glossary)›[All Categories](/glossary/categories)›[Devops](/glossary/categories/devops) Glossary [Next in DevopsContainers & Kubernetes](/glossary/post/containers-and-kubernetes) # CI/CD & Automation Continuous integration, delivery, and deployment terms: pipelines, runners, artifacts, and release strategies. 35 TermsPublished: 23 Aug 2026Updated: 23 Aug 2026 [Devops](/glossary/categories/devops)[#ci-cd](/glossary/tags/ci-cd)[#automation](/glossary/tags/automation)[#pipelines](/glossary/tags/pipelines) [Markdown for AI(opens in a new tab)](/post/ci-cd-and-automation/index.md "Open the plain-Markdown version of this page, for pasting into an AI tool") [Facebook](https://facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fci-cd-and-automation "Share on Facebook")[Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet/?text=CI%2FCD%20%26%20Automation&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fci-cd-and-automation "Share on Twitter")[LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fci-cd-and-automation&title=CI%2FCD%20%26%20Automation&summary=Continuous%20integration%2C%20delivery%2C%20and%20deployment%20terms%3A%20pipelines%2C%20runners%2C%20artifacts%2C%20and%20release%20strategies.&source=https://mkabumattar.com "Share on LinkedIn")[WhatsApp](https://wa.me/?text=CI%2FCD%20%26%20Automation%20https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fci-cd-and-automation "Share on WhatsApp")[Telegram](https://t.me/share/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fci-cd-and-automation&text=CI%2FCD%20%26%20Automation "Share on Telegram")[Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fci-cd-and-automation&title=CI%2FCD%20%26%20Automation "Share on Reddit")[Hacker News](http://news.ycombinator.com/submitlink?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fci-cd-and-automation&t=CI%2FCD%20%26%20Automation "Share on Hacker News")[Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmkabumattar.com%2Fglossary%2Fpost%2Fci-cd-and-automation&media=&description=Continuous%20integration%2C%20delivery%2C%20and%20deployment%20terms%3A%20pipelines%2C%20runners%2C%20artifacts%2C%20and%20release%20strategies. "Share on Pinterest")[Email]() A quick-reference glossary of the terms you meet when automating builds, tests, and deployments: pipeline anatomy, test gates, and release strategies like canary and blue-green. Series [DevOps & CI/CD Pipelines](/series/devops--cicd-pipelines)1/1 All posts in this series (1) Glossary1 1. [CI/CD & AutomationYou are here](/glossary/post/ci-cd-and-automation) ### Build & Test - [Artifact](#term-artifact) - [Build cache](#term-build-cache) - [Test gate](#term-test-gate) - [Unit test](#term-unit-test) - [Integration test](#term-integration-test) - [Matrix build](#term-matrix-build) - [Flaky test](#term-flaky-test) ### Common Tools & Concepts - [GitHub Actions](#term-github-actions) - [GitLab CI](#term-gitlab-ci) - [Jenkins](#term-jenkins) - [Secret](#term-secret) - [Environment variable](#term-environment-variable) - [Idempotent pipeline](#term-idempotent-pipeline) - [Fail fast](#term-fail-fast) ### Delivery & Deployment - [Continuous Integration (CI)](#term-continuous-integration--ci-) - [Continuous Delivery](#term-continuous-delivery) - [Continuous Deployment](#term-continuous-deployment) - [Blue-green deployment](#term-blue-green-deployment) - [Canary deployment](#term-canary-deployment) - [Rollback](#term-rollback) - [Rolling update](#term-rolling-update) - [Deployment environment](#term-deployment-environment) ### Pipeline Concepts - [Pipeline](#term-pipeline) - [Stage](#term-stage) - [Job](#term-job) - [Step](#term-step) - [Trigger](#term-trigger) - [Runner](#term-runner) - [Agent](#term-agent) - [Workflow](#term-workflow) ### Versioning & Releases - [Semantic versioning](#term-semantic-versioning) - [Tag](#term-tag) - [Release candidate](#term-release-candidate) - [Changelog](#term-changelog) - [Artifact registry](#term-artifact-registry) No terms found Try adjusting your search query ## Build & Test 7 ### Artifact A file or set of files produced by a pipeline, such as a compiled binary, a container image, or a test report, that later stages or humans consume. ### Build cache Stored intermediate results (dependencies, compiled layers) reused across runs to make builds faster. #### Example Caching node\_modules or Docker layers between runs. ### Test gate A required check that must pass before the pipeline continues, such as unit tests or linting. A failing gate stops the pipeline. ### Unit test A fast test that checks one small piece of code in isolation. Unit tests run early because they give quick feedback. ### Integration test A test that checks how multiple components work together, often against a real database or service. Slower than unit tests, so they run later. ### Matrix build Running the same job across several combinations of parameters (language versions, operating systems) in parallel. #### Code Snippet ``` 1strategy:2 matrix:3 node: [18, 20, 22] ``` ### Flaky test A test that sometimes passes and sometimes fails without any code change, usually due to timing or shared state. Flaky tests erode trust in the pipeline. ## Common Tools & Concepts 7 ### GitHub Actions A CI/CD system built into GitHub that runs YAML-defined workflows on events like push and pull request. ### GitLab CI GitLab's built-in CI/CD, configured with a .gitlab-ci.yml file and executed by GitLab runners. ### Jenkins A long-established, self-hosted automation server that runs pipelines defined in a Jenkinsfile, extended through a large plugin ecosystem. ### Secret A sensitive value (API key, token, password) stored encrypted by the CI system and injected into jobs without appearing in the code or logs. ### Environment variable A named value passed into a job to configure behavior, such as an API URL or a build flag. ### Idempotent pipeline A pipeline you can run repeatedly with the same inputs and get the same result, which makes retries and reruns safe. ### Fail fast Configuring a pipeline to stop as soon as a critical step fails, so you get feedback quickly and do not waste runner time. ## Delivery & Deployment 8 ### Continuous Integration (CI) The practice of merging code frequently and running automated builds and tests on every change to catch problems early. ### Continuous Delivery Extending CI so every passing change is automatically prepared for release, with the final push to production requiring a manual approval. ### Continuous Deployment Going one step beyond continuous delivery: every change that passes the pipeline is released to production automatically, with no manual gate. ### Blue-green deployment Running two identical environments (blue and green) and switching traffic from the old to the new all at once, so rollback is just switching back. ### Canary deployment Releasing a new version to a small slice of traffic first, watching for errors, then gradually increasing the rollout if it looks healthy. ### Rollback Reverting to a previous known-good version after a bad release. Fast rollback is a core safety net of automated deployment. ### Rolling update Replacing instances of the old version with the new one a few at a time, so the service stays up throughout the change. ### Deployment environment A named target where code runs, such as dev, staging, or production. Pipelines promote a build through environments in order. ## Pipeline Concepts 8 ### Pipeline An automated sequence of stages that takes code from commit to a running deployment, such as build, test, and release. ### Stage A named phase of a pipeline that groups related jobs, like "test" or "deploy". Stages usually run in order. ### Job A unit of work within a stage that runs on a single runner. Jobs in the same stage often run in parallel. ### Step A single command or action inside a job, executed in sequence. ### Trigger The event that starts a pipeline, such as a push, a pull request, a tag, a schedule, or a manual click. ### Runner The machine or process that executes a job. Runners can be hosted by the CI provider or self-hosted on your own infrastructure. #### Example A GitHub Actions ubuntu-latest runner, or a self-hosted runner on an EC2 instance. ### Agent Another name for a runner, common in Jenkins. It is the worker that picks up and runs pipeline work. ### Workflow The full definition of an automated process, usually a YAML file describing triggers, jobs, and steps. ## Versioning & Releases 5 ### Semantic versioning A version scheme of MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH where major means breaking changes, minor means new backward-compatible features, and patch means bug fixes. #### Example 2.4.1 to 2.5.0 adds features; 2.4.1 to 3.0.0 breaks compatibility. ### Tag A named pointer to a specific commit, commonly used to mark a release like v1.2.0. Tags often trigger release pipelines. ### Release candidate A pre-release build believed to be ready for production, published for final testing before the official release. #### Example v2.0.0-rc.1 ### Changelog A human-readable record of what changed in each release, grouped by added, changed, fixed, and removed. ### Artifact registry A store for versioned build outputs such as container images or packages, from which deployments pull. #### Example Amazon ECR, npm registry, or GitHub Packages. ## Comments Was this useful? ## You might also enjoy More posts on similar topics [![DevOps Basics](/_astro/hero.CWNG2jIz_Z24wybF.webp)](/glossary/post/devops-basics) ## [DevOps Basics](/glossary/post/devops-basics) - [Mohammad Abu Mattar](/authors/mohammad-abu-mattar) - [Devops](/glossary/categories/devops) This glossary covers foundational terms used in DevOps and cloud engineering, spanning containerization, orchestration, infrastructure as code, CI/CD pipelines, observability, and deployment strategie [#Basics](/glossary/tags/basics)[#Ci cd](/glossary/tags/ci-cd)[#Kubernetes](/glossary/tags/kubernetes)+2 tags [read more](/glossary/post/devops-basics) [![Containers & Kubernetes](/_astro/hero.DB88aS20_vaQF6.webp)](/glossary/post/containers-and-kubernetes) ## [Containers & Kubernetes](/glossary/post/containers-and-kubernetes) - [Mohammad Abu Mattar](/authors/mohammad-abu-mattar) - [Devops](/glossary/categories/devops) This glossary covers essential terms for working with containers and Kubernetes: building Docker images, and managing workloads, networking, storage, scaling, and security in a Kubernetes cluster. [#Containers](/glossary/tags/containers)[#Docker](/glossary/tags/docker)[#Kubernetes](/glossary/tags/kubernetes)+1 tags [read more](/glossary/post/containers-and-kubernetes) [![Kubernetes Advanced](/_astro/hero.CRGMYrKF_ZUVOtB.webp)](/glossary/post/kubernetes-advanced) ## [Kubernetes Advanced](/glossary/post/kubernetes-advanced) - [Mohammad Abu Mattar](/authors/mohammad-abu-mattar) - [Kubernetes](/glossary/categories/kubernetes) - [Platform](/glossary/categories/platform) This glossary covers the advanced Kubernetes terminology platform engineers rely on: scheduling, networking, storage, security, extensibility, and the workload controllers that keep applications runni [#Kubernetes](/glossary/tags/kubernetes)[#Orchestration](/glossary/tags/orchestration)[#Platform](/glossary/tags/platform)+5 tags [read more](/glossary/post/kubernetes-advanced) [![Cloud Computing on AWS](/_astro/hero.DGzICRow_2rLKwd.webp)](/glossary/post/cloud-computing-aws) ## [Cloud Computing on AWS](/glossary/post/cloud-computing-aws) - [Mohammad Abu Mattar](/authors/mohammad-abu-mattar) - [Cloud](/glossary/categories/cloud) - [Aws](/glossary/categories/aws) This glossary covers the essential Amazon Web Services terms every cloud engineer and architect should know: compute, storage, networking, databases, and the identity controls that keep it all secure. [#Aws](/glossary/tags/aws)[#Cloud](/glossary/tags/cloud)[#Infrastructure](/glossary/tags/infrastructure)+5 tags [read more](/glossary/post/cloud-computing-aws) [![Networking Fundamentals](/_astro/hero.CcGlr5M6_2oFVtq.webp)](/glossary/post/networking-fundamentals) ## [Networking Fundamentals](/glossary/post/networking-fundamentals) - [Mohammad Abu Mattar](/authors/mohammad-abu-mattar) - [Networking](/glossary/categories/networking) - [Fundamentals](/glossary/categories/fundamentals) This glossary covers the core networking concepts every developer, DevOps engineer, and system administrator should know: how data is layered and addressed, and how it gets routed across the internet. [#Networking](/glossary/tags/networking)[#Tcp ip](/glossary/tags/tcp-ip)[#Dns](/glossary/tags/dns)+5 tags [read more](/glossary/post/networking-fundamentals) 5 related posts