CI/CD
Automated testing and deployment - catching problems before users do.
What it is
CI/CD stands for Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment. Continuous Integration means every code change is automatically built and tested - catching errors before they reach production. Continuous Deployment means passing builds are automatically deployed to the live environment without manual steps. Together they make releasing software faster and safer.
A CI/CD pipeline typically runs on every push to a repository: install dependencies, run type checks and linters, run automated tests, build the application, and deploy if everything passes. If anything fails, the deployment stops and the team is alerted. Nothing broken makes it to production.
How I use it
For most web projects, Vercel's automatic deployment from Git pushes is effectively a simple CD pipeline. For projects with more backend complexity or testing requirements, GitHub Actions provides configurable CI/CD workflows that run on every pull request: TypeScript compilation checks, linting, and build verification before code can be merged.
The practical effect for clients is that deployments are predictable - there's no manual "push to live" step where something could be forgotten, and problems are caught at the point a change is made rather than hours later when a user reports something broken.
Why this over the alternatives
Manual deployments accumulate human error over time. CI/CD removes the manual steps and enforces a consistent process. For small projects it might seem like overhead, but it pays for itself the first time it catches a breaking change that would otherwise have gone live.
What it means for your site
- Automated checks catch type errors, linting issues, and failing builds before deployment
- Every deployment follows the same process - no manual steps to forget
- Failed builds don't deploy - production stays stable
- Faster release cadence because deployment is reliable rather than risky
