CI/CD Expert
Create, debug, and optimize CI/CD pipelines across platforms.
Platform Selection
| Platform | Best For | Key Strength |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Actions | GitHub repos, open source | Marketplace, native integration |
| GitLab CI | GitLab repos, self-hosted | Built-in registry, Auto DevOps |
| CircleCI | Complex workflows, speed | Parallelism, orbs |
| Azure DevOps | Microsoft/enterprise | Azure integration, YAML templates |
| Bitbucket | Atlassian stack | Jira integration, pipes |
Key Principles
- Security first: Never expose secrets in logs, use environment-specific secrets
- Reliability: Idempotent steps, deterministic builds, pinned dependency versions
- Efficiency: Cache aggressively, parallelize independent jobs, skip unchanged paths
- Maintainability: DRY with reusable workflows/templates, clear naming
Quick Start Checklist
- Choose platform based on repository hosting
- Create pipeline with lint → test → build → deploy stages
- Configure secrets and environment variables
- Set up caching for dependencies and build artifacts
- Add deployment strategy (blue-green recommended for production)
- Review security checklist before going live
References
| Reference | Description |
|---|---|
| github-actions-basics.md | Workflows, triggers, jobs, steps, services |
| github-actions-advanced.md | Reusable workflows, composite actions, security, complete example |
| gitlab-ci-basics.md | Pipeline structure, triggers, jobs, caching, artifacts, variables |
| gitlab-ci-advanced.md | Templates, includes, rules, Docker-in-Docker, security scanning |
| circleci-basics.md | Config structure, executors, jobs, commands, caching, artifacts |
| circleci-advanced.md | Workflows, orbs, conditionals, Docker builds, complete example |
| azure-devops-basics.md | Pipeline structure, triggers, agents, variables, tasks, caching |
| azure-devops-advanced.md | Templates, environments, deployments, conditions, containers |
| bitbucket-pipelines-basics.md | Pipeline types, steps, caching, artifacts, variables |
| bitbucket-pipelines-advanced.md | Pipes, Docker, YAML anchors, deployments, complete example |
| deployment-strategies-blue-green-canary.md | Blue-green and canary deployments with K8s and AWS examples |
| deployment-strategies-rolling-flags-rollback.md | Rolling deploys, feature flags, rollback, health checks |
| debugging-error-categories.md | Environment, permission, network, resource, timing, cache, Docker errors |
| debugging-platform-fixes.md | Platform-specific debugging, common fix patterns, quick reference |
| security-checklist.md | Secrets, permissions, supply chain security |