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CI/CD Best Practices

Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment transform how teams deliver software by automating builds, tests, and deployments. GitScrum integrates with CI/CD pipelines to provide visibility into deployment status, connect releases to project progress, and ensure team coordination around automated delivery processes.

Pipeline Fundamentals

CI/CD Pipeline Stages

STANDARD PIPELINE FLOW:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                             │
│  ┌────────┐  ┌────────┐  ┌────────┐  ┌────────┐  ┌──────┐ │
│  │ Commit │→ │ Build  │→ │ Test   │→ │ Deploy │→ │Verify│ │
│  └────────┘  └────────┘  └────────┘  └────────┘  └──────┘ │
│       │          │           │           │          │      │
│       ↓          ↓           ↓           ↓          ↓      │
│   Push to    Compile     Unit +      Staging    Smoke     │
│   branch     & Package   Integration  or Prod   Tests     │
│                                                            │
│  GITSCRUM INTEGRATION:                                     │
│  • Task updated to "Building"                              │
│  • Test results linked to task                             │
│  • Deployment status tracked                               │
│  • Release notes auto-generated                            │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Pipeline Configuration

RECOMMENDED PIPELINE SETUP:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ STAGE           │ TIMEOUT │ ON FAILURE                      │
├─────────────────┼─────────┼─────────────────────────────────┤
│ Lint/Format     │ 2 min   │ Block merge                     │
│ Unit Tests      │ 10 min  │ Block merge                     │
│ Build           │ 5 min   │ Block merge                     │
│ Integration     │ 15 min  │ Block merge                     │
│ Security Scan   │ 10 min  │ Warn (block on critical)        │
│ Deploy Staging  │ 10 min  │ Stop pipeline                   │
│ E2E Tests       │ 20 min  │ Stop pipeline                   │
│ Deploy Prod     │ 10 min  │ Alert + rollback               │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Test Automation

Test Pyramid

TESTING STRATEGY:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                             │
│                    ╱╲                                       │
│                   ╱  ╲                                      │
│                  ╱ E2E╲    Few, slow, expensive             │
│                 ╱──────╲   (5-10% of tests)                 │
│                ╱        ╲                                   │
│               ╱Integration╲  Some, medium speed             │
│              ╱────────────╲ (15-25% of tests)               │
│             ╱              ╲                                │
│            ╱   Unit Tests   ╲  Many, fast, cheap            │
│           ╱──────────────────╲ (65-80% of tests)            │
│                                                             │
│ EXECUTION TIME TARGETS:                                     │
│ • Unit tests: < 2 minutes                                   │
│ • Integration: < 10 minutes                                 │
│ • E2E: < 20 minutes                                         │
│ • Full pipeline: < 30 minutes                               │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Handling Flaky Tests

FLAKY TEST MANAGEMENT:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                             │
│ DETECTION:                                                  │
│ • Track test pass/fail rates over time                      │
│ • Identify tests that fail intermittently                   │
│ • Set threshold (e.g., <95% pass rate = flaky)             │
│                                                             │
│ QUARANTINE PROCESS:                                         │
│ 1. Mark test as flaky in GitScrum                          │
│ 2. Move to separate test suite                             │
│ 3. Don't block deployments on flaky tests                  │
│ 4. Fix or remove within 2 weeks                            │
│                                                             │
│ PREVENTION:                                                 │
│ • Avoid time-dependent tests                               │
│ • Use deterministic test data                              │
│ • Isolate tests from external services                     │
│ • Review test design in code reviews                       │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Deployment Strategies

Progressive Deployment

DEPLOYMENT OPTIONS:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                             │
│ ROLLING DEPLOYMENT:                                         │
│ [■■■■■□□□□□] → [■■■■■■■□□□] → [■■■■■■■■■■]                 │
│  Old version      Gradual         New version               │
│                   rollout                                   │
│                                                             │
│ BLUE-GREEN:                                                 │
│ Blue (live) ────────────┬───→ Blue (standby)               │
│ Green (standby) ────────┴───→ Green (live)                 │
│         Instant switch, easy rollback                       │
│                                                             │
│ CANARY:                                                     │
│ [■■■■■■■■■□] → [■■■■■■■□□□] → [■■■■■□□□□□]                 │
│  1% traffic      10% traffic     50% traffic                │
│         Gradual increase based on metrics                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Feature Flags

FEATURE FLAG WORKFLOW:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                                             │
│ 1. DEVELOP:                                                 │
│    if (featureFlags.isEnabled('new-checkout')) {           │
│      return newCheckout();                                 │
│    }                                                        │
│    return oldCheckout();                                   │
│                                                             │
│ 2. DEPLOY (flag off):                                       │
│    Code goes to production, feature hidden                  │
│                                                             │
│ 3. ROLLOUT:                                                 │
│    • Enable for internal users                              │
│    • Enable for beta users (10%)                            │
│    • Enable for all users (100%)                            │
│                                                             │
│ 4. CLEANUP:                                                 │
│    Remove flag and old code after stable                    │
│                                                             │
│ Track flag status in GitScrum:                              │
│ • Link feature tasks to flags                               │
│ • Track rollout progress                                    │
│ • Document cleanup tasks                                    │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

GitScrum Integration

Pipeline Status Visibility

GITSCRUM CI/CD DASHBOARD:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ RECENT DEPLOYMENTS                                          │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                             │
│ ✅ v2.4.1 → Production    2 min ago    [View Release]      │
│    └── Tasks: #234, #256, #267                             │
│                                                             │
│ ✅ v2.4.1 → Staging       45 min ago   [View Release]      │
│    └── All tests passed (234/234)                          │
│                                                             │
│ ❌ v2.4.0 → Staging       2 hrs ago    [View Logs]         │
│    └── Integration tests failed                            │
│                                                             │
│ PIPELINE HEALTH:                                            │
│ Today: 12 builds, 10 passed (83%)                          │
│ Avg build time: 8m 32s                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Automated Task Updates

CI/CD → GITSCRUM AUTOMATION:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PIPELINE EVENT          │ GITSCRUM ACTION                   │
├─────────────────────────┼───────────────────────────────────┤
│ PR opened               │ Create/link task if needed        │
│ Build started           │ Update task to "Building"         │
│ Tests passed            │ Add "tests-passing" label         │
│ Tests failed            │ Add "tests-failing" label         │
│ Deployed to staging     │ Update task to "In Staging"       │
│ Deployed to production  │ Update task to "Released"         │
│ Deployment failed       │ Alert team, add blocker           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘