Let's be honest: everyone says they want continuous deployment.
"Ship all the time! Move fast! Break absolutely nothing!"
But the only reason any of that is even remotely possible is because of one unsung hero quietly doing the heavy lifting behind the scenes:
Ah, the deployment pipeline - aka your code's obstacle course / gauntlet / walk in the park… depending on how well it's behaving.
A good deployment pipeline automates your testing, integration, validation, and rollout so you don't have to pray to the demo gods every time you merge a pull request. Tools like Jenkins, GitHub Actions, and of course Cloud 66 workflows help make that magic possible.
If you're new to this fun game, then let's do a quick review: what exactly is a deployment pipeline?
Think of a deployment pipeline as a conveyor belt that takes your code from "fresh commit" to "live in production" — without relying on a developer to remember anything or press the wrong button.
It usually looks like this:
- Build — "Does your app even compile? …Are you sure?"
- Test — The stage where your code meets reality.
- Package — Bundle it up, ship it somewhere safe.
- Deploy — The moment of truth.
- Verify — Health checks, smoke tests, and light judgment.
Every stage is automated. Every stage is repeatable. Every stage catches mistakes — hopefully before your users do.
More background…why do deployment pipelines allow for continuous deployment?
Continuous Deployment sounds great: "Every commit goes straight to production!"
But also: 😬 "Every commit goes straight to production…"
This is why we trust pipelines. They give your code an automated interrogation before it gets anywhere near real users.
The truth is in the automated testing.
Automated tests are the pipeline's lie detectors. They don't care about your feelings. They don't care that it's Friday. They don't care that you "tested it locally."
Pipelines with Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or Cloud 66 run your unit tests, integration tests, and "why is this still failing?" tests — and block the release if something's off.
Good. We love boundaries. Ahem, we love Cloud 66, obviously.
Consistency
Pipelines build, test, and deploy in the same type of environment every single time.
- GitHub Actions runs everything in controlled runners.
- Jenkins lets you go wild with custom agents.
- Cloud 66 builds production-ready Docker images so you know exactly what's shipping.
Your code doesn't get special treatment — and that's exactly why it behaves.
Automated rollouts: time to act like a responsible adult.
Modern pipelines don't just deploy; they deploy with rules, such as:
- Blue/green deployments - did you see our recent blog post on Blue/Green?! No problem, if not, let me share a link so you don't miss out 🙂
- Rolling updates
- Canary releases
- Auto-rollbacks if things get spicy
Cloud 66 handles health-check-based rollouts and "nope-out-of-this-release" rollbacks.
GitHub Actions can trigger progressive delivery tools.
Jenkins can orchestrate basically anything with enough plugins (and patience).
The end goal? Ship constantly without sweating constantly.
Examples: pipelines in review
Jenkins
The workhorse. The OG. The "I can do anything… if you give me enough plugins and coffee."
It uses Jenkinsfile to define custom pipelines with build-test-deploy stages.
GitHub Actions
Your repo's built-in choreographer. YAML workflows fire off builds, tests, Docker image builds, and deployments — all triggered by commits or PRs. Bonus: It looks clean enough that your boss might actually understand it.
Cloud 66 Workflows
Purpose-built for shipping real apps without babysitting servers. Workflows can:
- Build Docker or native stacks
- Run test hooks
- Deploy to servers/Kubernetes
- Trigger post-deploy checks
- Auto-rollback bad releases
In short: pipelines without the homework.
Why you should care (especially if you made it this far in my post)
Deployment pipelines make it possible to:
- Ship faster
- Ship safer
- Ship without relying on "fingers crossed" as your QA strategy
- Sleep at night
- Stop treating deployments like a high-stakes poker game
Continuous deployment isn't magic — it's automation. Predictable, repeatable, borderline-boring automation. And that's why it works.
Alright, I'm done, you get it, but one final thought:
If you want continuous deployment, your deployment pipeline is the real MVP. It's your code's quality control, safety net, bodyguard, and hype team all in one.
Whether you're building with Jenkins, GitHub Actions, or Cloud 66 workflows, the mission is simple:
Automate the path to production so you can focus on building features — not policing releases.