Continuous Integration (CI)

Continuous integration (CI) is the practice of integrating changes frequently into a shared codebase and checking that the combined system remains workable. Automated builds and tests provide feedback on proposed or integrated changes. The exact triggers and required checks depend on the project.

A change can break its neighbor

Suppose one change renames an order field while another adds a feature calculation using the old name. Each edit can look reasonable in isolation. Building and testing them together can reveal the mismatch before release.

In a model application, useful checks may cover data parsing, feature transformations, tool interfaces, and a small set of behavioral regressions. Expensive training or extensive evaluation can run in separate stages with explicit dependencies; CI does not require training every model on every edit.

Green means the configured checks passed

A passing workflow says nothing about a behavior it did not test. A mocked order service may accept a request that the real interface rejects, and code tests may miss a misleading generated answer.

Keep checks relevant, investigate failures, and preserve the connection between the tested revision and its artifacts. Deployment eligibility still depends on the release requirements, not on the color of one build status.

Reference: GitHub: Understanding GitHub Actions.