Pipeline Stage - CI/CD Glossary Definition
A pipeline stage groups related CI/CD jobs into a phase (build, test, deploy) that runs to completion before the next stage starts.
A pipeline stage is a named phase of a CI/CD pipeline (such as build, test, or deploy) that groups related jobs and must complete before the next stage begins.
Stages give a pipeline a clear shape. Work inside a stage can run in parallel, but stages themselves are ordered, so a failed test stage stops the deploy stage from ever running.
How stages differ from jobs
A stage is a logical grouping; jobs are the units of work inside it. In GitHub Actions there is no stage keyword, so teams model stages with job needs dependencies that force ordering.
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