CI/CD interview questions — Medium
395 medium-level CI/CD questions from our Automation Testing bank, each with the correct answer and an explanation of why it is correct.
What this covers
CI/CD appears throughout Automation Testing interviews. At medium level, interviewers are typically checking that you have used it in practice: what you configured, what broke, and how you knew it worked. Work through these, then explain your answer out loud; the second part is what interviews actually test.
20 example questions
1. "Machine or container that executes pipeline jobs" — in CI/CD, this describes which of the following?
- A. On: pull_request.
- B. Build artifact.
- C. Canary release.
- D. Runner / agent.correct
Why: runner / agent: Machine or container that executes pipeline jobs.
2. "Time-based trigger for nightly or periodic pipeline runs" — in CI/CD, this describes which of the following?
- A. Cron schedule trigger.correct
- B. Runner / agent.
- C. Build artifact.
- D. Jenkinsfile.
Why: cron schedule trigger: Time-based trigger for nightly or periodic pipeline runs.
3. "Gradually routing a small percentage of traffic to a new version" — in CI/CD, this describes which of the following?
- A. Canary release.correct
- B. Pipeline stage.
- C. Jenkinsfile.
- D. On: pull_request.
Why: canary release: Gradually routing a small percentage of traffic to a new version.
4. "Independent jobs executing simultaneously to shorten pipeline time" — in CI/CD, this describes which of the following?
- A. Canary release.
- B. Runner / agent.
- C. Parallel jobs.correct
- D. Build artifact.
Why: parallel jobs: Independent jobs executing simultaneously to shorten pipeline time.
5. "Threshold check failing the build when coverage is too low" — in CI/CD, this describes which of the following?
- A. Code coverage gate.correct
- B. Blue-green deployment.
- C. Canary release.
- D. Cron schedule trigger.
Why: code coverage gate: Threshold check failing the build when coverage is too low.
6. "Packaged output of a build stage consumed by later stages" — in CI/CD, this describes which of the following?
- A. Code coverage gate.
- B. Canary release.
- C. Build artifact.correct
- D. Blue-green deployment.
Why: build artifact: Packaged output of a build stage consumed by later stages.
7. "Groovy-based pipeline-as-code definition for Jenkins" — in CI/CD, this describes which of the following?
- A. Jenkinsfile.correct
- B. Canary release.
- C. Code coverage gate.
- D. Pipeline stage.
Why: Jenkinsfile: Groovy-based pipeline-as-code definition for Jenkins.
8. "A phase in the pipeline such as build, test, or deploy" — in CI/CD, this describes which of the following?
- A. On: pull_request.
- B. Parallel jobs.
- C. Code coverage gate.
- D. Pipeline stage.correct
Why: pipeline stage: A phase in the pipeline such as build, test, or deploy.
9. "Release strategy switching traffic between two identical environments" — in CI/CD, this describes which of the following?
- A. Runner / agent.
- B. Code coverage gate.
- C. Blue-green deployment.correct
- D. Parallel jobs.
Why: blue-green deployment: Release strategy switching traffic between two identical environments.
10. Identify the accurate statement about CI/CD:
- A. Caching dependencies in CI always slows the pipeline down.
- B. Secrets are best stored in plain text inside the workflow YAML for transparency.
- C. Test results and artifacts (reports, traces, screenshots) can be uploaded from CI for debugging.correct
- D. A matrix strategy can only vary one dimension, such as OS.
Why: Artifacts persist evidence of failures beyond the ephemeral runner.
11. Which of the following statements about CI/CD is TRUE?
- A. Secrets are best stored in plain text inside the workflow YAML for transparency.
- B. Test results and artifacts (reports, traces, screenshots) can be uploaded from CI for debugging.correct
- C. Continuous Deployment requires a manual approval before every production release.
- D. Caching dependencies in CI always slows the pipeline down.
Why: Artifacts persist evidence of failures beyond the ephemeral runner.
12. Which statement correctly describes CI/CD?
- A. Continuous Deployment requires a manual approval before every production release.
- B. A GitHub Actions matrix strategy runs a job across combinations like multiple browsers or OS versions.correct
- C. CI pipelines should run the full regression suite on every keystroke.
- D. Secrets are best stored in plain text inside the workflow YAML for transparency.
Why: Matrix builds fan out one job definition into many variants.
13. In CI/CD, which of the following is described as: "Threshold check failing the build when coverage is too low"?
- A. Code coverage gate.correct
- B. On: pull_request.
- C. Jenkinsfile.
- D. Blue-green deployment.
Why: code coverage gate: Threshold check failing the build when coverage is too low.
14. In CI/CD, which of the following is described as: "Groovy-based pipeline-as-code definition for Jenkins"?
- A. Build artifact.
- B. Blue-green deployment.
- C. On: pull_request.
- D. Jenkinsfile.correct
Why: Jenkinsfile: Groovy-based pipeline-as-code definition for Jenkins.
15. Which CI/CD concept matches this description: "GitHub Actions trigger running a workflow for PRs"?
- A. Blue-green deployment.
- B. Code coverage gate.
- C. On: pull_request.correct
- D. Parallel jobs.
Why: on: pull_request: GitHub Actions trigger running a workflow for PRs.
16. In CI/CD, which of the following is described as: "Gradually routing a small percentage of traffic to a new version"?
- A. Blue-green deployment.
- B. On: pull_request.
- C. Canary release.correct
- D. Build artifact.
Why: canary release: Gradually routing a small percentage of traffic to a new version.
17. In CI/CD, which of the following is described as: "Machine or container that executes pipeline jobs"?
- A. Build artifact.
- B. Blue-green deployment.
- C. Jenkinsfile.
- D. Runner / agent.correct
Why: runner / agent: Machine or container that executes pipeline jobs.
18. Which CI/CD concept matches this description: "A phase in the pipeline such as build, test, or deploy"?
- A. Runner / agent.
- B. Blue-green deployment.
- C. Pipeline stage.correct
- D. Parallel jobs.
Why: pipeline stage: A phase in the pipeline such as build, test, or deploy.
19. In CI/CD, which of the following is described as: "Release strategy switching traffic between two identical environments"?
- A. Cron schedule trigger.
- B. Runner / agent.
- C. Parallel jobs.
- D. Blue-green deployment.correct
Why: blue-green deployment: Release strategy switching traffic between two identical environments.
20. In CI/CD, which of the following is described as: "Packaged output of a build stage consumed by later stages"?
- A. Canary release.
- B. Build artifact.correct
- C. Pipeline stage.
- D. Blue-green deployment.
Why: build artifact: Packaged output of a build stage consumed by later stages.