Dev.to
6/18/2026

Add CI When the Project Can Boot, Not When It Feels Finished
Short summary
Add CI as soon as your project can boot and dependencies are managed, not when it feels complete. A minimal first pipeline (lint and test) forces the repository to prove it works on a clean runner, catching missing setup assumptions like undeclared environment variables. Making checks required on main prevents weak processes and ensures the repository, not developer judgment, owns code quality.
- •Add CI early when project can bootstrap, not when it feels finished
- •Start minimal with lint + test; deployment can come later
- •CI catches environment/dependency assumptions that pass locally but fail in clean environments
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