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Trunk-based Development Video Guide

The video explains the CI/CD workflow using Trunk-Based Development with GitLab and ArgoCD, covering how code changes move from commit to production through automated pipelines, versioning, and environment promotion.

Key Concepts

Commit Rules & Versioning

  • Developers must follow a strict commit message format (Conventional Commits).

  • The format determines semantic versioning:

    • feat: → minor, fix:/chore: → patch, BREAKING CHANGE: → major.

  • Incorrect commit messages are rejected by the server-side hook.

Pipeline Execution (GitLab)

  • Every merge to main triggers a Main pipeline ([DRAFT]).

  • The pipeline:

    • Calculates a new version based on commit messages
    • Builds a Docker image (built once per version)
    • Creates an annotated Git tag with that version
    • Auto-deploys to the DRAFT environment via ArgoCD (overlay directory dft/, container ENV=DFT)

Deployment Flow

  • From DRAFT → manual Deploy DEV button on the Tag pipeline.

  • A Deploy pipeline ([DEV]) is triggered via API:

    • Creates a GitLab Release with a generated changelog
    • Deploys the same Docker image to DEV

  • Result: DRAFT and DEV run identical versions

Environment Promotion (ArgoCD)

  • Promotion is linear and controlled:

    • DEV → TST → STG → PRD

  • Each promotion:

    • Copies image.tag values from one environment overlay to the next
    • Ensures consistency across environments

  • A Git tag and GitLab Release with changelog are created whenever the promotion source is DEV (typically DEV → TST)

Tracking & Visibility

  • GitLab shows:

    • Releases with changelogs
    • Which versions are deployed where (via deployment tracking)

  • ArgoCD shows:

    • Environment states and versions
    • Automatic sync after promotion

Rollback Mechanisms

Two rollback types are available:

Environment rollback (promotion)

  • Revert an environment to its pre-promotion state
  • Done via the rollback manual button on the promotion pipeline
  • Restores previous image.tag values from the saved state file

Version rollback (per environment)

  • Deploy an older tag to a specific environment (e.g., DEV)
  • Navigate to the Tag pipeline for the desired version and click Deploy DEV
  • Does not affect other environments

Hotfix Flow

  • From a Deploy pipeline, click Create Hotfix — a hotfix/{version} branch is created from the tag
  • Push fix commits to the hotfix branch — the hotfix branch pipeline builds a new Docker image
  • Click Apply Hotfix on the hotfix branch pipeline — the next patch tag (vX.Y.(Z+1)) is created with an annotated hotfix ... message
  • The tag push triggers the hotfix tag pipeline, which creates the GitLab Release and exposes Deploy TEST / STAGE / PROD manual buttons