Artifact

An artifact is a file or collection of files that is generated as a result of a build process. In software development, artifacts are typically the output of the build process and include compiled code, packaged binaries, container images, deployment manifests, and more. The key purpose of artifacts is to capture the current state of the codebase after changes have been made, tested, and validated through an automated build pipeline.

Some common examples of artifacts include:

• Compiled binary executable files from source code for applications, libraries, etc.

• Packaged distributables like JAR files, RPMs, container images that bundle code and dependencies.

• Metadata files like manifests, helm charts, Dockerfiles that specify how an application is configured, containerized and deployed.

• Reports from testing and code analysis tools that validate quality.

• Documentation generated from the source code.

In modern devops practices, artifacts flow between different stages in the CI/CD pipeline and serve as the official outputs that get deployed and promoted across environments. Teams rely on artifacts and the integrity of the build pipeline that produces them for safe, reliable and repeatable software delivery.