5.3Pipelines

A pipeline is a saved recipe: what to build, for which platform and configuration, with which engine, and what to do when it is done. Create one from a project's row under Builds → New pipeline.

The three kinds

Choosing check or editor switches the pipeline to build on every commit in Development, because that is what those two are for and there is no reason to make you set it twice.

The editor-binaries pipeline is the one teams underestimate. On a project with C++, every artist who pulls a code change either compiles it themselves or is blocked. Building the binaries once, centrally, removes an entire category of "it doesn't open for me".

Testing without writing a test harness

Four checks are switches on the pipeline rather than code you have to write:

• Data validation — runs Unreal's own asset validation across the project.
• Blueprint compile sweep — compiles every Blueprint and fails the build on any that no longer compile. This catches the classic case where a C++ signature change silently breaks a Blueprint nobody opened.
• Boot smoke test — launches the packaged game and fails if it does not reach a running state. Crude, and it catches an enormous proportion of real shipping failures.
• Automation tests — runs the named Unreal automation tests, if you have written any.

None of these require a test engineer. They are the difference between finding out on a build machine and finding out from a player.

What happens when it finishes

A package pipeline zips the artifact, uploads it, and publishes a downloadable release. It can also deploy straight to a Steam app, depot, and branch, and post the result to a Discord channel.

Build steps, durations, and the tailed log are visible in the dashboard while it runs, and progress is measured against how long that pipeline usually takes rather than against a guess.