Postsubmit

Postsubmit is a term used in software development to describe the set of actions that run after changes have been submitted to a source repository. It is used in CI/CD pipelines to perform validation, integration, and deployment steps that should occur once a patch or commit has been accepted and pushed to the mainline or a release branch. Postsubmit contrasts with pre-submit checks, which run before changes are submitted or integrated.

Triggering and scope: Postsubmit jobs are typically triggered by a push to a target branch or by the completion of a submission workflow. They may run on every push or only on certain branches, tags, or conditions. In many systems, postsubmit runs occur after the change has passed local or per-change validation and is on the central branch.

Common tasks: Build and compile, run unit and integration tests, perform end-to-end tests, static analysis, publish artifacts, build and push container images, deploy to staging environments, run post-deployment checks, and notify teams about results or status.

Systems and configuration: Postsubmit workflows are defined in external CI/CD systems or in repository configuration files. They may be organized alongside pre-submit definitions or within a project's continuous deployment configuration. In some ecosystems, postsubmit is a named category of jobs in a pipeline, used by systems such as Prow or Gerrit-based workflows.

Security and best practices: Postsubmit tasks should run in isolated environments with appropriate credentials, be idempotent where possible, and provide clear, timely reporting to developers and stakeholders.