This page explains howbuild types are determined and used in the CI/CD pipeline. Build types control how the system interprets incoming events, what kind of build or release it should execute, and what outputs are produced.

The system supports three main build types:

The pipeline resolves the build type in the following order:

If the pipeline is run withTESTS_ONLY=true,
✅ italways forcesbuildType=preview.

This ensures that test-only runs don’t accidentally trigger release or candidate pipelines.

If amanual override is provided via input (BUILD_TYPE_OVERRIDE),
✅ it is acceptedonly if it’s one of:

• preview
• release_candidate
• release

Invalid or unsupported types arenot allowed
because workflows are only dispatched byexplicit, validated choice
(e.g., through a manual dispatch form with dropdowns or options).
This guarantees no accidental or invalid values go in.

When no manual override is present, the pipeline inspects theGitHub event type andgit ref:

This ensures:

• Pull requestsalways run as previews.
• Tagged pushes (matching version or RC patterns)trigger releases.
• Regular branch pushesdefault to previews.

The systemrequires SemVer-compliant tags for releases and release candidates:

✅Release Tags:

• Must followvX.Y.Z (e.g.,v1.2.3)

✅Release Candidate Tags:

• Should ideally followvX.Y.Z-rc.N (e.g.,v1.2.3-rc.1)
• If you dispatch onlyv1.2.3 and setrelease_candidate as the build type,
  the systemcan automatically calculate the-rc.N suffix internally.

This allows flexible RC pipelines without requiring the exact RC tag to be inserted.

✅Preview Build (Pull Request)
A developer opens a pull request →buildType=preview

✅Preview Build (Manual Dispatch)
A developer manually dispatches the workflow
and explicitly selectspreview from thebuildType dropdown →buildType=preview

✅Release Candidate (Manual Dispatch)
A developer manually dispatches the workflow
withbuildType=release_candidate and base versionv2.0.0 → system calculatesv2.0.0-rc.N

✅Release Candidate (Tag Push)
A tag likev2.0.0-rc.3 is pushed →buildType=release_candidate

✅Final Release (Manual Dispatch)
A developer manually dispatches the workflow
withbuildType=release and versionv2.0.0 →buildType=release

✅Final Release (Tag Push)
A tag likev2.0.0 is pushed →buildType=release

If you’re unsure which build type your workflow will resolve to, check:

• The workflow logs → look for theResolved build type log line. In the dispatcher, you'll find it in thePrepare Metadata workflow.
• The value of$BUILD_TYPE or$buildType in later workflow steps.