Launchpad CI
Building a production-grade CI/CD platform from vision to 10,000+ deployments per month
Building a production-grade CI/CD platform from vision to 10,000+ deployments per month
Launchpad CI's founder had a clear vision: build the next generation of CI/CD platforms that could outpace market leaders like CircleCI and GitHub Actions. But vision alone isn't enough. Without an engineering team, the path from pitch deck to production platform seemed impossible.
The requirements were demanding:
The clock was ticking. With seed funding pending, Launchpad needed more than a prototype—they needed a ship-ready product in weeks, not months.
The platform was designed as a distributed system, with clear separation of concerns between orchestration, execution, and presentation layers.
YAML parser and execution engine written in Go, capable of processing complex dependency graphs and parallel job execution.
Docker-based container management system handling build isolation, resource allocation, and efficient cleanup after execution.
Redis-backed priority queue managing job distribution, retry logic, and load balancing across multiple runner instances.
OAuth-based authentication and GitHub App webhooks triggering builds on push, enabling native repository integration.
WebSocket connection layer streaming build output as it happens, with buffering and re-connection recovery.
React-based SPA with TypeScript, providing pipeline visualization, build history, performance analytics, and team management.
The architecture was built for scale from day one. PostgreSQL handled persistent state, Redis managed transient queues, and a stateless Go backend allowed horizontal scaling. The frontend communicated via REST APIs and WebSockets, enabling real-time updates without polling.
We started with the core pipeline engine—a YAML parser and execution engine that could handle complex workflows. This meant building a dependency resolver, a job scheduler, and an execution context. We leveraged existing Go libraries where possible but had to write custom logic for Launchpad's unique scheduling requirements.
Next came the build executor—Docker containers isolated for each build job. We implemented resource limits, automatic cleanup, and a pull-through registry cache to speed up builds. The system could spin up containers in milliseconds and handle concurrent builds across multiple machines.
We built the GitHub App integration using OAuth, enabling one-click installation and webhook-triggered builds. Parallel to this, we architected the job queue with Redis, implementing priority scheduling so builds from paying teams could jump the line when needed.
The React dashboard came together in the final weeks. We built components for pipeline visualization, build history, team settings, and usage analytics. WebSocket connections provided real-time log streaming—a critical feature for developer experience.
Twelve weeks from kickoff, Launchpad CI went live. The results exceeded expectations.
"We went from a pitch deck to a production platform in 12 weeks. NextDay's engineers think like founders—they didn't just write code, they shaped the product. They understood that every technical decision was a business decision. When we needed to pivot the pricing model, they rebuilt the billing system in days. That's not typical engineering. That's partnership."
Whether you're a founder with a vision or an established company tackling ambitious technical challenges, let's talk about what we can build together.
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