Every time someone submits a change, an inspector automatically runs the whole rulebook from the top, and only releases it to everyone once it passes.
2
What it was like without it
BEFORE
Change it, glance over it yourself, and release it if it looks fine
People get tired, forget, and think "I only changed one word, no need to check". Broken things went straight into users' hands.
NOW
Submit a change and the inspector starts checking automatically, blocking anything that fails
It doesn't tire, slack off, or do favors. Every time it runs the same few hundred checks and tells you which one you got stuck on.
Put simply: like the automatic proofreading at a print shop before you submit a file. Until the typos are fixed, the machine won't let you place the order.
3
How does it work?
1. SubmitSomeone (these days often an AI assistant) finishes a change and submits it to an online storage place
2. Call the inspectorThe storage place automatically notifies a "worker" whose only job is checking to take it on
3. Check it allRuns the few hundred pre-written checks one by one, skipping none
4. Red or green lightGreen means it goes live automatically. Red stops it and says which check failed.
4
Where does the inspector live?
RENTED
Call a temporary one from outside each time
Billed by the minute. Each one shows up empty-handed, sets up tools from scratch, is far away, and queues slowly.
YOUR OWN
Have one live on your own computer
Tools are always at hand, it starts quickly, and there is no per-minute fee. The price: your computer has to stay on.
On the big computer at our place, two such inspectors live right now, each looking after one project.
5
Why make it "clock in on boot"?
Before, "someone wakes it up in the morning". Now, "it sets its own alarm".
An inspector woken by hand vanishes when the computer restarts, and nobody knows. A person would notice "why is nothing happening after I submitted?" An AI assistant won't. It just waits, or works around it.
Once it is set up to "clock in on boot", a power cut, a restart, or the inspector tripping over itself all end the same way: it gets back up and carries on.
6
Just remember two words
CIThe whole "check automatically as soon as it is submitted" system above. The full name means "Continuous Integration": everyone submits any time, and it gets checked and merged any time.
runnerThe worker who does the checking. You can rent one from outside or have one live on your own computer. One living on your own computer is called "self-hosted".
7
Two things it can't do
It only checks the rules you wrote down. It knows nothing else.Passing every check only means "no known rule was broken", not that the thing definitely works well. So every mistake that slips through should become a new check, and next time it will be caught.
It holds your house keys and can't spot a "bad part"An inspector living in your house can enter every room. If a part someone else sabotaged is mixed into what is submitted, it will run it for you anyway. So only let your own people submit things.
However fast an AI assistant makes changes, it has to pass this gate before going live.
You don't have to understand every check. Just glance: green, use it with confidence. Red, ask where it got stuck.
