> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.qovery.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Deployment Pipeline > Orchestrate service deployments with deployment stages The deployment pipeline basically defines the operations that shall be performed to properly deploy every service defined within your environment. ## Overview The deployment pipeline is composed of **Deployment Stages**. Each service within your environment belongs to exactly one deployment stage. Deployment stages are ordered by execution priority - a stage with a lower order is executed before a stage with a higher order. This allows you to control the deployment sequence and manage dependencies between services. Example Deployment Pipeline

## Pipeline Execution ### Build Phase During the build phase: * **Qovery CI** downloads the repositories and generates container images * **Maximum parallelism**: 7 builds can run simultaneously * **Build resources**: Each build uses 4 CPU and 4 GB memory by default * **Image storage**: Built images are pushed to the mirroring registry * **Pre-built images**: Applications deployed from external CI/CD can bypass this step by using pre-built images from container registries Auto-deploy Build Process

### Deployment Phase During the deployment phase: * **Qovery engine** manages deployment via Helm charts * **Maximum parallelism**: 7 deployments can run simultaneously * **Image retrieval**: Images are pulled from the mirroring registry * **Chart generation**: Custom Helm charts are generated unless you provide your own ## Default Pipeline Structure When you create a new environment, Qovery automatically creates four default deployment stages: Default Deployment Pipeline

All database services are deployed in this stage All job services (lifecycle jobs and cron jobs) are deployed in this stage All container image deployments are deployed in this stage All Git repository-based applications are deployed in this stage You can modify these stages or create custom stages through your environment configuration. ## Performance Optimization To optimize your deployment pipeline performance, consider the following strategies: ### Dockerfile Optimization Review and optimize your Dockerfile structure following [Docker best practices](https://docs.docker.com/develop/dev-best-practices/): * Use specific base image tags instead of `latest` * Order Dockerfile commands from least to most frequently changed * Leverage Docker layer caching * Use multi-stage builds to reduce image size * Copy dependency files separately to cache installations ### Maximize Parallelism When services have no dependencies between them, place them in the same deployment stage to deploy them in parallel. This can significantly reduce overall deployment time. ### Multi-Stage Build Caching If you have multiple applications that share the same base image or dependencies, deploy dependent applications to later stages. This allows Qovery to reuse already-built images and cache layers. ### Avoid Environment-Specific Docker ARGs Don't use environment-specific Docker ARG values in your Dockerfiles. This causes Qovery to rebuild images for each environment even when the code hasn't changed. Instead, use environment variables that are injected at runtime. ## Skipped Services You can exclude specific services from environment-level deployment actions by marking them as **skipped** in the deployment pipeline settings. ### How to Skip a Service In your environment's **Settings > Deployment Pipeline**, drag a service into the **Skipped** column. Skipped services appear visually separated from the regular deployment stages. ### Behavior * **Environment deployment actions** (deploy, stop, restart): Skipped services are **excluded** from the operation. They will not be built, deployed, stopped, or restarted when you trigger an environment-level action. * **Environment delete**: Skipped services are **still deleted** along with the rest of the environment. The skipped status does not prevent deletion. * **Service-level actions**: You can still deploy, stop, or restart a skipped service individually by triggering the action directly on that service. * **Clone and Preview Environments**: When you clone an environment or create a preview environment, the skipped status is **inherited** by the cloned services. Services that were skipped in the source environment will also be skipped in the new environment. ### Use Cases * **Temporarily disable a service** without removing it from the environment * **Speed up deployments** by excluding services that don't need frequent updates * **Reduce costs** by preventing unnecessary builds and deployments for stable services ## Managing Deployment Stages You can customize your deployment pipeline by creating, modifying, or removing deployment stages from your environment configuration section. ## Next Steps Learn how to control deployments Monitor your deployments with logs Configure deployment strategies Optimize deployments with image mirroring