explaingit

fastlane/ci

Analysis updated 2026-07-05 · repo last pushed 2018-09-13

2,068RubyAudience · developerComplexity · 4/5DormantSetup · hard

TLDR

A deprecated, self-hosted continuous integration system for mobile apps that automated building, testing, and releasing. It is no longer maintained, but the core fastlane toolset remains actively developed for mobile deployment automation.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it is
      Deprecated CI system
      Self-hosted automation
      For mobile apps
    Current status
      Stopped in 2018
      Source code available
      No longer maintained
    Fastlane toolset
      Still actively developed
      Automates screenshots
      Manages app publishing
    Use cases
      Historical reference
      Architecture learning
      Not for production
    Audience
      Mobile developers
      CI engineers
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Code map

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filefunction / class

What do people build with it?

USE CASE 1

Historical reference for building a self-hosted mobile CI system

USE CASE 2

Learning how fastlane automation integrates into CI pipelines

USE CASE 3

Exploring approaches to automating mobile app build and release workflows

What is it built with?

Ruby

How does it compare?

fastlane/cimikel/mailsds/scss-lint
Stars2,0683,6653,669
LanguageRubyRubyRuby
Last pushed2018-09-13
MaintenanceDormant
Setup difficultyhardeasyeasy
Complexity4/52/52/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you get it running?

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1day+

The project is deprecated and no longer maintained, so setting it up is not recommended or supported.

No license information provided in the explanation.

In plain English

fastlane.ci was an open-source project designed to give mobile app teams their own self-hosted continuous integration system. In plain terms, it was meant to automatically handle the repetitive work of building, testing, and preparing mobile apps for release, all running on infrastructure the team controlled rather than on a third-party cloud service. However, this project is deprecated as of September 2018. The team realized during development that it wasn't going to meet all the requirements they had set out to support. Rather than pushing forward with a solution they felt was lacking, they stopped active development to re-evaluate their entire approach. The existing source code remains publicly available for reference, but the project is no longer maintained, and no new issues or contributions are being accepted. The broader fastlane toolset, which this project was built to extend, is still actively developed and widely used by mobile developers. It helps automate tasks like taking screenshots, managing code signing certificates, and publishing apps to the App Store or Google Play. The team is now focusing their energy on improving the core fastlane product by adding support for the new App Store Connect API, improving secure storage for build secrets, and enhancing compatibility with cross-platform development environments. If you are looking for a continuous integration solution today, this specific repository will not serve that purpose. You can subscribe to the fastlane mailing list linked in the README to be notified if they launch a new continuous integration product in the future. In the meantime, the core fastlane tooling remains a popular choice for automating mobile app deployment tasks.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
How do I use the actively maintained fastlane tool to automate taking screenshots and publishing my mobile app to the App Store?
Prompt 2
What was the architecture and approach of the deprecated fastlane.ci project for self-hosted continuous integration?
Prompt 3
Help me set up a modern CI pipeline for my mobile app using the core fastlane toolset instead of the deprecated fastlane.ci.

Frequently asked questions

What is ci?

A deprecated, self-hosted continuous integration system for mobile apps that automated building, testing, and releasing. It is no longer maintained, but the core fastlane toolset remains actively developed for mobile deployment automation.

What language is ci written in?

Mainly Ruby. The stack also includes Ruby.

Is ci actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2018-09-13).

What license does ci use?

No license information provided in the explanation.

How hard is ci to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated hard, with roughly 1day+ to a first successful run.

Who is ci for?

Mainly developer.

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