Overview
What this challenge is about.
Build PR-Based Environment Promotion for an HVAC SaaS. Intermediate challenge in code. Writing production code that solves real engineering problems, earn a ...
The Brief
What you'll do, and what you'll demonstrate.
Replace manual, hand-edited production image promotions with an automated pull-request flow that bumps image tags after staging passes, enforces platform-team approval, and blocks deploys during freeze windows.
This is not a coding exercise. It is the work a software engineer does between a Jira ticket and a merged PR. That distinction matters to every hiring manager who has seen candidates solve LeetCode problems and none who have shipped production code under real constraints.
When you finish, you will have something most graduates do not: a real-world deliverable, verified by Ewance, that you can show to a hiring manager and say "I did this. Here is the proof."
Earning criteria — what you'll demonstrate
- Configure Flux image automation with semver policies to bump container image tags automatically
- Design a promotion pull-request flow triggered by a green staging signal
- Enforce approval policy with CODEOWNERS and GitHub branch protection
- Implement deployment freeze windows as code rather than as documentation
- Document a promotion pipeline so a new engineer can operate it unaided
Program Fit
Where this fits in your program.
Sharpens the same skills your degree expects you to demonstrate.
Aligned coursework coming soon.
Skills
Skills you'll demonstrate.
Each one shows up on your verified credential.
- Flux
Apply flux to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Image Automation
Apply image automation to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Github Actions
Apply github actions to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Branch Protection
Apply branch protection to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Promotion Workflow
Apply promotion workflow to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
- Gitops
Apply gitops to solve real industry problems and demonstrate production-level capability.
Careers
Career paths this challenge builds toward
Completing this challenge demonstrates skills that transfer directly to these roles:
Platform Engineer
This challenge mirrors core platform work: building self-service, auditable release paths so product teams ship safely without manual gatekeeping. You leave able to stand up GitOps promotion pipelines that scale across services and environments.
This challenge sharpens
- flux
- gitops
- promotion-workflow
DevOps Engineer
You practice the day-to-day craft of a DevOps role: automating image bumps, wiring CI-driven pull requests, and codifying release policy. These are the exact skills hiring teams probe for when they ask how you replace manual deploys.
This challenge sharpens
- image-automation
- github-actions
- branch-protection
Release Engineer
Designing approval gates and freeze windows is the heart of release engineering. This challenge builds your ability to encode promotion and approval rules as enforceable tooling rather than convention, the differentiator for release-focused roles.
This challenge sharpens
- promotion-workflow
- branch-protection
- github-actions