What it is: CodePipeline has two pipeline types. V1 is the original model; V2 adds release-safety and trigger features and bills differently. The type is decided implicitly — putting any V2-only parameter (e.g., a trigger on Git tags) into the pipeline JSON makes it a V2 pipeline, with V2 pricing.
Exam-testable facts:
- Pricing: V1 = flat monthly fee per active pipeline (active = at least one execution that month). V2 = per action execution minute — only actions that actually run are billed.
- V2-only features: QUEUED and PARALLEL execution modes (V1 supports only SUPERSEDED); pipeline-level variables; triggers with filters on Git tags, pull requests, branches, and file paths; stage conditions; automatic retry of failed stages; rollback for pipeline stages; source revision overrides; the Commands action; entry conditions with a Skip result.
- Execution modes (how a pipeline handles overlapping executions): SUPERSEDED (default — a new execution replaces the in-flight one), QUEUED (executions line up and run in order), PARALLEL (executions run concurrently).
- No in-place upgrade: a V1 pipeline cannot be converted to V2. Create a new V2 pipeline, validate it, retire the V1.
- Trigger side effect: once a trigger configuration is specified, the default change detection for repository/branch commits is disabled.
Common traps:
- “Which execution modes require V2?” → QUEUED and PARALLEL.
- Any pipeline filtering on tags/branches/paths is V2 by definition — and billed per action minute.
- Cost angle: V1’s flat fee wins for pipelines that run constantly; V2 wins for rarely-run pipelines.
Sources: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/codepipeline/latest/userguide/pipeline-types-planning.html · https://docs.aws.amazon.com/codepipeline/latest/APIReference/API_PipelineDeclaration.html
Added during the 2026-10-03 review. All prose is original; facts verified against the AWS documentation links in Sources above.