Google PCA Practice Question: Managing and Provisioning a Solution Infrastructure
A cloud architect is designing a CI/CD pipeline for a microservices application. Each service is deployed to Cloud Run. They want to use Cloud Build to automate building and deploying services only when changes occur in their respective directories. Which Cloud Build feature should they configure?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is confusing build configuration (what runs) with trigger configuration (when it runs) — candidates pick 'includedFiles in cloudbuild.yaml' because the name sounds right, but the filter belongs on the trigger.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Build triggers with included files filter
Build triggers with an included files filter is correct because Cloud Build triggers support an 'includedFiles' field that uses glob patterns to fire a build only when files in specified paths change. This lets a monorepo deploy each microservice independently — for example, a trigger scoped to 'services/payments/**' runs only when payment-service code is modified. This is the native, supported mechanism for path-based CI/CD in Cloud Build.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Build steps in cloudbuild.yaml
Why it's wrong here
Build steps define the commands Cloud Build executes, not which source changes start a build. They are tempting because every pipeline needs them, and cloudbuild.yaml steps would be correct once a trigger has already fired and the build must compile, test and deploy the service.
- ✓
Build triggers with included files filter
Why this is correct
Cloud Build triggers support an included files filter, so a trigger fires only when commits touch paths matching the specified glob patterns. This satisfies the stem's requirement to build and deploy each service only when its own directory changes, avoiding unnecessary builds.
- ✗
Cloud Build's 'includedFiles' option in the build configuration
Why it's wrong here
includedFiles filters which files a trigger watches, but it is a trigger-level setting, not a standalone build configuration option. It is tempting because it sounds like directory scoping, and would be correct when configuring an existing trigger to ignore unrelated paths.
- ✗
Artifact Registry triggers
Why it's wrong here
Artifact Registry triggers fire on image or package pushes, not on source commits, so directory-scoped changes never initiate a build. They are tempting because they automate downstream deployment, and would be correct where the pipeline must rebuild when a new container image is published.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Deployment Manager and Infrastructure as Code
Key term
Cloud Build
Cloud Build is a managed service that compiles source code into deployable artifacts, often used in continuous integration and continuous delivery pipelines.
Key term
Cloud Run
Cloud Run is a fully managed compute platform from Google Cloud that lets you run containerized applications in a serverless environment, automatically scaling from zero to thousands of requests.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Google Cloud exam blueprint
This PCA practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PCA exam.