---
title: "Groups and environments"
description: "Organise CIs so scan schedules, policies and benchmarks apply to the right ones."
product: "Guardian"
edition: "Essentials"
type: "workflow"
url: "https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/essentials/cis/groups-and-environments/"
---
# Groups and environments

Environments and CI groups decide which CIs a scan schedule, policy or benchmark applies to. Set them up once, and new CIs pick up the right settings as they arrive.

## Environments

Every CI belongs to one environment, such as Development, Staging or Production.

- **Assign a CI** from the CI's page, where you can also create a new environment.
- **Rename or delete** an environment, and set its scan schedule, from **Scan Configuration**.

## CI groups

A CI group is a set of CIs that belong together. A CI can be in more than one group.

Static group
:   You choose the members.

Dynamic group
:   Members are found by a query. Any CI that matches joins automatically, and the group page shows the query in readable form with a **Dynamic** badge.

Create, edit and delete groups from **Scan Configuration**. Open a group to see its members.

## What groups are used for

| You assign | To | So that |
|------------|----|---------|
| A scan schedule | A CI group or an environment | Its CIs are scanned at that cadence. See [Scan schedules](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/essentials/scans/schedules/index.md). |
| A policy | One or more CI groups | Every member is checked against it on each scan. See [Policies](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/essentials/compliance/policies/index.md). |
| A benchmark | One or more CI groups | Every member is assessed against it on the benchmark's schedule. See [Benchmarks](https://docs.cloudhouse.com/guardian/essentials/compliance/benchmarks/index.md). |

!!! note "Good to know"
    Because settings follow group membership, a CI that joins a dynamic group is scanned and assessed like the rest of the group without you doing anything.