GitHub Actions CI/CD
Follow this guide to set up automated testing and deployment pipelines:
1. Basic Workflow Structure
yaml
# .github/workflows/ci.yml
name: CI
on:
push:
branches: [main, develop]
pull_request:
branches: [main]
jobs:
test:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Setup Node.js
uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: '20'
cache: 'pnpm'
- name: Install dependencies
run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
- name: Run tests
run: pnpm test
- name: Build
run: pnpm build
2. Multi-Job Pipeline
yaml
name: Full CI/CD Pipeline
on:
push:
branches: [main]
pull_request:
jobs:
lint:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: '20'
cache: 'pnpm'
- run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
- run: pnpm lint
- run: pnpm type-check
test:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: '20'
cache: 'pnpm'
- run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
- run: pnpm test:coverage
- name: Upload coverage
uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3
with:
files: ./coverage/coverage-final.json
build:
needs: [lint, test]
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: '20'
cache: 'pnpm'
- run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
- run: pnpm build
- name: Upload build artifacts
uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
name: build
path: dist/
deploy:
needs: build
if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Download artifacts
uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
with:
name: build
- name: Deploy to production
run: |
# Deploy commands here
3. Environment Variables & Secrets
yaml
jobs:
deploy:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
env:
NODE_ENV: production
steps:
- name: Deploy
env:
API_KEY: ${{ secrets.API_KEY }}
DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }}
run: |
echo "Deploying with secure credentials"
Add secrets in GitHub: Repository Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → New repository secret
4. Matrix Strategy (Test Multiple Versions)
yaml
jobs:
test:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
strategy:
matrix:
node-version: [18, 20, 22]
os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest]
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
- run: npm test
5. Caching Dependencies
yaml
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Setup Node with cache
uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: '20'
cache: 'pnpm'
# Or manual caching
- name: Cache node_modules
uses: actions/cache@v3
with:
path: ~/.pnpm-store
key: ${{ runner.os }}-pnpm-${{ hashFiles('**/pnpm-lock.yaml') }}
restore-keys: |
${{ runner.os }}-pnpm-
6. Conditional Steps
yaml
steps:
- name: Run only on main branch
if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
run: echo "Deploying to production"
- name: Run only on PRs
if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
run: echo "Running PR checks"
- name: Run on success
if: success()
run: echo "Previous steps succeeded"
- name: Run on failure
if: failure()
run: echo "Previous steps failed"
7. Deploy to Vercel
yaml
name: Deploy to Vercel
on:
push:
branches: [main]
jobs:
deploy:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Deploy to Vercel
uses: amondnet/vercel-action@v25
with:
vercel-token: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }}
vercel-org-id: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_ORG_ID }}
vercel-project-id: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_PROJECT_ID }}
vercel-args: '--prod'
8. Docker Build & Push
yaml
name: Docker Build
on:
push:
branches: [main]
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Login to Docker Hub
uses: docker/login-action@v3
with:
username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}
- name: Build and push
uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
with:
context: .
push: true
tags: user/app:latest
cache-from: type=gha
cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
9. E2E Tests with Playwright
yaml
jobs:
e2e:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: '20'
- name: Install dependencies
run: pnpm install
- name: Install Playwright
run: pnpm exec playwright install --with-deps
- name: Run E2E tests
run: pnpm test:e2e
- name: Upload test results
if: failure()
uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
name: playwright-report
path: playwright-report/
10. Scheduled Workflows (Cron)
yaml
name: Nightly Build
on:
schedule:
- cron: '0 2 * * *' # Every day at 2 AM UTC
workflow_dispatch: # Manual trigger
jobs:
nightly:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- run: pnpm install
- run: pnpm test
11. Reusable Workflows
yaml
# .github/workflows/reusable-build.yml
name: Reusable Build
on:
workflow_call:
inputs:
node-version:
required: true
type: string
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: ${{ inputs.node-version }}
- run: pnpm build
# Use it:
# .github/workflows/main.yml
jobs:
build:
uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-build.yml
with:
node-version: '20'
12. Status Badges
Add to README.md:
markdown
13. Best Practices
- •✅ Use specific action versions (@v4, not @latest)
- •✅ Cache dependencies for faster builds
- •✅ Fail fast: Run quick checks (lint) before slow ones (tests)
- •✅ Use matrix strategy for multi-version testing
- •✅ Store secrets in GitHub Secrets
- •✅ Use workflow_dispatch for manual triggers
- •✅ Upload artifacts for failed builds (test reports, screenshots)
- •✅ Use concurrency to cancel old runs
- •❌ Don't commit secrets
- •❌ Don't use
if: always()without good reason
14. Debugging Workflows
yaml
- name: Debug
run: |
echo "Event: ${{ github.event_name }}"
echo "Ref: ${{ github.ref }}"
echo "SHA: ${{ github.sha }}"
env
Enable debug logging:
Repository Settings → Secrets → Add: ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG = true