github-actions-setup

GitHub Actions CI/CD Setup

Complete guide for implementing production-ready GitHub Actions workflows with comprehensive testing and deployment automation.

When to Use This Skill

Invoke this skill when:

• Setting up CI/CD for a new project
• Creating GitHub Actions workflows
• Implementing test automation in CI
• Optimizing CI performance (speed, cost)
• Adding deployment pipelines
• Debugging CI failures
• Implementing matrix testing
• Setting up secrets and environment variables

Workflow Design Philosophy

Fast Feedback First

Priority order for jobs:

1. Lint/Format (30s-1min) - Catch style issues immediately
2. Type Check (1-2min) - Catch type errors before testing
3. Unit Tests (1-3min) - Quick validation if used
4. Integration Tests (3-10min) - Core validation
5. E2E Tests (5-20min) - Full system validation
6. Build (2-10min) - Compilation/bundling
7. Deploy (1-5min) - Only after all tests pass

Why this order?

• Fail fast on cheap checks
• Expensive tests run only if cheap ones pass
• Developers get quick feedback
• CI resources used efficiently

Comprehensive Workflow Template

.github/workflows/ci.yml

name: CI Pipeline

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, develop]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main, develop]
  workflow_dispatch:  # Manual trigger

# Cancel in-progress runs for same PR/branch
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

env:
  NODE_VERSION: '18'
  GO_VERSION: '1.21'
  PYTHON_VERSION: '3.11'

jobs:
  # ============================================
  # Phase 1: Fast Checks (Fail Fast)
  # ============================================

  lint:
    name: Lint and Format
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 5

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run ESLint
        run: npm run lint

      - name: Check formatting
        run: npm run format:check

  type-check:
    name: TypeScript Type Check
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 5

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Type check
        run: npm run type-check

  # ============================================
  # Phase 2: Unit Tests (if used)
  # ============================================

  unit-tests:
    name: Unit Tests
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 10
    needs: [lint, type-check]  # Only run if fast checks pass

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run unit tests
        run: npm run test:unit -- --coverage

      - name: Upload coverage
        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v4
        with:
          files: ./coverage/coverage-final.json
          flags: unit

  # ============================================
  # Phase 3: Integration Tests
  # ============================================

  integration-tests:
    name: Integration Tests
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 20
    needs: [lint, type-check]  # Run in parallel with unit tests

    # Real service dependencies
    services:
      postgres:
        image: postgres:15
        env:
          POSTGRES_USER: testuser
          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: testpass
          POSTGRES_DB: testdb
        options: >-
          --health-cmd pg_isready
          --health-interval 10s
          --health-timeout 5s
          --health-retries 5
        ports:
          - 5432:5432

      redis:
        image: redis:7-alpine
        options: >-
          --health-cmd "redis-cli ping"
          --health-interval 10s
          --health-timeout 5s
          --health-retries 5
        ports:
          - 6379:6379

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run database migrations
        run: npm run migrate:test
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgresql://testuser:testpass@localhost:5432/testdb

      - name: Seed test data
        run: npm run seed:test
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgresql://testuser:testpass@localhost:5432/testdb

      - name: Run integration tests
        run: npm run test:integration
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgresql://testuser:testpass@localhost:5432/testdb
          REDIS_URL: redis://localhost:6379
          NODE_ENV: test

      - name: Upload coverage
        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v4
        with:
          files: ./coverage/coverage-final.json
          flags: integration

  # ============================================
  # Phase 4: E2E Tests
  # ============================================

  e2e-tests:
    name: E2E Tests
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 30
    needs: [integration-tests]  # Only run if integration passes

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Start services with docker-compose
        run: docker-compose -f docker-compose.test.yml up -d

      - name: Wait for services to be healthy
        run: |
          timeout 60 bash -c 'until docker-compose -f docker-compose.test.yml ps | grep -q "healthy"; do sleep 2; done'

      - name: Run E2E tests
        run: npm run test:e2e
        env:
          BASE_URL: http://localhost:3000

      - name: Upload test artifacts
        if: failure()
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: e2e-screenshots
          path: tests/e2e/screenshots/
          retention-days: 7

      - name: Upload E2E videos
        if: failure()
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: e2e-videos
          path: tests/e2e/videos/
          retention-days: 7

      - name: Stop services
        if: always()
        run: docker-compose -f docker-compose.test.yml down -v

  # ============================================
  # Phase 5: Build
  # ============================================

  build:
    name: Build Application
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 15
    needs: [integration-tests]  # Build in parallel with E2E

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Build application
        run: npm run build

      - name: Upload build artifacts
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: build-artifacts
          path: dist/
          retention-days: 7

  # ============================================
  # Phase 6: Security Scanning
  # ============================================

  security-scan:
    name: Security Scan
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 10
    needs: [lint]

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Run Trivy vulnerability scanner
        uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@master
        with:
          scan-type: 'fs'
          scan-ref: '.'
          format: 'sarif'
          output: 'trivy-results.sarif'

      - name: Upload Trivy results to GitHub Security
        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v3
        with:
          sarif_file: 'trivy-results.sarif'

      - name: Run npm audit
        run: npm audit --audit-level=moderate

  # ============================================
  # Phase 7: Deploy (only on main branch)
  # ============================================

  deploy-staging:
    name: Deploy to Staging
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 10
    needs: [unit-tests, integration-tests, e2e-tests, build]
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/develop' && github.event_name == 'push'

    environment:
      name: staging
      url: https://staging.example.com

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Download build artifacts
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: build-artifacts
          path: dist/

      - name: Deploy to staging
        run: |
          # Your deployment script here
          ./scripts/deploy.sh staging
        env:
          DEPLOY_KEY: ${{ secrets.STAGING_DEPLOY_KEY }}
          DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.STAGING_DATABASE_URL }}

  deploy-production:
    name: Deploy to Production
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 15
    needs: [unit-tests, integration-tests, e2e-tests, build]
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && github.event_name == 'push'

    environment:
      name: production
      url: https://example.com

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Download build artifacts
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: build-artifacts
          path: dist/

      - name: Deploy to production
        run: |
          # Your deployment script here
          ./scripts/deploy.sh production
        env:
          DEPLOY_KEY: ${{ secrets.PRODUCTION_DEPLOY_KEY }}
          DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.PRODUCTION_DATABASE_URL }}

      - name: Run smoke tests
        run: npm run test:smoke
        env:
          BASE_URL: https://example.com