github-actions

GitHub Actions Skill

GitHub Actions runs workflows from .github/workflows/*.yml. This skill covers workflow authoring with a Drupal project as the working example: linting, static analysis, PHPUnit with a database service, and SSH/drush deployment.

Workflow anatomy

name: CI

on:
  pull_request:
  push:
    branches: [main]

permissions:
  contents: read            # least privilege — grant more only per job

concurrency:
  group: ci-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true  # newer push cancels the outdated run

jobs:
  phpcs:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
        with:
          php-version: '8.3'
          tools: composer:v2
      - uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: ~/.composer/cache
          key: composer-${{ hashFiles('composer.lock') }}
          restore-keys: composer-
      - run: composer install --no-progress
      - run: vendor/bin/phpcs --standard=Drupal,DrupalPractice web/modules/custom

Key defaults to always set:

• permissions: — the implicit token is powerful; start from contents: read and widen per job only when needed.
• concurrency: — avoids burning runner minutes on superseded pushes.

PHPUnit with a database service

  phpunit:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    services:
      db:
        image: mariadb:11.4
        env:
          MARIADB_DATABASE: drupal_test
          MARIADB_ROOT_PASSWORD: root
        ports: ['3306:3306']
        options: >-
          --health-cmd="healthcheck.sh --connect --innodb_initialized"
          --health-interval=10s --health-timeout=5s --health-retries=5
    env:
      SIMPLETEST_DB: mysql://root:[email protected]:3306/drupal_test
      SIMPLETEST_BASE_URL: http://localhost
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
        with:
          php-version: '8.3'
          extensions: gd, pdo_mysql
      - run: composer install --no-progress
      - run: vendor/bin/phpunit -c web/core/phpunit.xml.dist web/modules/custom