android-ci-setup

Android CI Setup

Multi-step workflow to create a production-grade Android CI pipeline with GitHub Actions, Gradle, and Fastlane.

When to Use

• New Android project needs CI from scratch
• Existing project has incomplete or fragile CI
• Adding static analysis, dependency review, or automated deployment

Pipeline Layers (in order)

Each layer gates the next. If a layer fails, the pipeline stops.

1. Setup — JDK, Gradle cache, dependency resolution
2. Lint — Android Lint (lintDebug)
3. Static Analysis — detekt + ktlint
4. Unit Tests — testDebugUnitTest
5. Build — assembleRelease or bundleRelease
6. Dependency Review — Block PRs introducing vulnerable deps
7. Deploy (release branches) — Fastlane to Play Console tracks

Steps

1. Choose Build Configuration

Tool	Recommendation
Gradle DSL	Kotlin DSL (build.gradle.kts)
Dependencies	Version Catalogs (gradle/libs.versions.toml)
Annotation Processing	KSP (not kapt, when supported)
JDK	17 (minimum for AGP 8+/9)

2. Create Workflow File

.github/workflows/android-ci.yml:

name: Android CI

on:
  pull_request:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  quality:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: actions/setup-java@v4
        with:
          distribution: temurin
          java-version: "17"
          cache: gradle

      - name: Lint
        run: ./gradlew lintDebug

      - name: Static analysis
        run: ./gradlew detekt ktlintCheck

      - name: Unit tests
        run: ./gradlew testDebugUnitTest

      - name: Build release
        run: ./gradlew assembleRelease

  dependency-review:
    if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/dependency-review-action@v4

3. Configure Android Lint

In app/build.gradle.kts:

android {
    lint {
        warningsAsErrors = true
        abortOnError = true
        checkDependencies = true
        baseline = file("lint-baseline.xml")
    }
}