GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions Basics#

GitHub Actions uses YAML files in .github/workflows/ to define pipelines.

.github/
└── workflows/
    ├── ci.yml        # Run on PRs
    ├── deploy.yml    # Deploy on merge
    └── scheduled.yml # Cron jobs

Basic CI Workflow#

yaml

# .github/workflows/ci.yml
name: CI

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

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

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run linter
        run: npm run lint

      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test

      - name: Build
        run: npm run build

With Database (PostgreSQL)#

yaml

# .github/workflows/ci.yml
name: CI

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    services:
      postgres:
        image: postgres:16
        env:
          POSTGRES_USER: test
          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: test
          POSTGRES_DB: test_db
        ports:
          - 5432:5432
        options: >-
          --health-cmd pg_isready
          --health-interval 10s
          --health-timeout 5s
          --health-retries 5

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run migrations
        run: npx prisma migrate deploy
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgresql://test:test@localhost:5432/test_db

      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgresql://test:test@localhost:5432/test_db

With Redis and MongoDB#

yaml

services:
  redis:
    image: redis:7
    ports:
      - 6379:6379

  mongodb:
    image: mongo:7
    ports:
      - 27017:27017
    env:
      MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_USERNAME: test
      MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_PASSWORD: test

Matrix Testing#

Test across multiple Node.js versions:

yaml

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [18, 20, 22]

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}

      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test

Deploy to Production#

yaml

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
name: Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install and build
        run: |
          npm ci
          npm run build

      - name: Deploy to server
        uses: appleboy/ssh-action@v1
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.SSH_HOST }}
          username: ${{ secrets.SSH_USER }}
          key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          script: |
            cd /var/www/app
            git pull origin main
            npm ci --production
            npx prisma migrate deploy
            pm2 restart all

Deploy to Vercel#

yaml

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
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'

Deploy Docker Image#

yaml

# .github/workflows/docker.yml
name: Build and Push Docker

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.DOCKER_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}

      - name: Build and push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          tags: |
            username/app:latest
            username/app:${{ github.sha }}

Scheduled Jobs (Cron)#

yaml

# .github/workflows/scheduled.yml
name: Scheduled Tasks

on:
  schedule:
    # Every day at midnight UTC
    - cron: '0 0 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch: # Allow manual trigger

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

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Run cleanup script
        run: npm run cleanup
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }}

Caching#

Speed up workflows with caching:

yaml

- name: Cache node modules
  uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: ~/.npm
    key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
    restore-keys: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-node-

# Or use built-in cache in setup-node
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
  with:
    node-version: '20'
    cache: 'npm'  # Automatically caches

Environment Variables & Secrets#

yaml

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: production  # Use environment-specific secrets

    steps:
      - name: Deploy
        run: ./deploy.sh
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }}
          API_KEY: ${{ secrets.API_KEY }}
          NODE_ENV: production

Conditional Jobs#

yaml

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: npm test

  deploy:
    needs: test  # Wait for test job
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'  # Only on main
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: ./deploy.sh

PR Comments#

yaml

- name: Comment on PR
  if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
  uses: actions/github-script@v7
  with:
    script: |
      github.rest.issues.createComment({
        issue_number: context.issue.number,
        owner: context.repo.owner,
        repo: context.repo.repo,
        body: '✅ All tests passed!'
      })

Complete Production Workflow#

yaml

# .github/workflows/ci-cd.yml
name: CI/CD

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

env:
  NODE_VERSION: '20'

jobs:
  lint:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run lint

  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    services:
      postgres:
        image: postgres:16
        env:
          POSTGRES_USER: test
          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: test
          POSTGRES_DB: test
        ports:
          - 5432:5432
        options: --health-cmd pg_isready --health-interval 10s --health-timeout 5s --health-retries 5

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npx prisma migrate deploy
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgresql://test:test@localhost:5432/test
      - run: npm test
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgresql://test:test@localhost:5432/test

  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build

  deploy:
    needs: [lint, test, build]
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && github.event_name == 'push'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: production

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Deploy to production
        uses: appleboy/ssh-action@v1
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.SSH_HOST }}
          username: ${{ secrets.SSH_USER }}
          key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          script: |
            cd /var/www/app
            git pull
            npm ci --production
            npx prisma migrate deploy
            pm2 restart all

Key Takeaways#

Use services - Spin up databases for testing
Cache dependencies - Faster workflows
Use secrets - Never hardcode credentials
Conditional deploys - Only deploy from main
Matrix testing - Test multiple versions

GitHub Actions Basics#

GitHub Actions uses YAML files in .github/workflows/ to define pipelines.

.github/
└── workflows/
    ├── ci.yml        # Run on PRs
    ├── deploy.yml    # Deploy on merge
    └── scheduled.yml # Cron jobs

Basic CI Workflow#

yaml

# .github/workflows/ci.yml
name: CI

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

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

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run linter
        run: npm run lint

      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test

      - name: Build
        run: npm run build

With Database (PostgreSQL)#

yaml

# .github/workflows/ci.yml
name: CI

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    services:
      postgres:
        image: postgres:16
        env:
          POSTGRES_USER: test
          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: test
          POSTGRES_DB: test_db
        ports:
          - 5432:5432
        options: >-
          --health-cmd pg_isready
          --health-interval 10s
          --health-timeout 5s
          --health-retries 5

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run migrations
        run: npx prisma migrate deploy
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgresql://test:test@localhost:5432/test_db

      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgresql://test:test@localhost:5432/test_db

With Redis and MongoDB#

yaml

services:
  redis:
    image: redis:7
    ports:
      - 6379:6379

  mongodb:
    image: mongo:7
    ports:
      - 27017:27017
    env:
      MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_USERNAME: test
      MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_PASSWORD: test

Matrix Testing#

Test across multiple Node.js versions:

yaml

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [18, 20, 22]

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}

      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test

Deploy to Production#

yaml

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
name: Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install and build
        run: |
          npm ci
          npm run build

      - name: Deploy to server
        uses: appleboy/ssh-action@v1
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.SSH_HOST }}
          username: ${{ secrets.SSH_USER }}
          key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          script: |
            cd /var/www/app
            git pull origin main
            npm ci --production
            npx prisma migrate deploy
            pm2 restart all

Deploy to Vercel#

yaml

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
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'

Deploy Docker Image#

yaml

# .github/workflows/docker.yml
name: Build and Push Docker

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.DOCKER_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}

      - name: Build and push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          tags: |
            username/app:latest
            username/app:${{ github.sha }}

Scheduled Jobs (Cron)#

yaml

# .github/workflows/scheduled.yml
name: Scheduled Tasks

on:
  schedule:
    # Every day at midnight UTC
    - cron: '0 0 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch: # Allow manual trigger

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

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Run cleanup script
        run: npm run cleanup
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }}

Caching#

Speed up workflows with caching:

yaml

- name: Cache node modules
  uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: ~/.npm
    key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
    restore-keys: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-node-

# Or use built-in cache in setup-node
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
  with:
    node-version: '20'
    cache: 'npm'  # Automatically caches

Environment Variables & Secrets#

yaml

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: production  # Use environment-specific secrets

    steps:
      - name: Deploy
        run: ./deploy.sh
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }}
          API_KEY: ${{ secrets.API_KEY }}
          NODE_ENV: production

Conditional Jobs#

yaml

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: npm test

  deploy:
    needs: test  # Wait for test job
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'  # Only on main
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: ./deploy.sh

PR Comments#

yaml

- name: Comment on PR
  if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
  uses: actions/github-script@v7
  with:
    script: |
      github.rest.issues.createComment({
        issue_number: context.issue.number,
        owner: context.repo.owner,
        repo: context.repo.repo,
        body: '✅ All tests passed!'
      })

Complete Production Workflow#

yaml

# .github/workflows/ci-cd.yml
name: CI/CD

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

env:
  NODE_VERSION: '20'

jobs:
  lint:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run lint

  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    services:
      postgres:
        image: postgres:16
        env:
          POSTGRES_USER: test
          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: test
          POSTGRES_DB: test
        ports:
          - 5432:5432
        options: --health-cmd pg_isready --health-interval 10s --health-timeout 5s --health-retries 5

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npx prisma migrate deploy
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgresql://test:test@localhost:5432/test
      - run: npm test
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgresql://test:test@localhost:5432/test

  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build

  deploy:
    needs: [lint, test, build]
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && github.event_name == 'push'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: production

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Deploy to production
        uses: appleboy/ssh-action@v1
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.SSH_HOST }}
          username: ${{ secrets.SSH_USER }}
          key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          script: |
            cd /var/www/app
            git pull
            npm ci --production
            npx prisma migrate deploy
            pm2 restart all

Key Takeaways#

Use services - Spin up databases for testing
Cache dependencies - Faster workflows
Use secrets - Never hardcode credentials
Conditional deploys - Only deploy from main
Matrix testing - Test multiple versions

GitHub Actions Basics#

Basic CI Workflow#

With Database (PostgreSQL)#

With Redis and MongoDB#

Matrix Testing#

Deploy to Production#

Deploy to Vercel#

Deploy Docker Image#

Scheduled Jobs (Cron)#

Caching#

Environment Variables & Secrets#

Conditional Jobs#

PR Comments#

Complete Production Workflow#

Key Takeaways#

Ready to level up your skills?

GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions Basics#

Basic CI Workflow#

With Database (PostgreSQL)#

With Redis and MongoDB#

Matrix Testing#

Deploy to Production#

Deploy to Vercel#

Deploy Docker Image#

Scheduled Jobs (Cron)#

Caching#

Environment Variables & Secrets#

Conditional Jobs#

PR Comments#

Complete Production Workflow#

Key Takeaways#

Ready to level up your skills?