Setting Up CI/CD with GitHub Actions

What You’ll Build

In this tutorial, you’ll create a GitHub Actions workflow that:

1. Runs tests on every pull request
2. Builds a Docker image on merge to main
3. Deploys to a staging environment

Step 1: Create the Workflow File

Create .github/workflows/ci.yml in your repository:

name: CI/CD Pipeline

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

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test

  build:
    needs: test
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          push: true
          tags: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}:latest

Step 2: Configure Secrets

Go to your repository settings and add the following secrets:

• REGISTRY_TOKEN - Your container registry token
• DEPLOY_KEY - SSH key for deployment

Step 3: Add a Deployment Step

Extend the workflow with a deployment job:

  deploy:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: staging
    steps:
      - name: Deploy to staging
        run: |
          echo "Deploying to staging..."

Summary

You now have a working CI/CD pipeline that automatically tests, builds, and deploys your application.