Setting Up CI/CD Pipelines with GitHub Actions

Manual deployments are scary deployments. One wrong command and production is down. CI/CD removes the fear and adds consistency. Here's how to set it up properly.

What CI/CD Actually Means

CI (Continuous Integration)

• Run tests on every push
• Prevent broken code from merging

CD (Continuous Delivery/Deployment)

• Automate release process
• Deploy on merge to main

Your First Workflow

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

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

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Setup Node
        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

Multi-Stage Pipeline

name: CI/CD

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

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

  build:
    needs: test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: build
          path: dist/

  deploy:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    steps:
      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: build
          path: dist/
      # Deploy steps here

Environment Variables and Secrets

Store in GitHub: Settings → Secrets and Variables → Actions

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    env:
      NODE_ENV: production
    steps:
      - name: Deploy
        env:
          AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
          AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
        run: aws s3 sync dist/ s3://my-bucket

Deploy to Common Platforms

Vercel

deploy:
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - 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'

Docker + AWS ECR

deploy:
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    
    - name: Login to ECR
      uses: aws-actions/amazon-ecr-login@v2
    
    - name: Build and push
      run: |
        docker build -t myapp:${{ github.sha }} .
        docker tag myapp:${{ github.sha }} $ECR_REGISTRY/myapp:${{ github.sha }}
        docker push $ECR_REGISTRY/myapp:${{ github.sha }}

Caching for Speed

- uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: ~/.npm
    key: npm-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
    restore-keys: npm-

Branch Protection

After setting up CI:

1. Go to Settings → Branches → Add rule
2. Branch name pattern: main
3. Enable:
   • Require status checks to pass
   • Require branches to be up to date
   • Select your test job

Workflow Tips

1. Fail fast: Run linting before tests (faster feedback)
2. Matrix builds: Test across Node versions
3. Manual approval: Add environment protection for production
4. Reusable workflows: Extract common steps

# Matrix example
jobs:
  test:
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node: [18, 20]
        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}

CI/CD is an investment that pays off immediately. Start simple, iterate as needed.