Build CI/CD Pipeline

Design + impl production-grade CI/CD pipelines w/ GitHub Actions.

Use When

• Automated testing + deploy for new project
• Migrate from Jenkins, Travis CI, CircleCI → GitHub Actions
• Matrix builds across platforms or lang versions
• Build caching to speed CI/CD exec time
• Multi-stage pipelines w/ env-specific deploys
• Security scanning + code quality gates

In

• Required: Repo w/ code to test/build/deploy
• Required: GitHub Actions workflow dir (

  .github/workflows/

  )
• Optional: Secrets for deploy targets (AWS, Azure, Docker registries)
• Optional: Self-hosted runner config for specialized builds
• Optional: Branch protection rules + required status checks

Do

Step 1: Base Workflow Structure

Create

.github/workflows/ci.yml

w/ triggers + basic jobs.

name: CI Pipeline

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, develop]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main, develop]
  workflow_dispatch:  # Manual trigger

env:
  NODE_VERSION: '18'
  REGISTRY: ghcr.io
  IMAGE_NAME: ${{ github.repository }}

jobs:
  lint:
    name: Lint Code
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run ESLint
        run: npm run lint

      - name: Check formatting
        run: npm run format:check

→ Workflow file w/ proper YAML syntax, triggers configured, basic lint job defined.

If err: Validate YAML w/

yamllint .github/workflows/ci.yml

. Check indentation (spaces, not tabs). Verify action vers current via GitHub Marketplace.

Step 2: Matrix Build Strategy

Matrix builds → test across platforms, lang vers, configs.

  test:
    name: Test (${{ matrix.os }}, Node ${{ matrix.node }})
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    needs: lint
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false  # Continue testing other matrix combinations on failure
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest]
        node: ['16', '18', '20']
        exclude:
          - os: macos-latest
            node: '16'  # Skip old Node on macOS

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js ${{ matrix.node }}
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node }}
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run tests with coverage
        run: npm run test:coverage

      - name: Upload coverage to Codecov
        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3
        if: matrix.os == 'ubuntu-latest' && matrix.node == '18'
        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }}
          files: ./coverage/lcov.info
          fail_ci_if_error: true

→ Matrix generates 8 parallel jobs (3 OS × 3 Node vers - 1 exclusion). All tests pass across platforms. Coverage report uploads from single canonical job.

If err: Matrix syntax errs → verify indentation + array notation. Flaky tests → add retry via

uses: nick-invision/retry@v2

. Platform-specific fails → OS conditionals or expand exclusions.

Step 3: Dep Caching + Artifact Mgmt

Speed via intelligent caching + preserve build artifacts.

  build:
    name: Build Application
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: test
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Cache build output
        uses: actions/cache@v3
        with:
          path: |
            .next/cache
            dist/
            build/
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}-${{ hashFiles('**/*.ts', '**/*.tsx') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}-
            ${{ runner.os }}-build-

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Build application
        run: npm run build
        env:
          NODE_ENV: production

      - name: Upload build artifacts
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: dist-${{ github.sha }}
          path: |
            dist/
            build/
          retention-days: 7
          if-no-files-found: error

→ First run downloads deps (slow), subsequent runs restore from cache (fast). Artifacts upload w/ unique SHA-based naming.

If err: Cache misses often → verify key includes all relevant file hashes. Upload fails → check path exists + glob patterns match actual build out. Verify

retention-days

meets org policies.

Step 4: Security Scan + Quality Gates

Vulnerability scanning + code quality enforcement.

  security:
    name: Security Scan
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: lint
    permissions:
      security-events: write  # Required for uploading SARIF results
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Run Trivy vulnerability scanner
        uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@master
        with:
          scan-type: 'fs'
          scan-ref: '.'
          format: 'sarif'
          output: 'trivy-results.sarif'
          severity: 'CRITICAL,HIGH'

      - name: Upload Trivy results to GitHub Security
        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v2
        if: always()  # Upload even if scan finds vulnerabilities
        with:
          sarif_file: 'trivy-results.sarif'

      - name: Dependency audit
        run: npm audit --audit-level=high
        continue-on-error: true  # Don't fail build, but show warnings

      - name: Check for leaked secrets
        uses: trufflesecurity/trufflehog@main
        with:
          path: ./
          base: ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }}
          head: HEAD

→ Security scans complete, results upload to GitHub Security tab. Critical vulnerabilities block merge if branch protection configured. No secrets detected.

If err: False positives →

.trivyignore

w/ CVE IDs + justifications. Audit fails → review

npm audit fix

. Secret detection false positives → patterns to

.trufflehog.yml

exclude list.

Step 5: Env-Specific Deploys

Deploy stages w/ env protection rules + approval gates.

  deploy-staging:
    name: Deploy to Staging
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: [build, security]
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/develop'
    environment:
      name: staging
      url: https://staging.example.com
    steps:
      - name: Download build artifacts
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: dist-${{ github.sha }}
          path: ./dist

      - name: Configure AWS credentials
        uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
        with:
          role-to-assume: ${{ secrets.AWS_ROLE_STAGING }}
          aws-region: us-east-1

      - name: Deploy to S3
        run: |
          aws s3 sync ./dist s3://${{ secrets.S3_BUCKET_STAGING }} --delete
          aws cloudfront create-invalidation --distribution-id ${{ secrets.CF_DIST_STAGING }} --paths "/*"

  deploy-production:
    name: Deploy to Production
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: [build, security]
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    environment:
      name: production
      url: https://example.com
    steps:
      - name: Download build artifacts
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: dist-${{ github.sha }}
          path: ./dist

      - name: Configure AWS credentials
        uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
        with:
          role-to-assume: ${{ secrets.AWS_ROLE_PRODUCTION }}
          aws-region: us-east-1

      - name: Deploy to S3 with blue-green
        run: |
          # Deploy to new version
          aws s3 sync ./dist s3://${{ secrets.S3_BUCKET_PRODUCTION }}/releases/${{ github.sha }} --delete

          # Update symlink to new version
          aws s3 cp s3://${{ secrets.S3_BUCKET_PRODUCTION }}/releases/${{ github.sha }} s3://${{ secrets.S3_BUCKET_PRODUCTION }}/current --recursive

          # Invalidate CloudFront
          aws cloudfront create-invalidation --distribution-id ${{ secrets.CF_DIST_PRODUCTION }} --paths "/*"

      - name: Create GitHub Release
        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
        with:
          files: ./dist/**/*
          generate_release_notes: true

→ Staging deploys auto on develop. Prod requires manual approval (GitHub Env settings). CloudFront invalidation clears CDN cache. Release for tagged commits.

If err: AWS credential errs → verify OIDC trust relationship allows

role-to-assume

. S3 sync fails → check bucket policies + IAM perms. Env approval issues → verify protection rules in Settings > Environments.

Step 6: Notification + Monitoring

Integrate Slack, deploy tracking, perf monitoring.

  notify:
    name: Notify Results
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: [deploy-staging, deploy-production]
    if: always()  # Run even if previous jobs fail
    steps:
      - name: Check job status
        id: status
        run: |
          if [ "${{ needs.deploy-production.result }}" == "success" ]; then
            echo "status=success" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
            echo "color=#00FF00" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
          else
            echo "status=failure" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
            echo "color=#FF0000" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
          fi

      - name: Send Slack notification
        uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1.24.0
        with:
          payload: |
            {
              "text": "Deployment ${{ steps.status.outputs.status }}",
              "blocks": [
                {
                  "type": "header",
                  "text": {
                    "type": "plain_text",
                    "text": "🚀 Deployment Status: ${{ steps.status.outputs.status }}"
                  }
                },
                {
                  "type": "section",
                  "fields": [
                    {"type": "mrkdwn", "text": "*Repository:*\n${{ github.repository }}"},
                    {"type": "mrkdwn", "text": "*Branch:*\n${{ github.ref_name }}"},
                    {"type": "mrkdwn", "text": "*Commit:*\n${{ github.sha }}"},
                    {"type": "mrkdwn", "text": "*Actor:*\n${{ github.actor }}"}
                  ]
                },
                {
                  "type": "actions",
                  "elements": [
                    {
                      "type": "button",
                      "text": {"type": "plain_text", "text": "View Workflow"},
                      "url": "${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}"
                    }
                  ]
                }
              ]
            }
        env:
          SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL }}
          SLACK_WEBHOOK_TYPE: INCOMING_WEBHOOK

      - name: Record deployment in Datadog
        if: steps.status.outputs.status == 'success'
        run: |
          curl -X POST "https://api.datadoghq.com/api/v1/events" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            -H "DD-API-KEY: ${{ secrets.DD_API_KEY }}" \
            -d @- <<EOF
          {
            "title": "Deployment: ${{ github.repository }}",
            "text": "Deployed commit ${{ github.sha }} to production",
            "tags": ["env:production", "service:${{ github.event.repository.name }}"],
            "alert_type": "info"
          }
          EOF

→ Slack receives formatted notification w/ status, repo details, clickable workflow link. Datadog event logged for successful prod deploys w/ appropriate tags.

If err: Slack fails → verify webhook URL valid + workspace allows incoming. Test:

curl -X POST $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL -d '{"text":"test"}'

. Datadog fails → verify API key has event submission perms.

Check

• Workflow syntax validates w/

  yamllint

  or GitHub editor
• All jobs have explicit deps (

  needs:

  ) controlling exec order
• Matrix builds cover all target platforms + vers
• Caching reduces build time by >50% on subsequent runs
• Secrets in GitHub Secrets, never hardcoded
• Security scans upload results to GitHub Security tab
• Env protection rules require approval for prod deploys
• Failed deploys don't leave sys inconsistent
• Notifications reach appropriate channels (Slack, email, monitoring)
• Workflow completes in <10 min for typical changes

Traps

• Cache key too broad:

  ${{ runner.os }}-build-

  → false hits when deps change. Include

  hashFiles('**/package-lock.json')

  in key
• Artifact name collisions: Static names like

  dist

  → overwrites in concurrent builds. Include

  ${{ github.sha }}

  or

  ${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.node }}

• Secrets in logs: Avoid

  echo $SECRET

  . GitHub masks registered secrets, but derived values may leak. Use

  ::add-mask::

  for dynamic secrets
• Insufficient perms: Default

  GITHUB_TOKEN

  limited. Add explicit

  permissions:

  block for security events, packages, issues
• Missing if conditionals: Jobs run on all triggers unless guarded w/

  if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'

  . Prevent accidental prod deploys from PRs
• No rollback: Deploy fails → broken state. Impl blue-green or canary w/ auto rollback on health check fails
• Hardcoded values: Workflow has env-specific URLs, bucket names, API endpoints. Use env vars + GitHub Secrets
• No timeout limits: Jobs hang indefinitely on network or infinite loops. Add

  timeout-minutes: 15

  to all

→

• setup-github-actions-ci

  — initial GitHub Actions config for R pkgs + basic projects

• commit-changes

  — proper Git workflow integration w/ CI/CD triggers

• configure-git-repository

  — repo settings + branch protection rules

• setup-container-registry

  — Docker image builds in CI/CD

• implement-gitops-workflow

  — ArgoCD/Flux integration w/ CI/CD