Production-ready GitHub Actions workflow patterns for testing, building, and deploying applications.
Purpose
Create efficient, secure GitHub Actions workflows for continuous integration and deployment across various tech stacks.
Use this skill when
- -Automate testing and deployment
- -Build Docker images and push to registries
- -Deploy to Kubernetes clusters
- -Run security scans
- -Implement matrix builds for multiple environments
Common Workflow Patterns
Pattern 1: Test Workflow
name: Test
on:
push:
branches: [ main, develop ]
pull_request:
branches: [ main ]
jobs:
test:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
strategy:
matrix:
node-version: [18.x, 20.x]
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
cache: 'npm'
- name: Install dependencies
run: npm ci
- name: Run linter
run: npm run lint
- name: Run tests
run: npm test
- name: Upload coverage
uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3
with:
files: ./coverage/lcov.infoReference: See assets/test-workflow.yml
Pattern 2: Build and Push Docker Image
name: Build and Push
on:
push:
branches: [ main ]
tags: [ 'v*' ]
env:
REGISTRY: ghcr.io
IMAGE_NAME: ${{ github.repository }}
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
permissions:
contents: read
packages: write
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Log in to Container Registry
uses: docker/login-action@v3
with:
registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
username: ${{ github.actor }}
password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
- name: Extract metadata
id: meta
uses: docker/metadata-action@v5
with:
images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
tags: |
type=ref,event=branch
type=ref,event=pr
type=semver,pattern={{version}}
type=semver,pattern={{major}}.{{minor}}
- name: Build and push
uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
with:
context: .
push: true
tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
cache-from: type=gha
cache-to: type=gha,mode=maxReference: See assets/deploy-workflow.yml
Pattern 3: Deploy to Kubernetes
name: Deploy to Kubernetes
on:
push:
branches: [ main ]
jobs:
deploy:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Configure AWS credentials
uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
with:
aws-access-key-id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
aws-secret-access-key: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
aws-region: us-west-2
- name: Update kubeconfig
run: |
aws eks update-kubeconfig --name production-cluster --region us-west-2
- name: Deploy to Kubernetes
run: |
kubectl apply -f k8s/
kubectl rollout status deployment/my-app -n production
kubectl get services -n production
- name: Verify deployment
run: |
kubectl get pods -n production
kubectl describe deployment my-app -n productionPattern 4: Matrix Build
name: Matrix Build
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
strategy:
matrix:
os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
python-version: ['3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12']
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Set up Python
uses: actions/setup-python@v5
with:
python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
- name: Install dependencies
run: |
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
pip install -r requirements.txt
- name: Run tests
run: pytestReference: See assets/matrix-build.yml
Workflow Best Practices
1. Use specific action versions (@v4, not @latest)
2. Cache dependencies to speed up builds
3. Use secrets for sensitive data
4. Implement status checks on PRs
5. Use matrix builds for multi-version testing
6. Set appropriate permissions
7. Use reusable workflows for common patterns
8. Implement approval gates for production
9. Add notification steps for failures
10. Use self-hosted runners for sensitive workloads
Reusable Workflows
# .github/workflows/reusable-test.yml
name: Reusable Test Workflow
on:
workflow_call:
inputs:
node-version:
required: true
type: string
secrets:
NPM_TOKEN:
required: true
jobs:
test:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: ${{ inputs.node-version }}
- run: npm ci
- run: npm testUse reusable workflow:
jobs:
call-test:
uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-test.yml
with:
node-version: '20.x'
secrets:
NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}Security Scanning
name: Security Scan
on:
push:
branches: [ main ]
pull_request:
branches: [ main ]
jobs:
security:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
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'
- name: Upload Trivy results to GitHub Security
uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v2
with:
sarif_file: 'trivy-results.sarif'
- name: Run Snyk Security Scan
uses: snyk/actions/node@master
env:
SNYK_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SNYK_TOKEN }}Deployment with Approvals
name: Deploy to Production
on:
push:
tags: [ 'v*' ]
jobs:
deploy:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
environment:
name: production
url: https://app.example.com
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Deploy application
run: |
echo "Deploying to production..."
# Deployment commands here
- name: Notify Slack
if: success()
uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1
with:
webhook-url: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
payload: |
{
"text": "Deployment to production completed successfully!"
}Reference Files
- -
assets/test-workflow.yml - Testing workflow template - -
assets/deploy-workflow.yml - Deployment workflow template - -
assets/matrix-build.yml - Matrix build template - -
references/common-workflows.md - Common workflow patterns
Related Skills
- -
gitlab-ci-patterns - For GitLab CI workflows - -
deployment-pipeline-design - For pipeline architecture - -
secrets-management - For secrets handling