infisical-ci-integration

name	infisical-ci-integration
description	This skill activates when configuring CI/CD pipelines, writing GitHub Actions workflows, GitLab CI configs, Dockerfiles, Kubernetes manifests, or serverless deployment configs that need secret injection. It provides patterns for integrating Infisical into build and deployment pipelines.

Infisical CI/CD Integration

Patterns for integrating Infisical secret injection into CI/CD pipelines and deployment targets.

GitHub Actions

Standard Pattern

- name: Install Infisical CLI
  run: |
    curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/infisical/infisical-cli/setup.deb.sh' | sudo -E bash
    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y infisical

- name: Authenticate
  run: |
    infisical login --method=universal-auth \
      --client-id=${{ secrets.INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_ID }} \
      --client-secret=${{ secrets.INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_SECRET }}
  env:
    INFISICAL_DISABLE_UPDATE_CHECK: "true"

- name: Run with secrets
  run: infisical run --env=production -- npm run build

Multi-Environment Deploy

jobs:
  deploy-staging:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      # ... install + auth steps ...
      - run: infisical run --env=staging -- npm run deploy

  deploy-production:
    needs: deploy-staging
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      # ... install + auth steps ...
      - run: infisical run --env=production -- npm run deploy

Export as Environment Variables

When tools need env vars directly (not via infisical run):

- name: Export secrets
  run: |
    infisical export --env=production --format=dotenv >> $GITHUB_ENV

GitLab CI

Standard Pattern

variables:
  INFISICAL_DISABLE_UPDATE_CHECK: "true"

.infisical-setup:
  before_script:
    - curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/infisical/infisical-cli/setup.deb.sh' | bash
    - apt-get update && apt-get install -y infisical
    - infisical login --method=universal-auth
        --client-id=$INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_ID
        --client-secret=$INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_SECRET

build:
  extends: .infisical-setup
  script:
    - infisical run --env=production -- npm run build

GitLab OIDC Integration

deploy:
  id_tokens:
    GITLAB_OIDC_TOKEN:
      aud: https://app.infisical.com
  script:
    - infisical login --method=oidc
        --machine-identity-id=$MACHINE_IDENTITY_ID
    - infisical run --env=production -- npm run deploy

Docker Patterns

Runtime Injection (Preferred)

# Install CLI in the image
FROM node:20-alpine
RUN apk add --no-cache curl bash && \
    curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/infisical/infisical-cli/setup.rpm.sh' | bash && \
    apk add infisical

COPY . .
RUN npm ci

# Inject at runtime via entrypoint
CMD ["infisical", "run", "--env=production", "--", "node", "server.js"]

Run with credentials:

docker run \
  -e INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_ID=... \
  -e INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_SECRET=... \
  -e INFISICAL_DISABLE_UPDATE_CHECK=true \
  myapp

Build-Time Export (When Needed)

FROM node:20-alpine AS builder
RUN apk add --no-cache curl bash && \
    curl -1sLf 'https://dl.cloudsmith.io/public/infisical/infisical-cli/setup.rpm.sh' | bash && \
    apk add infisical

ARG INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_ID
ARG INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_SECRET
ENV INFISICAL_DISABLE_UPDATE_CHECK=true

RUN infisical login --method=universal-auth \
    --client-id=$INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_ID \
    --client-secret=$INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_SECRET

COPY . .
RUN infisical run --env=production -- npm run build

# Clean image - no CLI, no secrets
FROM node:20-alpine
COPY --from=builder /app/dist ./dist
COPY --from=builder /app/node_modules ./node_modules
CMD ["node", "dist/index.js"]

Docker Compose

services:
  app:
    build: .
    environment:
      - INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_ID=${INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_ID}
      - INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_SECRET=${INFISICAL_UNIVERSAL_AUTH_CLIENT_SECRET}
      - INFISICAL_DISABLE_UPDATE_CHECK=true
    command: infisical run --env=production -- node server.js

Or inject before compose:

infisical run --env=dev -- docker compose up

Kubernetes Patterns

Native Kubernetes Auth

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: myapp
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: infisical-sa
      containers:
        - name: app
          image: myapp:latest
          env:
            - name: INFISICAL_MACHINE_IDENTITY_ID
              value: "<machine-identity-id>"
            - name: INFISICAL_DISABLE_UPDATE_CHECK
              value: "true"
          command: ["infisical", "run", "--method=kubernetes", "--env=production", "--", "node", "server.js"]

Init Container Pattern

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      initContainers:
        - name: fetch-secrets
          image: infisical/cli:latest
          command:
            - sh
            - -c
            - |
              infisical login --method=kubernetes \
                --machine-identity-id=$MACHINE_IDENTITY_ID
              infisical export --env=production > /secrets/.env
          env:
            - name: MACHINE_IDENTITY_ID
              value: "<machine-identity-id>"
          volumeMounts:
            - name: secrets
              mountPath: /secrets
      containers:
        - name: app
          image: myapp:latest
          command: ["sh", "-c", "source /secrets/.env && node server.js"]
          volumeMounts:
            - name: secrets
              mountPath: /secrets
              readOnly: true
      volumes:
        - name: secrets
          emptyDir:
            medium: Memory

Serverless Patterns

Vercel

# Export secrets to Vercel environment
infisical export --env=production --format=dotenv | while IFS='=' read -r key value; do
  vercel env add "$key" production <<< "$value"
done

AWS Lambda

# Update Lambda env vars
infisical export --env=production --format=json | \
  aws lambda update-function-configuration \
    --function-name myfunction \
    --environment "Variables=$(cat)"

Cloudflare Workers

# Set wrangler secrets
infisical export --env=production --format=dotenv | while IFS='=' read -r key value; do
  echo "$value" | wrangler secret put "$key"
done

Security Best Practices

1. Separate identities per environment - staging CI should NOT access production
2. Minimal scope - grant only the environments and folders needed
3. Set INFISICAL_DISABLE_UPDATE_CHECK=true in all CI environments
4. Never log secrets - use --silent flag when listing secrets in CI
5. Rotate credentials on a schedule (90 days recommended)
6. Use OIDC when available (GitLab, GitHub) to avoid long-lived credentials
7. Never bake secrets into Docker image layers
8. Use memory-backed volumes for Kubernetes secret files (emptyDir.medium: Memory)