github-actions

name	github-actions
description	Use when creating GitHub Actions workflows for CI/CD - testing, building, publishing npm packages, and automating repository tasks

GitHub Actions

Quick Start

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

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
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build
      - run: npm test

Common Patterns

Matrix Testing

strategy:
  matrix:
    node-version: [18, 20, 22]
    os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]
runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}

npm Publishing

- run: npm publish
  env:
    NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}

Caching

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

Triggers

Event	Usage
push	On push to branches
pull_request	On PR open/update
release	On release publish
workflow_dispatch	Manual trigger
schedule	Cron schedule

Key Features

# Conditional steps
- run: npm publish
  if: github.event_name == 'release'

# Job dependencies
jobs:
  build:
    # ...
  deploy:
    needs: build

# Environment variables
env:
  CI: true
  NODE_ENV: test

# Secrets
${{ secrets.MY_SECRET }}

Tips

• Use npm ci (not npm install) for reproducible builds
• Cache node_modules with actions/setup-node cache option
• Use workflow_dispatch inputs for manual parameters
• Add concurrency to cancel in-progress runs on new pushes