GitHub Actions CI/CD setup

Here’s a practical GitHub Actions CI/CD setup you can use as a starting point. I’ll keep it generic, then I can tailor it if you tell me your stack (Node, Python, Java, Docker, etc.).

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1) Typical CI/CD flow

A simple setup usually has:

• CI on pull requests / pushes to main
  • install dependencies
  • run tests
  • run lint/format checks
  • build the app
• CD on merge to main or version tags
  • build artifact or Docker image
  • push to registry or deploy to server/cloud

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2) Example repo structure

.github/
  workflows/
    ci.yml
    cd.yml

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3) CI workflow example

This runs tests on every PR and push to main.

name: CI

on:
  pull_request:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  build-and-test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up runtime
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Lint
        run: npm run lint --if-present

      - name: Test
        run: npm test --if-present

      - name: Build
        run: npm run build --if-present

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4) CD workflow example

This builds and deploys when you push a version tag like v1.0.0.

name: CD

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - "v*.*.*"

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up runtime
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Build
        run: npm run build --if-present

      - name: Deploy
        run: echo "Add your deployment command here"

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5) If you deploy with Docker

Example workflow to build and push an image to GitHub Container Registry:

name: Docker Build and Push

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  docker:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    permissions:
      contents: read
      packages: write

    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Log in to GHCR
        uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          registry: ghcr.io
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Build and push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          tags: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}:latest

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6) Secrets and environment variables

Use GitHub Secrets for sensitive data:

• DEPLOY_KEY
• SSH_HOST
• API_TOKEN
• AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
• AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

Add them in:

Repo → Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions

Then reference them like:

${{ secrets.DEPLOY_KEY }}

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7) Good practices

• Use npm ci / equivalent locked installs in CI
• Separate CI and CD workflows
• Use protected branches for main
• Require CI to pass before merge
• Pin action versions (@v4, not @main)
• Use environments for production approvals
• Cache dependencies for faster builds
• Add concurrency to avoid duplicate deploys

Example:

concurrency:
  group: production
  cancel-in-progress: true

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8) Common deployment targets

Depending on your app, CD may deploy to:

• GitHub Pages
• AWS
• Azure
• GCP
• Vercel
• Netlify
• Docker host / VM
• Kubernetes

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If you want, I can generate a ready-to-use GitHub Actions workflow for your exact stack, for example:

• Node.js + Jest
• Python + pytest
• Java + Maven
• Docker + Kubernetes
• Deploy to AWS / Azure / Vercel / Netlify

Just tell me your tech stack and deployment target.