Setting up a robust CI/CD pipeline should not take days. With GitHub Actions, you can go from code push to production deployment in minutes. Here is a complete, production-ready pipeline.

The Complete Pipeline

name: CI/CD Pipeline
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

env:
  NODE_VERSION: 20
  REGISTRY: ghcr.io
  IMAGE_NAME: ${{ github.repository }}

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: npm
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run lint
      - run: npm test -- --coverage
      - uses: codecov/codecov-action@v4

  build:
    needs: test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: read
      packages: write
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
      - uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          push: true
          tags: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:${{ github.sha }}
          cache-from: type=gha
          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max

  deploy:
    needs: build
    if: github.ref == "refs/heads/main"
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: production
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Deploy to production
        run: |
          kubectl set image deployment/app \
            app=${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:${{ github.sha }}
          kubectl rollout status deployment/app

Reusable Workflows

# .github/workflows/reusable-test.yml
on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      node-version:
        type: string
        default: "20"

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 && npm test

Matrix Strategy for Multi-Version Testing

jobs:
  test:
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node: [18, 20, 22]
        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest]
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node }}
      - run: npm ci && npm test

Caching for Speed

- uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: ~/.npm
    key: npm-${{ hashFiles("package-lock.json") }}
    restore-keys: npm-

Security Best Practices

• Pin action versions with SHA hashes
• Use environment protection rules
• Minimize permissions with permissions key
• Use OIDC for cloud deployments instead of long-lived secrets
• Enable Dependabot for action updates

Conclusion

This pipeline provides testing, building, and deployment in a single workflow. Customize it for your stack and ship with confidence.