GitHub Actions CI/CD for Next.js: Tests, Type Checking, and Auto-Deploy

A CI/CD pipeline that runs on every PR catches bugs before they reach production and makes deployment a non-event. Here's a complete GitHub Actions setup for a Next.js app.

What the Pipeline Does

1. On every PR: Lint, type check, run tests, build
2. On merge to main: Deploy to Vercel (or your host)
3. Notifications: Slack alert on failure

The Base Workflow

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

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  check:
    name: Type check and lint
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "20"
          cache: "npm"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Type check
        run: npm run type-check
        # package.json: "type-check": "tsc --noEmit"

      - name: Lint
        run: npm run lint
        # package.json: "lint": "eslint . --max-warnings 0"

  test:
    name: Tests
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    services:
      postgres:
        image: postgres:16
        env:
          POSTGRES_USER: test
          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: test
          POSTGRES_DB: test
        ports:
          - 5432:5432
        options: >-
          --health-cmd pg_isready
          --health-interval 10s
          --health-timeout 5s
          --health-retries 5

    env:
      DATABASE_URL: postgresql://test:test@localhost:5432/test
      NEXTAUTH_SECRET: test-secret-at-least-32-chars-long-here
      NEXTAUTH_URL: http://localhost:3000

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "20"
          cache: "npm"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Generate Prisma client
        run: npx prisma generate

      - name: Run migrations
        run: npx prisma migrate deploy

      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test -- --coverage

      - name: Upload coverage
        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v4
        if: always()
        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }}

  build:
    name: Build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: [check]

    env:
      # Dummy values for build -- real values are in Vercel
      DATABASE_URL: postgresql://localhost/build
      NEXTAUTH_SECRET: build-secret-placeholder-32-chars-ok
      NEXTAUTH_URL: http://localhost:3000
      ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: sk-ant-placeholder
      STRIPE_SECRET_KEY: sk_test_placeholder
      STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET: whsec_placeholder
      NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY: pk_test_placeholder
      NEXT_PUBLIC_APP_URL: http://localhost:3000

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "20"
          cache: "npm"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Build
        run: npm run build

Adding Secrets

Go to your GitHub repo: Settings -> Secrets and variables -> Actions.

Add:

• DATABASE_URL -- your test database URL (can use Neon free tier)
• Any other secrets your tests need

For build-only steps, use placeholder values (the build doesn't connect to real services).

Deploy on Merge

Vercel deploys automatically from GitHub by default. For other hosts:

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
name: Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    name: Deploy to production
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: [check, test, build]  # Reference jobs from CI workflow if using reusable workflows
    # or just re-run CI steps here

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Deploy to Railway
        run: railway up
        env:
          RAILWAY_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.RAILWAY_TOKEN }}

Fail Fast on Security Issues

Add a dependency audit step:

  security:
    name: Security audit
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "20"
          cache: "npm"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Audit dependencies
        run: npm audit --audit-level=high
        # Fails on HIGH or CRITICAL vulnerabilities

PR Status Checks

Make the checks required before merging:

1. GitHub repo: Settings -> Branches -> Add rule
2. Branch name pattern: main
3. Check: "Require status checks to pass before merging"
4. Select: check, test, build, security

Now PRs can't merge if any check fails.

Slack Notifications on Failure

      - name: Notify Slack on failure
        if: failure()
        uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1
        with:
          payload: |
            {
              "text": "CI failed on ${{ github.repository }}",
              "blocks": [
                {
                  "type": "section",
                  "text": {
                    "type": "mrkdwn",
                    "text": "*CI Failed* on `${{ github.ref_name }}`
Commit: ${{ github.sha }}
<${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/runs/${{ github.run_id }}|View Run>"
                  }
                }
              ]
            }
        env:
          SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL }}

Caching for Speed

The biggest CI speed gain: cache node_modules and Prisma client:

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "20"
          cache: "npm"  # Caches npm install based on package-lock.json

      - name: Cache Prisma client
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: node_modules/.prisma
          key: prisma-${{ hashFiles('prisma/schema.prisma') }}

With caching: typical CI run goes from 3-4 minutes to under 90 seconds.

The /deploy Skill

The Ship Fast Skill Pack includes a /deploy skill for Claude Code that sets up this entire pipeline -- GitHub Actions workflow, Vercel configuration, and branch protection rules -- for any Next.js project.

Ship Fast Skill Pack ($49) ->

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