GitHub Actions for Node.js: CI/CD From Zero to Production

Every push should automatically run tests and deploy if they pass. Here's a complete GitHub Actions setup for a Node.js/Next.js project.

Basic CI Pipeline

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

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

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    services:
      postgres:
        image: postgres:16
        env:
          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: postgres
          POSTGRES_DB: testdb
        options: >-
          --health-cmd pg_isready
          --health-interval 10s
          --health-retries 5

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

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

      - run: npm ci

      - name: Run migrations
        run: npx prisma migrate deploy
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/testdb

      - name: Type check
        run: npx tsc --noEmit

      - name: Lint
        run: npm run lint

      - name: Test
        run: npm test
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgresql://postgres:postgres@localhost:5432/testdb
          NEXTAUTH_SECRET: test-secret

Deploy to Vercel on Merge

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

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: [test] # Only deploy if tests pass

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Deploy to Vercel
        run: npx vercel --prod --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }}
        env:
          VERCEL_ORG_ID: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_ORG_ID }}
          VERCEL_PROJECT_ID: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_PROJECT_ID }}

Caching for Speed

- uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: |
      ~/.npm
      ${{ github.workspace }}/.next/cache
    key: ${{ runner.os }}-nextjs-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}-${{ hashFiles('**/*.ts') }}
    restore-keys: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-nextjs-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}-

Secrets Management

# Access secrets in steps
env:
  STRIPE_SECRET_KEY: ${{ secrets.STRIPE_SECRET_KEY }}
  OPENAI_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.OPENAI_API_KEY }}

# Set secrets: repo → Settings → Secrets → Actions

PR Preview Deployments

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]

jobs:
  preview:
    steps:
      - name: Deploy Preview
        id: deploy
        run: echo "url=$(npx vercel --token=${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }})" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

      - name: Comment PR
        uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          script: |
            github.rest.issues.createComment({
              issue_number: context.issue.number,
              owner: context.repo.owner,
              repo: context.repo.repo,
              body: `Preview: ${{ steps.deploy.outputs.url }}`
            })

Security Scanning

- name: Audit dependencies
  run: npm audit --audit-level=high

- name: Check for secrets
  uses: trufflesecurity/trufflehog@main
  with:
    path: ./
    base: ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }}

Full CI/CD pipeline pre-configured in the Ship Fast Skill Pack — /deploy skill generates GitHub Actions workflows for your stack. $49 at whoffagents.com.

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