Github Actions Templates

---
name: github-actions-templates
description: Create production-ready GitHub Actions workflows for automated testing, building, and deploying applications. Use when setting up CI/CD with GitHub Actions, automating development workflows, or creating reusable workflow templates.
---

# GitHub Actions Templates

Production-ready GitHub Actions workflow patterns for testing, building, and deploying applications.

## Purpose

Create efficient, secure GitHub Actions workflows for continuous integration and deployment across various tech stacks.

## When to Use

- Automate testing and deployment
- Build Docker images and push to registries
- Deploy to Kubernetes clusters
- Run security scans
- Implement matrix builds for multiple environments

## Common Workflow Patterns

### Pattern 1: Test Workflow

```yaml
name: Test

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

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [18.x, 20.x]

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
          cache: "npm"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run linter
        run: npm run lint

      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test

      - name: Upload coverage
        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v4
        with:
          files: ./coverage/lcov.info
```

**Reference:** See `assets/test-workflow.yml`

### Pattern 2: Build and Push Docker Image

```yaml
name: Build and Push

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    tags: ["v*"]

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

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: read
      packages: write

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Log in to Container Registry
        uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Extract metadata
        id: meta
        uses: docker/metadata-action@v5
        with:
          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
          tags: |
            type=ref,event=branch
            type=ref,event=pr
            type=semver,pattern={{version}}
            type=semver,pattern={{major}}.{{minor}}

      - name: Build and push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
          cache-from: type=gha
          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
```

**Reference:** See `assets/deploy-workflow.yml`

### Pattern 3: Deploy to Kubernetes

```yaml
name: Deploy to Kubernetes

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Configure AWS credentials
        uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
        with:
          aws-access-key-id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
          aws-secret-access-key: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
          aws-region: us-west-2

      - name: Update kubeconfig
        run: |
          aws eks update-kubeconfig --name production-cluster --region us-west-2

      - name: Deploy to Kubernetes
        run: |
          kubectl apply -f k8s/
          kubectl rollout status deployment/my-app -n production
          kubectl get services -n production

      - name: Verify deployment
        run: |
          kubectl get pods -n production
          kubectl describe deployment my-app -n production
```

### Pattern 4: Matrix Build

```yaml
name: Matrix Build

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}

    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
        python-version: ["3.9", "3.10", "3.11", "3.12"]

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
          pip install -r requirements.txt

      - name: Run tests
        run: pytest
```

**Reference:** See `assets/matrix-build.yml`

## Workflow Best Practices

1. **Use specific action versions** (@v4, not @latest)
2. **Cache dependencies** to speed up builds
3. **Use secrets** for sensitive data
4. **Implement status checks** on PRs
5. **Use matrix builds** for multi-version testing
6. **Set appropriate permissions**
7. **Use reusable workflows** for common patterns
8. **Implement approval gates** for production
9. **Add notification steps** for failures
10. **Use self-hosted runners** for sensitive workloads

## Reusable Workflows

```yaml
# .github/workflows/reusable-test.yml
name: Reusable Test Workflow

on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      node-version:
        required: true
        type: string
    secrets:
      NPM_TOKEN:
        required: true

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
      - run: npm test
```

**Use reusable workflow:**

```yaml
jobs:
  call-test:
    uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-test.yml
    with:
      node-version: "20.x"
    secrets:
      NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
```

## Security Scanning

```yaml
name: Security Scan

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

jobs:
  security:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Run Trivy vulnerability scanner
        uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@0.28.0
        with:
          scan-type: "fs"
          scan-ref: "."
          format: "sarif"
          output: "trivy-results.sarif"

      - name: Upload Trivy results to GitHub Security
        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v3
        with:
          sarif_file: "trivy-results.sarif"

      - name: Run Snyk Security Scan
        uses: snyk/actions/node@0.4.0
        env:
          SNYK_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SNYK_TOKEN }}
```

## Deployment with Approvals

```yaml
name: Deploy to Production

on:
  push:
    tags: ["v*"]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment:
      name: production
      url: https://app.example.com

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Deploy application
        run: |
          echo "Deploying to production..."
          # Deployment commands here

      - name: Notify Slack
        if: success()
        uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1
        with:
          webhook-url: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
          payload: |
            {
              "text": "Deployment to production completed successfully!"
            }
```


## Related Skills

- `gitlab-ci-patterns` - For GitLab CI workflows
- `deployment-pipeline-design` - For pipeline architecture
- `secrets-management` - For secrets handling

Run this skill on a real model without leaving the page. Every run is saved to your history for this skill.

How to use

1. 1Save the content below as SKILL.md in your agent's skills directory (e.g. .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md).
2. 2Or paste it directly into the conversation as context before asking the agent to do the task.
3. 3Adjust any project-specific paths or conventions mentioned in the skill to match your setup.