GitHub Pipelines

GitHub Actions (Pipelines) allow you to automate your software development workflows. You can build, test, and deploy your code right from GitHub.

Overview

In NStrim, pipelines are primarily used for:

• Automated Testing — Run unit and integration tests on every push
• Code Quality — Run linters and static analysis tools
• Building — Compile assets or build Docker images
• Deployment — Trigger updates to session infrastructure

How to Add a Pipeline

To add a pipeline to your dev-ops template or repository:

1. Create a .github/workflows directory in the root of your project
2. Create a .yml file inside that directory (e.g., main.yml)
3. Define your workflow using YAML syntax

Example: Basic Laravel Test Workflow

This example runs Pest tests on every push to the main branch:

name: Run Tests

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

jobs:
  laravel-tests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    services:
      mysql:
        image: mysql:8.0
        env:
          MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: password
          MYSQL_DATABASE: testing
        ports:
          - 3306:3306
        options: --health-cmd="mysqladmin ping" --health-interval=10s --health-timeout=5s --health-retries=3

    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    
    - name: Setup PHP
      uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
      with:
        php-version: '8.3'
        extensions: mbstring, dom, curl, libxml, mysql
        coverage: none

    - name: Install Dependencies
      run: composer install -q --no-ansi --no-interaction --no-scripts --no-progress --prefer-dist

    - name: Copy .env
      run: php -r "file_exists('.env') || copy('.env.example', '.env');"

    - name: Generate key
      run: php artisan key:generate

    - name: Directory Permissions
      run: chmod -R 777 storage bootstrap/cache

    - name: Execute tests (Unit and Feature tests) via Pest
      env:
        DB_CONNECTION: mysql
        DB_HOST: 127.0.0.1
        DB_PORT: 3306
        DB_DATABASE: testing
        DB_USERNAME: root
        DB_PASSWORD: password
      run: php artisan test

Example: Node.js / React Workflow

This workflow installs dependencies and runs builds for a frontend project:

name: Node.js CI

on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Use Node.js
      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: Run tests
      run: npm test

Manual Adjustments

When adding pipelines manually to existing repositories:

• Ensure the branch name in the workflow matches your repository's default branch (usually main or master)
• Update environment variables to match the NStrim session infrastructure
• Check that Docker images used in the workflow are compatible with your project requirements