GitHub Actions CI/CD

Goals Tracker uses GitHub Actions for continuous integration and deployment.

CI/CD Overview

┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    GitHub Actions                        │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                          │
│  Push/PR → Test → Build → Docker → Push → Deploy       │
│                                                          │
│  ┌─────────┐   ┌───────┐   ┌────────┐   ┌──────────┐  │
│  │  Test   │ → │ Build │ → │ Docker │ → │  Deploy  │  │
│  │ Backend │   │Frontend│   │ Images │   │  Render  │  │
│  │Frontend │   │Backend│   │        │   │          │  │
│  └─────────┘   └───────┘   └────────┘   └──────────┘  │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Workflow Configuration

Located at .github/workflows/ci.yml:

name: Build, Test and Push Docker Images

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main
      - develop

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up JDK 17
        uses: actions/setup-java@v4
        with:
          distribution: temurin
          java-version: 17
          cache: maven

      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 18
          cache: npm
          cache-dependency-path: goals-tracker-front/package-lock.json

      - name: Install frontend dependencies
        run: |
          cd goals-tracker-front
          npm ci

      - name: Run frontend linter
        run: |
          cd goals-tracker-front
          npm run lint

      - name: Build frontend app
        run: |
          cd goals-tracker-front
          npm run build

      - name: Run backend tests
        run: |
          cd goals-tracker-back
          ./mvnw -B test

  build-and-push:
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    needs: test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: githubaction

    strategy:
      matrix:
        service: [back, front]
        include:
          - service: back
            build_path: goals-tracker-back
            image_name: goals-tracker-back
            dockerfile: Dockerfile
          - service: front
            build_path: goals-tracker-front
            image_name: goals-tracker-front
            dockerfile: Dockerfile

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Get commit hash
        id: vars
        run: echo "sha_short=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

      - name: Log in to Docker Hub
        uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          username: ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.PASSWORD }}

      - name: Build and tag Docker image
        run: |
          cd ${{ matrix.build_path }}
          docker build -f ${{ matrix.dockerfile }} \
            -t ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}/${{ matrix.image_name }}:latest \
            -t ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}/${{ matrix.image_name }}:${{ steps.vars.outputs.sha_short }} .

      - name: Push Docker images
        run: |
          docker push ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}/${{ matrix.image_name }}:latest
          docker push ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}/${{ matrix.image_name }}:${{ steps.vars.outputs.sha_short }}

      - name: Trigger Render deploy
        env:
          RENDER_SERVICE_ID_BACKEND: ${{ secrets.RENDER_SERVICE_ID_BACKEND }}
          RENDER_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.RENDER_API_TOKEN }}
        run: |
          curl -X POST "https://api.render.com/v1/services/${RENDER_SERVICE_ID_BACKEND}/deploys" \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer ${RENDER_API_TOKEN}" \
            -H "Accept: application/json"

Workflow Breakdown

1. Triggers

The workflow runs on:

• Push to main: Full CI/CD pipeline (test → build → deploy)
• Pull Request to main/develop: Tests only (no deployment)

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main
      - develop

2. Test Job

Runs tests and builds for both frontend and backend.

Setup Steps

Checkout Code:

- name: Checkout code
  uses: actions/checkout@v4

Setup Java 17:

- name: Set up JDK 17
  uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    distribution: temurin
    java-version: 17
    cache: maven

Setup Node.js:

- name: Set up Node.js
  uses: actions/setup-node@v4
  with:
    node-version: 18
    cache: npm
    cache-dependency-path: goals-tracker-front/package-lock.json

Frontend Tests

- name: Install frontend dependencies
  run: |
    cd goals-tracker-front
    npm ci

- name: Run frontend linter
  run: |
    cd goals-tracker-front
    npm run lint

- name: Build frontend app
  run: |
    cd goals-tracker-front
    npm run build

Backend Tests

- name: Run backend tests
  run: |
    cd goals-tracker-back
    ./mvnw -B test

The -B flag runs Maven in batch mode (non-interactive).

3. Build and Push Job

Builds Docker images and pushes to Docker Hub (main branch only).

Conditional Execution

if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
needs: test

Only runs: - On the main branch - After test job succeeds

Matrix Strategy

Build both services in parallel:

strategy:
  matrix:
    service: [back, front]
    include:
      - service: back
        build_path: goals-tracker-back
        image_name: goals-tracker-back
      - service: front
        build_path: goals-tracker-front
        image_name: goals-tracker-front

Docker Operations

Login to Docker Hub:

- name: Log in to Docker Hub
  uses: docker/login-action@v3
  with:
    username: ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}
    password: ${{ secrets.PASSWORD }}

Build Image with Tags:

- name: Build and tag Docker image
  run: |
    cd ${{ matrix.build_path }}
    docker build -f ${{ matrix.dockerfile }} \
      -t ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}/${{ matrix.image_name }}:latest \
      -t ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}/${{ matrix.image_name }}:${{ steps.vars.outputs.sha_short }} .

Creates two tags: - latest - Always points to most recent build - {commit-sha} - Specific version for rollbacks

Push Images:

- name: Push Docker images
  run: |
    docker push ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}/${{ matrix.image_name }}:latest
    docker push ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}/${{ matrix.image_name }}:${{ steps.vars.outputs.sha_short }}

4. Deployment

Triggers deployment on Render platform:

- name: Trigger Render deploy
  env:
    RENDER_SERVICE_ID_BACKEND: ${{ secrets.RENDER_SERVICE_ID_BACKEND }}
    RENDER_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.RENDER_API_TOKEN }}
  run: |
    curl -X POST "https://api.render.com/v1/services/${RENDER_SERVICE_ID_BACKEND}/deploys" \
      -H "Authorization: Bearer ${RENDER_API_TOKEN}" \
      -H "Accept: application/json"

GitHub Secrets

Required secrets in repository settings:

Secret	Description	Example
USERNAME	Docker Hub username	myusername
PASSWORD	Docker Hub access token	dckr_pat_...
RENDER_API_TOKEN	Render API token	rnd_...
RENDER_SERVICE_ID_BACKEND	Render service ID	srv-xxx...

Setting Up Secrets

1. Go to repository Settings
2. Navigate to Secrets and variables → Actions
3. Click New repository secret
4. Add each secret

Workflow Status

View Workflow Runs

GitHub → Actions tab shows: - All workflow runs - Status (success/failure/in progress) - Duration - Triggered by (user/event)

Status Badge

Add to README.md:

![CI/CD](https://github.com/username/goals-tracker/actions/workflows/ci.yml/badge.svg)

Result:

Workflow Optimization

Caching

Maven Cache:

- uses: actions/setup-java@v4
  with:
    cache: maven

NPM Cache:

- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
  with:
    cache: npm
    cache-dependency-path: goals-tracker-front/package-lock.json

Benefits: - Faster builds (2-3x speedup) - Reduced network usage - Lower costs for private repos

Parallel Execution

Matrix builds run in parallel:

strategy:
  matrix:
    service: [back, front]

Both Docker images build simultaneously.

Concurrency Control

Prevent multiple deployments:

concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

Testing Locally

Act - Run GitHub Actions Locally

Install Act:

# macOS
brew install act

# Linux
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nektos/act/master/install.sh | sudo bash

Run workflow:

# List available actions
act -l

# Run the workflow
act -j test

# Run with secrets
act -j test --secret-file .secrets

Manual Testing

Test individual steps:

Backend tests:

cd goals-tracker-back
./mvnw test

Frontend linting:

cd goals-tracker-front
npm run lint

Docker build:

cd goals-tracker-back
docker build -t test-backend .

cd ../goals-tracker-front
docker build -t test-frontend .

Troubleshooting

Build Failures

Check logs: - Click on failed workflow - Review each step's output - Look for error messages

Common issues:

1. Test failures: Fix failing tests locally first
2. Linting errors: Run npm run lint locally
3. Docker build fails: Test Dockerfile locally
4. Push rejected: Check Docker Hub credentials

Deployment Failures

Check Render logs: - Visit Render dashboard - Check deployment logs - Verify environment variables

Rollback:

# Deploy previous version
docker push username/goals-tracker-back:previous-commit-sha

Workflow Not Triggering

Verify triggers: - Check branch name matches workflow - Ensure workflow file is in .github/workflows/ - Check workflow syntax with yamllint

Re-run workflow: - GitHub → Actions → Select workflow → Re-run jobs

Advanced Features

Environment Protection

environment:
  name: production
  url: https://goals-tracker.onrender.com

Requires manual approval before deployment.

Notifications

Slack notification:

- name: Notify Slack
  uses: 8398a7/action-slack@v3
  with:
    status: ${{ job.status }}
    webhook_url: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
  if: always()

Email notification: Configure in GitHub repository settings.

Scheduled Workflows

Run tests nightly:

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 2 * * *'  # 2 AM daily

Best Practices

1. Keep workflows fast - Use caching, parallel jobs
2. Fail fast - Run tests before expensive builds
3. Use matrix builds - Build multiple configurations in parallel
4. Version everything - Tag Docker images with commit SHA
5. Secure secrets - Never commit secrets, use GitHub Secrets
6. Monitor workflows - Set up notifications for failures
7. Test locally - Use Act to test workflows before pushing

Next Steps

• Explore Deployment Guide
• Learn about Docker Setup
• Review Backend Development