Contents

How it works

You create a .github/workflows/deploy.yml file — GitHub automatically runs it on push, PR, or on a schedule. You describe the steps: install dependencies, run tests, deploy.

Workflow file structure

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml

name: Deploy

# When to run
on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main ]

# What to do
jobs:
  build-and-deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '22'
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test

      - name: Build
        run: npm run build

Deploying to a server over SSH

If the app on your server runs in Docker, the full path from zero to production is covered in deploying to a VPS.

      - name: Deploy via SSH
        uses: appleboy/ssh-action@v1
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.SERVER_HOST }}
          username: ${{ secrets.SERVER_USER }}
          key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          script: |
            cd /var/www/my-app
            git pull origin main
            npm ci --production
            pm2 restart app

Secrets

Passwords and keys live in the repository's Secrets. Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → New repository secret.

⚠️ Never paste passwords directly into the yml file. Use ${{ secrets.MY_SECRET }} — the value is injected at runtime and is not visible in logs.

Deploying to GitHub Pages

How to set up a Pages site in the first place is in a separate guide. The deploy workflow:

name: Deploy to Pages

on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]

permissions:
  contents: read
  pages: write
  id-token: write

jobs:
  deploy:
    environment:
      name: github-pages
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/configure-pages@v5
      - uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3
        with:
          path: './dist'
      - uses: actions/deploy-pages@v4

💡 The status of the latest workflow shows up right on the repo page — a green check or red cross next to the commit. If your pipeline builds Docker images, speed it up with BuildKit cache.

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