When should I use ci-cd?

ci-cd is useful in the following scenarios: • Automating continuous integration workflows to run tests, linting, and security scans on every pull request. • Implementing secure deployment pipelines that follow the principle of least privilege and prevent sensitive secret leaks. • Optimizing build performance by configuring advanced caching strategies for dependencies like node_modules or pip packages. • Setting up complex delivery patterns such as multi-architecture Docker builds and matrix testing across multiple software versions. • Debugging and validating GitHub Actions locally using tools like act to reduce iteration time.

When & Why to Use This Skill

This Claude skill streamlines the development and management of GitHub Actions pipelines by providing optimized workflow patterns for build, test, and deployment automation. It focuses on DevOps best practices, including security hardening, dependency caching, and efficient path filtering to ensure reliable and high-performance CI/CD cycles.

Use Cases

Automating continuous integration workflows to run tests, linting, and security scans on every pull request.
Implementing secure deployment pipelines that follow the principle of least privilege and prevent sensitive secret leaks.
Optimizing build performance by configuring advanced caching strategies for dependencies like node_modules or pip packages.
Setting up complex delivery patterns such as multi-architecture Docker builds and matrix testing across multiple software versions.
Debugging and validating GitHub Actions locally using tools like act to reduce iteration time.

name	ci-cd
description	Load when editing .github/workflows/*.yml files, deploy scripts, or managing GitHub Actions pipelines. Provides workflow patterns for build, test, and deploy automation.

name

ci-cd

description

Load when editing .github/workflows/*.yml files, deploy scripts, or managing GitHub Actions pipelines. Provides workflow patterns for build, test, and deploy automation.

CI/CD

Merged Skills

github-actions: Workflow syntax, jobs, steps, actions
deployment: Build, push, deploy automation

⚠️ Critical Gotchas

Category	Pattern	Solution
Secret leak	Secrets printed in logs	Use `::add-mask::` for dynamic secrets
Silent failure	Workflow fails without error	Add explicit `permissions:` block
Cache stale	Old dependencies used	Update cache key when deps change
No path filter	Every push triggers workflow	Add `paths:` to filter relevant changes
Missing checkout	Files not available	Add `actions/checkout@v4` as first step
Wrong context	Secrets not available in PR	Use `pull_request_target` carefully

Rules

Rule	Pattern
Path filters	Use `paths:` to skip irrelevant runs
Minimal permissions	Explicit `permissions:` block, least privilege
Never hardcode	Use `${{ secrets.* }}` for credentials
Cache dependencies	`actions/cache` for node_modules, pip cache
Fail fast	Set `fail-fast: true` in matrix builds

Avoid

❌ Bad	✅ Good
No paths filter	`paths: ['src/*', '.github/workflows/.yml']`
No permissions block	`permissions: { contents: read }`
Hardcoded credentials	`${{ secrets.TOKEN }}`
No caching	`actions/cache@v4` for deps
Echo secrets	`::add-mask::$SECRET`

Patterns

# Pattern 1: Standard workflow with best practices
name: CI
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    paths: ['src/**', '.github/workflows/*.yml']
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

permissions:
  contents: read
  packages: write

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Cache dependencies
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: ~/.npm
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
      
      - name: Build
        run: npm ci && npm run build

# Pattern 2: Docker multi-arch build
  docker:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
      - uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
          cache-from: type=gha
          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max

# Pattern 3: Matrix testing
  test:
    strategy:
      fail-fast: true
      matrix:
        node: [18, 20]
    steps:
      - run: npm test

Commands

Task	Command
Validate workflow	`act -n` (dry run with act)
Test locally	`act push` (requires act installed)
Check syntax	`yamllint .github/workflows/`
View runs	`gh run list`
View logs	`gh run view {run-id} --log`