Github Actions Consulting

GitHub Actions is a platform for automating the build, test, and deployment stages of software development through continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD)

The basis for collaboration is agreement on the facts, and the basis for development velocity is performing experiments in the form of tests to validate the code works as expected.

Continuous Integration achieves both by creating 2 processes:

1. A process that allows developers to agree on what the "true" codebase is - often referred to as the master branch, or trunk
2. A process that validates our codebase following changes using tests

In most cases, it is implemented by running tests automatically after a change was introduced into a Git branch, or after a Pull-Request was created.
If the tests don't pass, or if the branch is not up-to-date with the latest changes from the main branch, the change to the code can't be introduced to the main version of the code. This does 2 things: prevents introducing non-working changes into the main branch, and provides the needed confidence for introducing a change to the system.

For most startups, having processes in place that allow collaboration that improves delivery of changes in a consistent, predictable, and safe way, is a crucial part of what allows delivering software.

GIthub Actions is a primary industry tool that allows you to create development pipelines using its many benefits:

• You can take advantage of pre-built actions, shared by the community, to automate common tasks, allowing you to focus on writing code
• GitHub Actions enables you to run your workflows in the same environment as your code, resulting in reproducible builds and deployments
• It allows you to have full control over the environment, including the ability to use custom images and run actions on specific platforms
• It provides built-in support for popular languages, frameworks, and tools, making it easy to get started with CI/CD
• GitHub Actions provides you with granular permissions, allowing you to control access to your workflows, secrets, and deployments.
• Integrate it with GitHub, so you can easily view the status of your workflows and deployments, and collaborate with your team members

Some of our past experience using Github Actions in clients' projects:

• Automated build, test, and deployment of a Node.js web application
• Continuously deployed updates to a Kubernetes cluster
• Automated security vulnerability, scanning and reporting
• Created a workflow to automatically close stale issues and pull requests
• Automated database migration and rollback processes
• Ran load and performance tests on a regular schedule
• Set up automatic backups of a production database
• Enforced code quality standards with linting and code review checks
• Created a workflow for reviewing and merged pull requests with code review and testing

Some of the things we can offer you help with:

• Building a full development workflow suitable for collaboration between multiple developers
• Use existing marketplace actions and modify them to your needs
• Run Infrastructure-as-Code updates using Github Actions and Terraform
• Run self-hosted Github Actions Runners on AWS, GCP, or Azure
• Use Github Actions to run a matrix of tests testing multiple packages on multiple operating systems such as Mac, Windows and Linux
• Streamline the update process of mobile applications using Fastlane
• Debug existing CI/CD pipelines built with Github Actions
• Create paramaterized Github Actions pipelines that can be run on-demand