🔄 CI/CD Pipeline: Continuous Integration & Deployment

Detect project type and generate a complete CI/CD pipeline with lint, test, build, deploy stages, rollback strategy, and environment management.

Activation

When this skill activates, output:

🔄 CI/CD Pipeline: Designing your pipeline...

Context	Status
User says "CI/CD", "pipeline", "GitHub Actions"	ACTIVE
User wants automated testing and deployment	ACTIVE
User mentions branch strategy, deploy gates, or rollbacks	ACTIVE
User wants Docker setup (CI/CD is secondary)	DORMANT: see docker-setup
User wants server provisioning (not pipeline)	DORMANT: see hetzner-setup
User wants to deploy to a specific platform only	DORMANT, see railway-deploy or netlify-deploy

Protocol

Step 1: Gather Inputs

Ask the user for:

• Project type: Node.js, Python, Go, Rust, monorepo?
• Testing framework: Jest, Vitest, Pytest, Go test?
• Deployment target: Vercel, Railway, Netlify, Hetzner VPS, AWS, Docker registry?
• Current CI/CD: Any existing pipeline, or starting from scratch?
• Branch strategy: Trunk-based, GitFlow, or custom?
• Team size: Solo dev, small team, or large team?

Step 2: Detect Project & Recommend Platform

Auto-detect from project files and recommend CI/CD platform:

Project Signal	Platform Recommendation	Reason
.github/ exists	GitHub Actions	Already on GitHub, native integration
vercel.json or Next.js	Vercel (auto-deploy) + GitHub Actions (CI)	Vercel handles deploy, GHA handles testing
railway.json	Railway (auto-deploy) + GitHub Actions (CI)	Railway handles deploy, GHA handles testing
netlify.toml	Netlify (auto-deploy) + GitHub Actions (CI)	Netlify handles deploy, GHA handles testing
Dockerfile present	GitHub Actions → Docker registry → deploy	Full control pipeline
Monorepo (packages/)	GitHub Actions with matrix/path filters	Need per-package CI
Self-hosted server	GitHub Actions → SSH deploy	Push-based deployment

Default recommendation: GitHub Actions: free for public repos, 2,000 min/month for private.

Step 3: Design Pipeline Stages

Define the stage sequence:

┌─────────┐   ┌─────────┐   ┌─────────┐   ┌─────────┐   ┌─────────┐
│  LINT   │──→│  TEST   │──→│  BUILD  │──→│ DEPLOY  │──→│ VERIFY  │
│         │   │         │   │         │   │         │   │         │
│ ESLint  │   │ Unit    │   │ Compile │   │ Push to │   │ Health  │
│ Prettier│   │ Integ.  │   │ Bundle  │   │ target  │   │ Smoke   │
│ Types   │   │ E2E     │   │ Docker  │   │ env     │   │ Rollback│
└─────────┘   └─────────┘   └─────────┘   └─────────┘   └─────────┘
     │              │              │              │              │
  Fail fast    Gate: block     Artifacts      Env-specific    Auto-rollback
  < 1 min      if < 80%       cached         secrets         on failure

Stage details:

Stage	Trigger	Failure Action	Duration Target
Lint	Every push, every PR	Block merge	< 1 min
Test	Every push, every PR	Block merge	< 5 min
Build	PR merge to main/develop	Block deploy	< 3 min
Deploy	Build passes on target branch	Alert + rollback	< 2 min
Verify	After deploy completes	Auto-rollback	< 1 min

Step 4: Branch Strategy

Recommended: Simplified GitFlow

main (production)
  ├── develop (staging)
  │     ├── feature/add-auth
  │     ├── feature/dashboard
  │     └── fix/login-bug
  └── hotfix/critical-fix (→ main + develop)

Branch	Deploys To	CI Runs	Auto-Deploy?
feature/*	none	Lint + Test	No
develop	Staging	Lint + Test + Build + Deploy	Yes
main	Production	Lint + Test + Build + Deploy	Yes (or manual gate)
hotfix/*	none	Lint + Test	No (merge to main to deploy)

Branch protection rules:

main:
  - Require PR review (1+ approvals)
  - Require status checks (lint, test, build)
  - No force push
  - No direct push

develop:
  - Require status checks (lint, test)
  - Allow direct push (for solo devs)
  - No force push

Step 5: Environment Variable Management

── ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES ──────────────────

Three environments with escalating secrets:

LOCAL (.env.local, never committed):
  DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost:5432/app_dev
  API_KEY=dev_test_key
  NODE_ENV=development

STAGING (GitHub Secrets / platform env):
  DATABASE_URL=[staging DB connection string]
  API_KEY=[staging API key]
  NODE_ENV=staging

PRODUCTION (GitHub Secrets / platform env):
  DATABASE_URL=[production DB connection string]
  API_KEY=[production API key]
  NODE_ENV=production

Secret management rules:

• Never hardcode secrets in pipeline config
• Use GitHub Environments for per-branch secrets
• Use GITHUB_TOKEN for GitHub operations (auto-provided)
• Rotate secrets quarterly
• Audit secret access in GitHub Settings → Secrets → Audit log

GitHub Environments setup:

Repository → Settings → Environments:
  staging:
    Secrets: DATABASE_URL, API_KEY
    Deployment branches: develop

  production:
    Secrets: DATABASE_URL, API_KEY
    Deployment branches: main
    Required reviewers: [team member] (optional gate)

Step 6: Generate Pipeline Config

GitHub Actions: Node.js project:

name: CI/CD Pipeline

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

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

jobs:
  lint:
    name: Lint
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run lint
      - run: npm run typecheck  # If TypeScript

  test:
    name: Test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: lint
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test -- --coverage
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: always()
        with:
          name: coverage-report
          path: coverage/

  build:
    name: Build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: test
    if: github.event_name == 'push'
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: build-output
          path: dist/

  deploy-staging:
    name: Deploy to Staging
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: build
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/develop'
    environment: staging
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: build-output
          path: dist/
      # Platform-specific deploy step here
      # Option A: Railway
      # - uses: bervProject/railway-deploy@main
      #   with:
      #     railway_token: ${{ secrets.RAILWAY_TOKEN }}
      # Option B: SSH deploy to VPS
      # - uses: appleboy/ssh-action@v1
      #   with:
      #     host: ${{ secrets.SERVER_HOST }}
      #     username: deploy
      #     key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
      #     port: 2222
      #     script: |
      #       cd /opt/app && git pull && npm ci --production && pm2 restart all

  deploy-production:
    name: Deploy to Production
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: build
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    environment: production
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: build-output
          path: dist/
      # Same deploy pattern as staging but with production env

  verify:
    name: Verify Deployment
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: [deploy-staging, deploy-production]
    if: always() && (needs.deploy-staging.result == 'success' || needs.deploy-production.result == 'success')
    steps:
      - name: Health check
        run: |
          URL="${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && secrets.PRODUCTION_URL || secrets.STAGING_URL }}"
          for i in 1 2 3 4 5; do
            STATUS=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "$URL/health")
            if [ "$STATUS" = "200" ]; then
              echo "Health check passed"
              exit 0
            fi
            echo "Attempt $i: HTTP $STATUS, retrying in 10s..."
            sleep 10
          done
          echo "Health check failed after 5 attempts"
          exit 1

GitHub Actions: Python project:

name: CI/CD Pipeline

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

jobs:
  lint:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.12'
          cache: 'pip'
      - run: pip install ruff mypy
      - run: ruff check .
      - run: mypy .

  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: lint
    services:
      postgres:
        image: postgres:16
        env:
          POSTGRES_USER: test
          POSTGRES_PASSWORD: test
          POSTGRES_DB: testdb
        ports: ['5432:5432']
        options: >-
          --health-cmd pg_isready
          --health-interval 10s
          --health-timeout 5s
          --health-retries 5
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.12'
          cache: 'pip'
      - run: pip install -r requirements.txt
      - run: pytest --cov --cov-report=xml
        env:
          DATABASE_URL: postgresql://test:test@localhost:5432/testdb

  build-and-deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: test
    if: github.event_name == 'push'
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      # Docker build + push or direct deploy

Step 7: Deployment Rollback Strategy

Automated rollback on failed health check:

  rollback:
    name: Rollback on Failure
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: verify
    if: failure()
    steps:
      - name: Rollback deployment
        run: |
          echo "Deployment verification failed: rolling back"
          # Option A: Revert to previous Docker image
          # docker pull $REGISTRY/app:previous && docker tag $REGISTRY/app:previous $REGISTRY/app:latest
          # Option B: Railway rollback
          # railway rollback
          # Option C: Git revert + redeploy
          # git revert HEAD --no-edit && git push
      - name: Notify team
        run: |
          curl -X POST "${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}" \
            -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
            -d '{"text":"🔴 Deployment rolled back, health check failed on ${{ github.ref }}"}'

Rollback strategies by deployment target:

Target	Rollback Method	Speed	Data Safety
Vercel	Instant rollback in dashboard or CLI	Instant	Safe: immutable deploys
Railway	railway rollback or dashboard	Instant	Safe: previous deploy preserved
Netlify	Deploy previous build in dashboard	Instant	Safe: immutable deploys
Docker	Tag previous image as latest, restart	Seconds	Safe: images preserved
VPS/PM2	git revert + pm2 restart	Minutes	Check DB migrations first
Kubernetes	kubectl rollout undo	Seconds	Check DB migrations first

Database migration caution:

• If the deploy includes DB migrations, rollback is complex
• Always write reversible migrations (up + down)
• Test down migration before deploying up
• Consider: deploy DB migration separately from code deploy

Step 8: Notifications

Slack notification on deploy:

  notify:
    name: Notify
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: [deploy-staging, deploy-production, verify]
    if: always()
    steps:
      - name: Send Slack notification
        env:
          SLACK_WEBHOOK: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
        run: |
          if [ "${{ needs.verify.result }}" = "success" ]; then
            EMOJI="✅"
            STATUS="succeeded"
          else
            EMOJI="🔴"
            STATUS="failed"
          fi
          curl -X POST "$SLACK_WEBHOOK" \
            -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
            -d "{
              \"text\": \"${EMOJI} Deploy ${STATUS}\",
              \"blocks\": [
                {
                  \"type\": \"section\",
                  \"text\": {
                    \"type\": \"mrkdwn\",
                    \"text\": \"${EMOJI} *Deploy ${STATUS}*\nBranch: \`${{ github.ref_name }}\`\nCommit: \`${{ github.sha }}\`\nBy: ${{ github.actor }}\"
                  }
                }
              ]
            }"

Alternative notification channels:

• GitHub Actions built-in: Email on failure (Settings → Notifications)
• Discord webhook: Same curl pattern, different payload format
• PagerDuty: For production failures that need on-call response

Step 9: Output

Present the complete CI/CD configuration:

━━━ CI/CD PIPELINE ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Project: [name]
Platform: GitHub Actions
Deploy target: [platform]
Branch strategy: [strategy]

── PIPELINE STAGES ────────────────────────
Lint → Test → Build → Deploy → Verify
[stage diagram with timing]

── BRANCH STRATEGY ────────────────────────
[branch → environment mapping]
[protection rules]

── ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES ──────────────────
[per-environment secret setup]

── PIPELINE CONFIG ────────────────────────
[complete .github/workflows/ci-cd.yml]

── ROLLBACK STRATEGY ──────────────────────
[per-target rollback method]
[database migration caution]

── NOTIFICATIONS ──────────────────────────
[Slack/Discord/email setup]

── SETUP CHECKLIST ────────────────────────
[ ] Create .github/workflows/ directory
[ ] Add pipeline YAML file
[ ] Configure GitHub Environments (staging, production)
[ ] Add secrets to each environment
[ ] Set branch protection rules
[ ] Configure notification webhook
[ ] Test pipeline with a feature branch PR
[ ] Verify staging deploy on develop merge
[ ] Verify production deploy on main merge

Inputs

• Project type and language
• Testing framework
• Deployment target
• Branch strategy preference
• Team size
• Existing CI/CD (if any)

Outputs

• Pipeline stage design with timing targets
• Branch strategy with protection rules
• Environment variable management per stage
• Complete CI/CD config file (GitHub Actions YAML)
• Deployment rollback strategy per target
• Notification setup (Slack, Discord, email)
• Setup checklist for first-time configuration

Level History

• Lv.1: Base: Auto-detect project type, 5-stage pipeline (lint/test/build/deploy/verify), GitHub Actions configs for Node.js and Python, simplified GitFlow branch strategy, environment variable management with GitHub Environments, automated rollback on health check failure, Slack notifications, setup checklist. (Origin: MemStack v3.2, Mar 2026)