Introduction

GitHub Actions is a powerful automation tool built into GitHub that lets you define workflows to build, test, and deploy your code. With a simple YAML file, you can automate repetitive tasks like running tests, deploying apps, or sending notifications. This tutorial will walk you through setting up your first GitHub Action step by step.

Step 1: Create a GitHub Repository

Go to GitHub and create a new repository, or use an existing one. Clone it locally if you’d like to follow along with code changes.

Step 2: Create the Workflow File

Inside your repository, create a folder named .github/workflows and then create a YAML file for your workflow, for example ci.yml.

mkdir -p .github/workflows
nano .github/workflows/ci.yml

Paste the following starter workflow to run tests whenever you push to the main branch:

name: CI

on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Run a one-line script
        run: echo "Hello, world!"
      - name: Run a multi-line script
        run: |
          echo "Installing dependencies"
          echo "Running tests"

Step 3: Commit and Push

Once the YAML file is created, add and push the changes:

git add .github/workflows/ci.yml
git commit -m "Add CI workflow"
git push origin main

GitHub will automatically detect the new workflow and run it on push.

Step 4: View Workflow Runs

Go to the “Actions” tab in your repository on GitHub. There you’ll see the status of each run. Click into any run to view detailed logs of what happened during each step.

Conclusion

You’ve just created your first GitHub Action. With just a few lines of YAML, you can begin automating your development lifecycle. As your project grows, you can build more advanced workflows to deploy apps, run security checks, notify Slack channels, and more.