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Building and testing Node.js |
You can create a continuous integration (CI) workflow to build and test your Node.js project. |
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tutorial |
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Build & test Node.js |
{% data reusables.actions.enterprise-github-hosted-runners %}
This guide shows you how to create a continuous integration (CI) workflow that builds and tests Node.js code. If your CI tests pass, you may want to deploy your code or publish a package.
We recommend that you have a basic understanding of Node.js, YAML, workflow configuration options, and how to create a workflow file. For more information, see:
{% data reusables.actions.enterprise-setup-prereq %}
{% data reusables.actions.workflow-templates-get-started %}
{% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} provides a workflow template for Node.js that should work for most Node.js projects. The subsequent sections of this guide give examples of how you can customize this workflow template.
{% data reusables.repositories.navigate-to-repo %} {% data reusables.repositories.actions-tab %} {% data reusables.actions.new-starter-workflow %}
- The "Choose a workflow" page shows a selection of recommended workflow templates. Search for "Node.js".
- Filter the selection of workflows by clicking Continuous integration.
- On the "Node.js" workflow, click Configure.
{%- ifversion ghes %}
If you don't find the "Node.js" workflow template, copy the following workflow code to a new file called node.js.yml
in the .github/workflows
directory of your repository.
name: Node.js CI
on:
push:
branches: [ "main" ]
pull_request:
branches: [ "main" ]
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
strategy:
matrix:
node-version: [18.x, 20.x]
# See supported Node.js release schedule at https://nodejs.org/en/about/releases/
steps:
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}
- name: Use Node.js {% raw %}${{ matrix.node-version }}{% endraw %}
uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %}
with:
node-version: {% raw %}${{ matrix.node-version }}{% endraw %}
cache: 'npm'
- run: npm ci
- run: npm run build --if-present
- run: npm test
{%- endif %}
- Edit the workflow as required. For example, change the Node versions you want to use.
- Click Commit changes.
{% ifversion fpt or ghec %}
The node.js.yml
workflow file is added to the .github/workflows
directory of your repository.
{% endif %}
The easiest way to specify a Node.js version is by using the setup-node
action provided by {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}. For more information see, setup-node
.
The setup-node
action takes a Node.js version as an input and configures that version on the runner. The setup-node
action finds a specific version of Node.js from the tools cache on each runner and adds the necessary binaries to PATH
, which persists for the rest of the job. Using the setup-node
action is the recommended way of using Node.js with {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} because it ensures consistent behavior across different runners and different versions of Node.js. If you are using a self-hosted runner, you must install Node.js and add it to PATH
.
The workflow template includes a matrix strategy that builds and tests your code with the Node.js versions listed in node-version
. The 'x' in the version number is a wildcard character that matches the latest minor and patch release available for a version. Each version of Node.js specified in the node-version
array creates a job that runs the same steps.
Each job can access the value defined in the matrix node-version
array using the matrix
context. The setup-node
action uses the context as the node-version
input. The setup-node
action configures each job with a different Node.js version before building and testing code. For more information about matrix strategies and contexts, see AUTOTITLE and AUTOTITLE.
strategy:
matrix:
node-version: ['18.x', '20.x']
steps:
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}
- name: Use Node.js {% raw %}${{ matrix.node-version }}{% endraw %}
uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %}
with:
node-version: {% raw %}${{ matrix.node-version }}{% endraw %}
Alternatively, you can build and test with exact Node.js versions.
strategy:
matrix:
node-version: ['10.17.0', '17.9.0']
Or, you can build and test using a single version of Node.js too.
name: Node.js CI
on: [push]
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}
- name: Use Node.js
uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %}
with:
node-version: '20.x'
- run: npm ci
- run: npm run build --if-present
- run: npm test
If you don't specify a Node.js version, {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} uses the environment's default Node.js version. For more information, see AUTOTITLE.
{% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}-hosted runners have npm and Yarn dependency managers installed. You can use npm and Yarn to install dependencies in your workflow before building and testing your code. The Windows and Linux {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}-hosted runners also have Grunt, Gulp, and Bower installed.
You can also cache dependencies to speed up your workflow. For more information, see AUTOTITLE.
This example installs the versions in the package-lock.json
or npm-shrinkwrap.json
file and prevents updates to the lock file. Using npm ci
is generally faster than running npm install
. For more information, see npm ci
and Introducing npm ci
for faster, more reliable builds.
steps:
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}
- name: Use Node.js
uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %}
with:
node-version: '20.x'
- name: Install dependencies
run: npm ci
Using npm install
installs the dependencies defined in the package.json
file. For more information, see npm install
.
steps:
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}
- name: Use Node.js
uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %}
with:
node-version: '20.x'
- name: Install dependencies
run: npm install
This example installs the dependencies defined in the yarn.lock
file and prevents updates to the yarn.lock
file. For more information, see yarn install
.
steps:
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}
- name: Use Node.js
uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %}
with:
node-version: '20.x'
- name: Install dependencies
run: yarn --frozen-lockfile
Alternatively, you can install the dependencies defined in the package.json
file.
steps:
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}
- name: Use Node.js
uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %}
with:
node-version: '20.x'
- name: Install dependencies
run: yarn
{% data reusables.actions.setup-node-intro %}
To authenticate to your private registry, you'll need to store your npm authentication token as a secret. For example, create a repository secret called NPM_TOKEN
. For more information, see AUTOTITLE.
In the example below, the secret NPM_TOKEN
stores the npm authentication token. The setup-node
action configures the .npmrc
file to read the npm authentication token from the NODE_AUTH_TOKEN
environment variable. When using the setup-node
action to create an .npmrc
file, you must set the NODE_AUTH_TOKEN
environment variable with the secret that contains your npm authentication token.
Before installing dependencies, use the setup-node
action to create the .npmrc
file. The action has two input parameters. The node-version
parameter sets the Node.js version, and the registry-url
parameter sets the default registry. If your package registry uses scopes, you must use the scope
parameter. For more information, see npm-scope
.
steps:
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}
- name: Use Node.js
uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %}
with:
always-auth: true
node-version: '20.x'
registry-url: https://registry.npmjs.org
scope: '@octocat'
- name: Install dependencies
run: npm ci
env:
NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: {% raw %}${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}{% endraw %}
The example above creates an .npmrc
file with the following contents:
//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${NODE_AUTH_TOKEN}
@octocat:registry=https://registry.npmjs.org/
always-auth=true
You can cache and restore the dependencies using the setup-node
action.
The following example caches dependencies for npm.
steps:
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %}
with:
node-version: '20'
cache: 'npm'
- run: npm install
- run: npm test
The following example caches dependencies for Yarn.
steps:
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %}
with:
node-version: '20'
cache: 'yarn'
- run: yarn
- run: yarn test
The following example caches dependencies for pnpm (v6.10+).
{% data reusables.actions.actions-not-certified-by-github-comment %}
# NOTE: pnpm caching support requires pnpm version >= 6.10.0
steps:
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}
- uses: pnpm/action-setup@0609f0983b7a228f052f81ef4c3d6510cae254ad
with:
version: 6.10.0
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %}
with:
node-version: '20'
cache: 'pnpm'
- run: pnpm install
- run: pnpm test
If you have a custom requirement or need finer controls for caching, you can use the cache
action. For more information, see AUTOTITLE.
You can use the same commands that you use locally to build and test your code. For example, if you run npm run build
to run build steps defined in your package.json
file and npm test
to run your test suite, you would add those commands in your workflow file.
steps:
- uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}
- name: Use Node.js
uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %}
with:
node-version: '20.x'
- run: npm install
- run: npm run build --if-present
- run: npm test
You can save artifacts from your build and test steps to view after a job completes. For example, you may need to save log files, core dumps, test results, or screenshots. For more information, see AUTOTITLE.
You can configure your workflow to publish your Node.js package to a package registry after your CI tests pass. For more information about publishing to npm and {% data variables.product.prodname_registry %}, see AUTOTITLE.