GitHub Actions Integration

Integrate Capgo Live Updates with GitHub Actions to automatically deploy your app updates whenever you push code changes. This guide covers setting up automated builds, testing, and deployment workflows using GitHub’s powerful CI/CD platform.

Prerequisites

Before setting up GitHub Actions integration, ensure you have:

• A GitHub repository with your app’s source code
• A Capgo account with an app configured
• Node.js and npm/yarn configured in your project
• GitHub Actions enabled for your repository

Setting Up GitHub Secrets

Step 1: Configure Repository Secrets

Set up the necessary secrets in your GitHub repository:

1. Navigate to your GitHub repository
2. Go to Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions
3. Click New repository secret and add the following:

Secret Name	Value
CAPGO_TOKEN	Your Capgo API token

Tip

Get your Capgo API token from web.capgo.app/apikeys. Your app ID is already configured in your capacitor.config.ts file.

Simple Production Deployment

Start with this basic configuration that deploys to production on every push to the main branch:

# Simple GitHub Actions Workflow for Capgo Live Updates
name: Deploy to Capgo

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '22'
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install, test and build
        run: |
          npm ci
          npm run test
          npm run build

             - name: Deploy to Capgo
         run: |
           npm install -g @capgo/cli
           npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey ${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }} --channel production
           # For encrypted uploads, add: --key-data-v2 "${{ secrets.CAPGO_PRIVATE_KEY }}"

Advanced Multi-Channel Configuration

Feature Branch Deployments

Deploy feature branches to temporary channels for testing:

# Feature branch deployment
name: Deploy Feature Branch to Capgo

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - 'feature/**'

jobs:
  deploy-feature:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '22'
          cache: 'npm'

      - run: |
          npm ci
          npm run test
          npm run build

      - name: Deploy to feature channel
        run: |
          CHANNEL_NAME=$(echo "${{ github.ref_name }}" | sed 's/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/-/g' | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
          npm install -g @capgo/cli
          npx @capgo/cli channel create $CHANNEL_NAME --apikey ${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }} || true
                     npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey ${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }} --channel $CHANNEL_NAME

Using Encryption

If you’re using Capgo’s encryption feature, you’ll need to store your private key securely in your CI/CD environment.

After setting up encryption keys locally, add your private key to GitHub secrets:

# Display your private key content (copy this output)
cat .capgo_key_v2

Add this content as CAPGO_PRIVATE_KEY in your GitHub repository secrets, then use it in workflows:

# Deploy with encryption
- name: Deploy to Capgo with Encryption
  run: |
    npm install -g @capgo/cli
    npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey ${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }} --key-data-v2 "${{ secrets.CAPGO_PRIVATE_KEY }}" --channel production

Caution

Security Best Practices:

• Never commit the .capgo_key_v2 file to version control
• Store the private key only in secure CI/CD secret management
• Use different keys for different environments

Multi-Channel Configuration

For comprehensive information about setting up and managing multiple deployment channels, see the Channels documentation.

Complete workflow with development, pull requests, and production deployments:

# Complete multi-environment workflow
name: Deploy to Capgo

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

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '22'
          cache: 'npm'

      - run: |
          npm ci
          npm run test
          npm run build

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: dist
          path: dist/

  deploy-development:
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/develop'
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: development
    steps:
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '22'

      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: dist
          path: dist/

      - run: |
          npm install -g @capgo/cli
          npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey ${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }} --channel development

  deploy-pr:
    if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '22'

      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: dist
          path: dist/

      - name: Deploy to PR channel
        run: |
          CHANNEL_NAME="pr-${{ github.event.number }}"
          npm install -g @capgo/cli
          npx @capgo/cli channel create $CHANNEL_NAME --apikey ${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }} || true
          npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey ${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }} --channel $CHANNEL_NAME

      - name: Comment PR
        uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          script: |
            github.rest.issues.createComment({
              issue_number: context.issue.number,
              owner: context.repo.owner,
              repo: context.repo.repo,
              body: `🚀 This PR has been deployed to Capgo channel: \`pr-${{ github.event.number }}\`\n\nTo test this update in your app, configure it to use this channel. [Learn how to configure channels →](/docs/live-updates/channels/#configuring-the-channel-in-your-app)`
            })

  deploy-production:
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: production
    steps:
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '22'

      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: dist
          path: dist/

      - run: |
          npm install -g @capgo/cli
          npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey ${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }} --channel production

Tip

Testing with Channels: After deploying to a PR or development channel, you can test the update in your app by configuring it to use that specific channel. Learn more about configuring channels in your app.

Cleanup Feature Channels

Automatically clean up feature channels when branches are deleted:

name: Cleanup Feature Channels

on:
  delete:

jobs:
  cleanup:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: github.event.ref_type == 'branch' && startsWith(github.event.ref, 'feature/')
    steps:
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '22'

      - name: Delete Capgo channel
        run: |
          CHANNEL_NAME=$(echo "${{ github.event.ref }}" | sed 's/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/-/g' | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')
          npm install -g @capgo/cli
          npx @capgo/cli channel delete $CHANNEL_NAME --apikey ${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }} || true

Security and Best Practices

Environment Protection Rules

Set up environment protection rules in GitHub:

1. Go to Settings → Environments in your repository
2. Create environments: development, staging, production
3. For production environment, add:
   • Required reviewers: Add team members who must approve deployments
   • Wait timer: Add a delay before deployment (optional)
   • Deployment branches: Restrict to main branch only

Secure Secrets Management

Use environment-specific secrets:

# Use different secrets per environment
deploy-production:
  environment: production
  steps:
    - name: Deploy to Production
      run: |
        npx @capgo/cli bundle upload \
          --apikey ${{ secrets.CAPGO_PROD_TOKEN }} \
          --app ${{ secrets.CAPGO_PROD_APP_ID }} \
          --channel production

Monitoring and Notifications

Slack Integration

Add Slack notifications to your workflow:

name: Deploy with Notifications

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      # ... deployment steps

      - name: Notify Slack on Success
        if: success()
        uses: 8398a7/action-slack@v3
        with:
          status: success
          text: '✅ Capgo deployment successful!'
          fields: repo,message,commit,author,action,eventName,ref,workflow
        env:
          SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL }}

      - name: Notify Slack on Failure
        if: failure()
        uses: 8398a7/action-slack@v3
        with:
          status: failure
          text: '❌ Capgo deployment failed!'
          fields: repo,message,commit,author,action,eventName,ref,workflow
        env:
          SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL }}

Discord Integration

Send notifications to Discord:

- name: Discord notification
  if: always()
  uses: Ilshidur/action-discord@master
  with:
    args: |
      Capgo deployment ${{ job.status }}!
      App: ${{ secrets.CAPGO_APP_ID }}
      Channel: ${{ github.ref_name }}
      Commit: ${{ github.sha }}
  env:
    DISCORD_WEBHOOK: ${{ secrets.DISCORD_WEBHOOK }}

Email Notifications

Configure email notifications:

- name: Send email notification
  if: failure()
  uses: dawidd6/action-send-mail@v3
  with:
    server_address: smtp.gmail.com
    server_port: 465
    username: ${{ secrets.EMAIL_USERNAME }}
    password: ${{ secrets.EMAIL_PASSWORD }}
    subject: 'Capgo Deployment Failed - ${{ github.repository }}'
    to: team@yourcompany.com
    from: ci-cd@yourcompany.com
    body: |
      Deployment failed for ${{ github.repository }}
      Branch: ${{ github.ref_name }}
      Commit: ${{ github.sha }}
      Workflow: ${{ github.workflow }}

Troubleshooting

Debug Workflow

Add debugging steps to troubleshoot issues:

- name: Debug environment
  run: |
    echo "Node version: $(node --version)"
    echo "NPM version: $(npm --version)"
    echo "Working directory: $(pwd)"
    echo "Files in dist/: $(ls -la dist/ || echo 'No dist directory')"
    echo "Environment variables:"
    env | grep -E "(GITHUB_|CAPGO_)" | sort

- name: Test Capgo CLI
  run: |
    npx @capgo/cli --version
    npx @capgo/cli app debug --apikey ${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }} --app ${{ secrets.CAPGO_APP_ID }}

Common Issues and Solutions

Workflow fails with “CAPGO_TOKEN not found”:

- name: Verify secrets
  run: |
    if [ -z "${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }}" ]; then
      echo "ERROR: CAPGO_TOKEN secret is not set"
      exit 1
    fi
    echo "CAPGO_TOKEN is set (length: ${#CAPGO_TOKEN})"
  env:
    CAPGO_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }}

Build artifacts not found:

- name: Debug artifacts
  run: |
    echo "Checking for build artifacts..."
    ls -la dist/ || echo "No dist directory found"
    find . -name "*.js" -o -name "*.html" | head -10

Network connectivity issues:

- name: Test connectivity
  run: |
    ping -c 3 api.capgo.io || echo "Ping failed"
    curl -I https://api.capgo.io/health || echo "Health check failed"

Reusable Workflows

Create reusable workflows for consistency across projects:

.github/workflows/reusable-capgo-deploy.yml

name: Reusable Capgo Deploy

on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      environment:
        required: true
        type: string
      channel:
        required: true
        type: string
    secrets:
      CAPGO_TOKEN:
        required: true
      CAPGO_APP_ID:
        required: true

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: ${{ inputs.environment }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '22'
          cache: 'npm'

      - name: Install and build
        run: |
          npm ci
          npm run build

      - name: Deploy to Capgo
        run: |
          npm install -g @capgo/cli
          npx @capgo/cli bundle upload \
            --apikey ${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }} \
            --app ${{ secrets.CAPGO_APP_ID }} \
            --channel ${{ inputs.channel }}

Use the reusable workflow:

.github/workflows/deploy.yml

name: Deploy App

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, develop]

jobs:
  deploy-dev:
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/develop'
    uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-capgo-deploy.yml
    with:
      environment: development
      channel: development
    secrets:
      CAPGO_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }}
      CAPGO_APP_ID: ${{ secrets.CAPGO_APP_ID }}

  deploy-prod:
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-capgo-deploy.yml
    with:
      environment: production
      channel: production
    secrets:
      CAPGO_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CAPGO_TOKEN }}
      CAPGO_APP_ID: ${{ secrets.CAPGO_APP_ID }}

Next Steps

• Learn about Channels to manage different deployment environments
• Explore Custom Storage for advanced deployment scenarios
• Set up Encryption for secure deployments
• Configure Update Behavior to customize how updates are applied

With GitHub Actions integration, you can leverage GitHub’s powerful CI/CD platform to create sophisticated deployment workflows with built-in security, monitoring, and collaboration features for your Capgo Live Updates.