GitLab CI/CD Integration

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

Prerequisites

Before setting up GitLab CI/CD integration, ensure you have:

• A GitLab account with a project repository
• A Capgo account with an app configured
• Node.js and npm/yarn configured in your project

Setting Up GitLab CI/CD

Step 1: Configure Environment Variables

First, set up the necessary variables in your GitLab project:

1. Navigate to your GitLab project
2. Go to Settings → CI/CD → Variables
3. Add the following variables:

Variable Name	Value	Protected	Masked
CAPGO_TOKEN	Your Capgo API token	✅ Yes	✅ Yes

Tip

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

Simple

Basic configuration that deploys to production on every push to the main branch:

# .gitlab-ci.yml - Simple Configuration
image: node:22

stages:
  - build
  - deploy

variables:
  npm_config_cache: "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.npm"

build:
  stage: build
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npm run test
    - npm run build
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - dist/
    expire_in: 1 hour
  only:
    - main

deploy_production:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - npm install -g @capgo/cli
    - npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey $CAPGO_TOKEN --channel production
    # For encrypted uploads, add: --key-data-v2 "$CAPGO_PRIVATE_KEY"
  dependencies:
    - build
  only:
    - main

Advanced

Feature Branch Deployments

Deploy feature branches to test channels for review and testing:

# Feature branch deployment
deploy_feature:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - npm install -g @capgo/cli
    - CHANNEL_NAME="feature-$(echo $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME | sed 's/[^a-zA-Z0-9-]/-/g')"
    - npx @capgo/cli channel create $CHANNEL_NAME --apikey $CAPGO_TOKEN || true
    - npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey $CAPGO_TOKEN --channel $CHANNEL_NAME
  dependencies:
    - build
  only:
    - /^feature\/.*$/
  environment:
    name: feature/$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME
    url: https://your-app.com/channels/$CHANNEL_NAME

Tip

Testing with Channels: After deploying to a feature 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.

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 GitLab variables:

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

Add this content as CAPGO_PRIVATE_KEY in your GitLab project variables (mark as protected and masked), then use it in pipelines:

# Deploy with encryption
deploy_production:
  script:
    - npm install -g @capgo/cli
    - npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey $CAPGO_TOKEN --key-data-v2 "$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 configuration with multiple environments and merge request deployments:

# .gitlab-ci.yml - Advanced Multi-Channel Configuration
image: node:22

stages:
  - build
  - deploy

variables:
  npm_config_cache: "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.npm"

# Build stage
build:
  stage: build
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npm run test
    - npm run build
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - dist/
    expire_in: 24 hours

# Deploy to development channel
deploy_development:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - npm install -g @capgo/cli
    - npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey $CAPGO_TOKEN --channel development
  dependencies:
    - build
  only:
    - develop
  environment:
    name: development

# Deploy merge requests to test channels
deploy_mr:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - npm install -g @capgo/cli
    - CHANNEL_NAME="mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID"
    - npx @capgo/cli channel create $CHANNEL_NAME --apikey $CAPGO_TOKEN || true
    - npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey $CAPGO_TOKEN --channel $CHANNEL_NAME
  dependencies:
    - build
  only:
    - merge_requests
  environment:
    name: review/$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID
    url: https://your-app.com/channels/mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID
    on_stop: cleanup_mr

# Cleanup MR channels when MR is closed
cleanup_mr:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - npm install -g @capgo/cli
    - npx @capgo/cli channel delete mr-$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID --apikey $CAPGO_TOKEN || true
  when: manual
  environment:
    name: review/$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_IID
    action: stop
  only:
    - merge_requests

# Deploy to staging
deploy_staging:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - npm install -g @capgo/cli
    - npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey $CAPGO_TOKEN --channel staging
  dependencies:
    - build
  only:
    - develop
  environment:
    name: staging

# Deploy to production
deploy_production:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - npm install -g @capgo/cli
    - npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey $CAPGO_TOKEN --channel production
  dependencies:
    - build
  only:
    - main
  environment:
    name: production

Multi-Environment with Manual Approval

For production deployments requiring manual approval:

deploy_production:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - npm install -g @capgo/cli
    - npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey $CAPGO_TOKEN --channel production
  dependencies:
    - build
  only:
    - main
  when: manual
  environment:
    name: production

Branch-Based Deployment Strategy

Deploy different branches to appropriate channels automatically:

# Dynamic channel deployment based on branch
deploy:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - npm install -g @capgo/cli
    - |
      if [ "$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" = "main" ]; then
        CHANNEL="production"
      elif [ "$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" = "develop" ]; then
        CHANNEL="staging"
      else
        CHANNEL="development"
      fi
    - npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey $CAPGO_TOKEN --channel $CHANNEL
  dependencies:
    - build
  environment:
    name: $CHANNEL

Security Best Practices

Protected Variables

1. Mark Sensitive Variables: Always mark API tokens as protected and masked
2. Branch Protection: Use protected variables for production deployments
3. Access Control: Limit variable access to maintainers only
4. Regular Rotation: Rotate API tokens regularly

Secure Pipeline Configuration

# Use protected variables for production
deploy_production:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - npm install -g @capgo/cli
    - npx @capgo/cli bundle upload --apikey $CAPGO_TOKEN --channel production
  only:
    refs:
      - main
    variables:
      - $CI_COMMIT_REF_PROTECTED == "true"

Monitoring and Notifications

Slack Integration

Add Slack notifications to your pipeline:

notify_success:
  stage: .post
  image: alpine:latest
  before_script:
    - apk add --no-cache curl
  script:
    - |
      curl -X POST -H 'Content-type: application/json' \
        --data '{"text":"✅ Capgo deployment successful for '"$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME"'"}' \
        $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL
  when: on_success

notify_failure:
  stage: .post
  image: alpine:latest
  before_script:
    - apk add --no-cache curl
  script:
    - |
      curl -X POST -H 'Content-type: application/json' \
        --data '{"text":"❌ Capgo deployment failed for '"$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME"'"}' \
        $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL
  when: on_failure

Email Notifications

Configure email notifications in your GitLab project settings or use the API:

notify_email:
  stage: .post
  script:
    - |
      curl --request POST \
        --header "PRIVATE-TOKEN: $GITLAB_API_TOKEN" \
        --form "to=team@yourcompany.com" \
        --form "subject=Capgo Deployment Status" \
        --form "body=Deployment of $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME completed with status: $CI_JOB_STATUS" \
        "https://gitlab.com/api/v4/projects/$CI_PROJECT_ID/emails"
  when: always

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Pipeline fails with “Capgo CLI not found”:

# Debug CLI installation
debug_cli:
  script:
    - npm install -g @capgo/cli
    - which capgo || echo "Capgo CLI not found"
    - npx @capgo/cli --version

Authentication errors:

# Verify token configuration
debug_auth:
  script:
    - |
      if [ -z "$CAPGO_TOKEN" ]; then
        echo "CAPGO_TOKEN is not set"
        exit 1
      fi
      echo "Token length: ${#CAPGO_TOKEN}"

Build artifacts not found:

# List build outputs
debug_build:
  script:
    - ls -la dist/
    - find dist/ -type f -name "*.js" -o -name "*.html"

Debug Pipeline

Add debugging information to troubleshoot issues:

debug:
  stage: build
  script:
    - echo "Branch: $CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME"
    - echo "Commit: $CI_COMMIT_SHA"
    - echo "Build: $CI_PIPELINE_ID"
    - env | grep CI_ | sort
  only:
    - branches

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 GitLab CI/CD integration, you can automate your Capgo deployments and ensure consistent, reliable updates to your mobile app users.