GitHub Project Automation

Status: Production Ready ✅ Last Updated: 2025-11-06 Dependencies: None (git and gh CLI recommended) Latest Versions: actions/checkout@v4.2.2, actions/setup-node@v4.1.0, github/codeql-action@v3.27.4

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Quick Start (15 Minutes)

1. Choose Your Framework

Select the workflow template that matches your project:

# For React/Vite projects
cp templates/workflows/ci-react.yml .github/workflows/ci.yml

# For Node.js libraries (matrix testing)
cp templates/workflows/ci-node.yml .github/workflows/ci.yml

# For Python projects
cp templates/workflows/ci-python.yml .github/workflows/ci.yml

# For Cloudflare Workers
cp templates/workflows/ci-cloudflare-workers.yml .github/workflows/deploy.yml

# For basic projects (any framework)
cp templates/workflows/ci-basic.yml .github/workflows/ci.yml

Why this matters:

• Pre-validated YAML prevents syntax errors
• SHA-pinned actions for security
• Explicit runner versions (ubuntu-24.04)
• All 8 GitHub Actions errors prevented

2. Add Issue Templates

# Create directory structure
mkdir -p .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE

# Copy YAML templates (with validation)
cp templates/issue-templates/bug_report.yml .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/
cp templates/issue-templates/feature_request.yml .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/

Why YAML over Markdown:

• Required field validation (Error #12 prevented)
• Consistent data structure
• Better user experience
• No incomplete issues

3. Enable Security Scanning

# CodeQL for code analysis
cp templates/workflows/security-codeql.yml .github/workflows/codeql.yml

# Dependabot for dependency updates
cp templates/security/dependabot.yml .github/dependabot.yml

CRITICAL:

• CodeQL requires specific permissions (security-events: write)
• Dependabot has 10 PR limit per ecosystem
• Both must run on Dependabot PRs (Error #13 prevention)

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The 5-Step Complete Setup Process

Step 1: Repository Structure

Create the standard GitHub automation directory structure:

# Create all required directories
mkdir -p .github/{workflows,ISSUE_TEMPLATE}

# Verify structure
tree .github/
# .github/
# ├── workflows/        # GitHub Actions workflows
# ├── ISSUE_TEMPLATE/   # Issue templates
# └── dependabot.yml    # Dependabot config (root of .github/)

Key Points:

• workflows/ is plural
• ISSUE_TEMPLATE/ is singular (legacy naming)
• dependabot.yml goes in .github/, NOT workflows/

Step 2: Select Workflow Templates

Choose workflows based on your project needs:

Continuous Integration (pick ONE):

1. ci-basic.yml - Generic test/lint/build (all frameworks)
2. ci-node.yml - Node.js with matrix testing (18, 20, 22)
3. ci-python.yml - Python with matrix testing (3.10, 3.11, 3.12)
4. ci-react.yml - React/TypeScript with type checking

Deployment (optional): 5. ci-cloudflare-workers.yml - Deploy to Cloudflare Workers

Security (recommended): 6. security-codeql.yml - Code scanning 7. dependabot.yml - Dependency updates

Copy selected templates:

# Example: React app with security
cp templates/workflows/ci-react.yml .github/workflows/ci.yml
cp templates/workflows/security-codeql.yml .github/workflows/codeql.yml
cp templates/security/dependabot.yml .github/dependabot.yml

Step 3: Configure Secrets (if deploying)

For deployment workflows (Cloudflare, AWS, etc.), add secrets:

# Using gh CLI
gh secret set CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN
# Paste your token when prompted

# Verify
gh secret list

Critical Syntax:

# ✅ CORRECT
env:
  API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN }}

# ❌ WRONG - Missing double braces
env:
  API_TOKEN: $secrets.CLOUDFLARE_API_TOKEN

Prevents Error #6 (secrets syntax).

Step 4: Add Issue/PR Templates

Issue templates (YAML format):

cp templates/issue-templates/bug_report.yml .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/
cp templates/issue-templates/feature_request.yml .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/

PR template (Markdown format):

cp templates/pr-templates/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md .github/

Why separate formats:

• Issue templates: YAML for validation
• PR template: Markdown (GitHub limitation)

Step 5: Customize for Your Project

Required customizations:

1. Update usernames/emails:

   # In issue templates
   assignees:
     - jezweb  # ← Change to your GitHub username
   
   # In dependabot.yml
   reviewers:
     - "jezweb"  # ← Change to your username
   

2. Adjust languages (CodeQL):

   # In security-codeql.yml
   matrix:
     language: ['javascript-typescript']  # ← Add your languages
     # Options: c-cpp, csharp, go, java-kotlin, python, ruby, swift
   

3. Update package manager (Dependabot):

   # In dependabot.yml
   - package-ecosystem: "npm"  # ← Change if using yarn/pnpm/pip/etc
   

4. Set deployment URL (Cloudflare):

   # In ci-cloudflare-workers.yml
   echo "Worker URL: https://your-worker.y
   

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