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CI/CD and Automation

What runs where, required checks, and secrets management.

CI Pipeline Overview​

Workflows​

WorkflowTriggerPurpose
packagesPush to main, PRs, workflow_dispatchBuild and package desktop + server
releasePush to v* tagsBuild, package, and publish GitHub Release
websitePush to main (typically)Build and deploy docs site

Location: .github/workflows/

What Runs Where​

On push to main or PR:

  • packages workflow:
    • desktop — Build + package Electron app (Linux, Windows, macOS x64, macOS arm64)
    • server-deb — Build + package server .deb (amd64, arm64, armhf)
    • release (only on tags) — Download artifacts, create GitHub Release

On push to v* tag:

  • release workflow:
    • Same desktop + server-deb matrix as packages
    • publish job — Create GitHub Release, attach all artifacts

Website:

  • website workflow (Deploy Website) — Triggers on push to main when website/** or .github/workflows/website.yml change; also workflow_dispatch. Builds user docs (Docusaurus) and dev docs (Docusaurus), copies output to _site/docs and _site/devdocs, then deploys _site to GitHub Pages.

Required Checks​

Before merge, PRs typically need:

  • packages — All matrix jobs passing (desktop + server-deb)
  • Lint — Run locally via pnpm test:lint; CI may run it too if configured

Release workflow: No separate "required checks" for tag push — it runs automatically. Failures in desktop or server-deb will prevent the publish job from running.

Caching / Build Artifacts​

Node:

  • setup-node uses cache: 'pnpm' for pnpm cache
  • Reduces install time across jobs

Build artifacts:

  • Desktop and server jobs produce artifacts (installers, .deb files)
  • release workflow downloads these via download-artifact and attaches them to the GitHub Release
  • No long-term caching of build outputs beyond the release artifacts

Secrets Management​

GitHub Actions secrets: Used for deployment and publishing. Never commit secrets.

Typical uses:

  • Tokens — e.g. GitHub token for creating releases (usually provided by GITHUB_TOKEN)
  • Deploy keys — If deploying elsewhere (e.g. external hosting)
  • Signing keys — If code signing is added for desktop apps

Repository: Secrets are stored in Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions. Only maintainers should add or rotate them.

Local development: No CI secrets on your machine. Use ~/.axiocnc/config.json and env vars for local config.

Next Steps​