CI/CD Config Builder

When to use this skill

• User asks to set up CI/CD for a project

• User wants to create GitHub Actions workflows

• User mentions GitLab CI or CircleCI

• User wants to automate linting, testing, or deployment

• User asks to add a pipeline step or job

Workflow

• Detect project type and framework

• Identify target CI/CD platform

• Determine required pipeline stages

• Generate pipeline configuration

• Validate config syntax locally

• Present for user approval

Instructions

Step 1: Detect Project Type

Check for framework indicators:

Framework Indicators

Next.js next.config.* , "next" in package.json

Nuxt nuxt.config.* , "nuxt" in package.json

Vite vite.config.* , "vite" in package.json

Node.js package.json without frontend framework

Static index.html at root, no package.json

Python requirements.txt , pyproject.toml , setup.py

Detect package manager:

ls package-lock.json yarn.lock pnpm-lock.yaml bun.lockb 2>/dev/null | head -1

Check for existing scripts:

npm pkg get scripts 2>/dev/null

Step 2: Identify CI/CD Platform

Check for existing configs:

ls -la .github/workflows/ .gitlab-ci.yml .circleci/config.yml 2>/dev/null

Platform selection:

• GitHub Actions: Default for GitHub repos, .github/workflows/*.yml

• GitLab CI: For GitLab repos, .gitlab-ci.yml

• CircleCI: If .circleci/ exists or user specifies

Step 3: Determine Pipeline Stages

Standard pipeline flow:

install → lint → test → build → deploy

Required stages based on project:

• Has ESLint/Prettier → include lint

• Has test framework → include test

• Has build script → include build

• Has deployment target → include deploy

Step 4: Generate Configuration

GitHub Actions (Node.js/Next.js):

name: CI

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

jobs: ci: runs-on: ubuntu-latest

steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v4

  - name: Setup Node.js
    uses: actions/setup-node@v4
    with:
      node-version: "20"
      cache: "npm"

  - name: Install dependencies
    run: npm ci

  - name: Lint
    run: npm run lint

  - name: Test
    run: npm test

  - name: Build
    run: npm run build

GitHub Actions (with matrix):

jobs: ci: runs-on: ubuntu-latest strategy: matrix: node-version: [18, 20, 22]

steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v4

  - name: Setup Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
    uses: actions/setup-node@v4
    with:
      node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      cache: "npm"

  - run: npm ci
  - run: npm run lint
  - run: npm test

GitLab CI:

stages:

• install
• lint
• test
• build

variables: npm_config_cache: "$CI_PROJECT_DIR/.npm"

cache: paths: - .npm/ - node_modules/

install: stage: install image: node:20 script: - npm ci

lint: stage: lint image: node:20 script: - npm run lint

test: stage: test image: node:20 script: - npm test coverage: '/All files[^|]|[^|]\s+([\d.]+)/'

build: stage: build image: node:20 script: - npm run build artifacts: paths: - dist/

CircleCI:

version: 2.1

orbs: node: circleci/node@5

jobs: build-and-test: executor: name: node/default tag: "20" steps: - checkout - node/install-packages - run: name: Lint command: npm run lint - run: name: Test command: npm test - run: name: Build command: npm run build

workflows: ci: jobs: - build-and-test

Step 5: Add Deployment (Optional)

Vercel (GitHub Actions):

deploy: needs: ci runs-on: ubuntu-latest if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 - uses: amondnet/vercel-action@v25 with: vercel-token: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_TOKEN }} vercel-org-id: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_ORG_ID }} vercel-project-id: ${{ secrets.VERCEL_PROJECT_ID }} vercel-args: "--prod"

AWS S3 (GitHub Actions):

deploy: needs: ci runs-on: ubuntu-latest if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 - run: npm ci && npm run build - uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4 with: aws-access-key-id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }} aws-secret-access-key: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }} aws-region: us-east-1 - run: aws s3 sync ./dist s3://${{ secrets.S3_BUCKET }} --delete

Step 6: Validate Configuration

GitHub Actions:

Install actionlint

brew install actionlint actionlint .github/workflows/*.yml

GitLab CI:

Use GitLab's CI Lint API or local validation

gitlab-ci-lint .gitlab-ci.yml

CircleCI:

circleci config validate .circleci/config.yml

YAML syntax check:

npx yaml-lint .github/workflows/*.yml

Common Additions

Environment variables:

env: NODE_ENV: production CI: true

Caching (GitHub Actions):

• uses: actions/cache@v4 with: path: ~/.npm key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}

Conditional jobs:

if: github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'

Secrets reference:

${{ secrets.SECRET_NAME }}

Validation

Before completing:

• Config syntax is valid

• All referenced scripts exist in package.json

• Secrets are documented (not values, just names needed)

• Node version matches project requirements

• Cache configuration is correct for package manager

Error Handling

• Workflow not triggering: Check branch names and on: triggers match.

• Action not found: Verify action version exists (e.g., @v4 not @v5 ).

• Secrets missing: Document required secrets for user to add in repo settings.

• Syntax error: Run actionlint or YAML linter locally.

• Unsure about syntax: Check platform documentation or run --help on CLI tools.

Resources

• GitHub Actions Documentation

• GitLab CI Documentation

• CircleCI Documentation

• actionlint