What it is
GitHub Actions is WebGrow24's default CI/CD platform, running on every repository we manage. The tight integration with GitHub means we don't manage a separate CI server, and the workflow syntax lives alongside the code it builds, which makes it easy to review CI configuration changes in the same pull request as the code that depends on them. We write workflows for automated testing on every push and pull request, building Docker images on merges to master, deploying to Dokploy staging on feature branches, and promoting to production on tagged releases. The Indian SMB market values predictable costs, and GitHub Actions' free tier for public repositories with generous minutes for private repos keeps CI costs low for the project sizes we typically work with. We use reusable workflows to centralise common patterns like Docker builds and Lighthouse audits, which means security fixes and performance improvements propagate to all projects automatically. Matrix builds let us run test suites across multiple Node.js versions or operating systems in parallel, which matters for packages that behave differently across environments. We avoid GitHub Actions for projects hosted on GitLab or Bitbucket where the native CI platform integrates better, and for extremely simple static sites where Netlify's built-in CI is sufficient without YAML configuration.
Use cases
- Automated testing on every push and pull request
- Docker image builds on merge to master
- Deployment to Dokploy staging and production
- Lighthouse performance audits on top routes
- Scheduled database backups and maintenance tasks
- Dependency vulnerability scanning and updates
- Cross-browser Playwright test execution
Integration patterns
Common integrations WebGrow24 connects with GitHub Actions:
- Dokploy (deployment target)
- Docker Hub (container registry)
- AWS ECR (private container registry)
- Cache action (build cache for faster CI runs)
- Lighthouse CI (performance budget enforcement)
- Snyk (dependency vulnerability scanning)
- Dependabot (automated dependency updates)
- GitHub Pages (static site hosting)
- WebCONN (API integration testing)
- Playwright (browser automation testing)