CI/CD Pipelines Guide with GitHub Actions, SonarCloud, Codecov, and Sentry

I've been developing an open-source REST API for a book management system. I've set up all the components for an enterprise application, including Docker, Prometheus, and Grafana. Additionally, I've established a thorough CI/CD pipeline. Here's a summary of how I configured the CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions to check test coverage, conduct code analysis, create build tags, and monitor performance errors.

In this article, I will guide you through setting up a CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions. We will configure the pipeline to include test coverage reports, code quality analysis, automatic tag generation, release creation, and performance monitoring.

Prerequisites

Before we proceed with the CI/CD configuration, please ensure you have the following:

GitHub Account: Please ensure you have a GitHub account with an existing public repository, as you will need a premium account for private repositories.
SonarCloud Account: Create a SonarCloud account and obtain the Project key and Organization keys, which will be added to GitHub secrets.
Codecov Account: Set up a Codecov account and add the CODECOV_TOKEN to the secret keys of your GitHub repository project.
Sentry Project: Ensure you have an existing Sentry project. Add your CHANGELOG_RELEASE from your profile settings to the project repository for error monitoring, so that the tag will correlate with Sentry production.

Configuring the CI/CD Pipeline

Let's break down the configuration of our CI/CD pipeline step by step.

Setting Up the Build Job

First, we need a build job needs to be created to run on the ubuntu-latest environment. This job should check out the code, set up Node.js, and install the necessary dependencies.

name: CI/CD Pipeline
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
jobs:
  build:
    name: Build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: '20'
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

In this job, we first check out the code from the repository. Next, we set up Node.js using the actions/setup-node action, specifying version 20. Finally, we install the project dependencies using npm ci.

Running Tests and Uploading Coverage Reports

Next, we will create a test job to execute our tests and then upload the coverage reports to Codecov.

  test:
    name: Run Tests
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: build
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: '20'
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      - name: Run tests with coverage
        run: npm run test:coverage
      - name: Upload coverage reports to Codecov
        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3
        with:
          files: ./coverage/lcov.info
          flags: unittests
          name: codecov-umbrella
          fail_ci_if_error: true
        env:
          CODECOV_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }}

This job is triggered only after the build job is completed successfully. It checks out the code, sets up Node.js, and installs the dependencies. Then, it runs the tests with coverage and uploads the coverage report to Codecov.

Performing Code Analysis with SonarCloud

Let's set up a job to perform static code analysis using SonarCloud.

  sonarcloud:
    name: SonarCloud Analysis
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: test
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: '20'
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      - name: SonarCloud Scan
        uses: SonarSource/sonarcloud-github-action@master
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          SONAR_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SONAR_TOKEN }}
        with:
          projectBaseDir: .
          args: >
            -Dsonar.organization=rowjay007
            -Dsonar.projectKey=nardy-books
            -Dsonar.sources=src
            -Dsonar.tests=src/test
            -Dsonar.javascript.lcov.reportPaths=coverage/lcov.info
            -Dsonar.typescript.tsconfigPath=tsconfig.json
            -Dsonar.exclusions=**/node_modules/**,**/dist/**,**/coverage/**,**/public/**
            -Dsonar.test.inclusions=**/*.test.ts

In this job, we perform a comprehensive code analysis using SonarCloud. We clone the code repository with the full commit history, set up Node.js, and install dependencies. The SonarCloud action then executes the scan and uploads the results.

Generating Git Tags

We then set up a job to automatically generate Git tags.

  generate_git_tags:
    name: Generate Git Tags
    needs: [test, sonarcloud]
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      output_new_tag: ${{ steps.taggerFinal.outputs.new_tag }}
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Generate Final Version
        id: taggerFinal
        uses: anothrNick/github-tag-action@1.67.0
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          WITH_V: true
      - name: Echo New Tag
        run: |
          echo "The next new tag will be: ${{ steps.taggerFinal.outputs.new_tag }}"

This job uses the github-tag-action to automatically create a new version tag based on the repository's state, and then outputs the new tag's value.

Creating a GitHub Release

Let's create our GitHub Release, which will publish a new release based on the generated tag.

  generate_git_release:
    needs: [test, sonarcloud, generate_git_tags]
    name: GitHub Release
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Release Action
        uses: ncipollo/release-action@v1.14.0
        with:
          tag: ${{ needs.generate_git_tags.outputs.output_new_tag }}
          token: ${{ secrets.CHANGELOG_RELEASE }}

This job creates a GitHub release using the generated tag. It checks out the code and uses the release-action to publish the release.

Monitoring with Sentry

Finally, we integrate Sentry to manage our releases and monitor performance errors.

  generate_sentry_release:
    needs: [test, sonarcloud, generate_git_tags, generate_git_release]
    name: Sentry Release
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Split Repo Name
        uses: jungwinter/split@v2.0.0
        id: split_repo_name
        with:
          separator: '/'
          msg: ${{ github.repository }}
      - name: Echo Repo name
        run: echo "${{ steps.split_repo_name.outputs._1 }}"
      - name: Sentry Release
        uses: getsentry/action-release@v1.7.0
        env:
          SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN }}
          SENTRY_ORG: ${{ secrets.SENTRY_ORG }}
          SENTRY_PROJECT: ${{ secrets.SENTRY_PROJECT }}
        with:
          environment: 'production'
          version: '${{ steps.split_repo_name.outputs._1 }}@${{ needs.generate_git_tags.outputs.output_new_tag }}'
          sourcemaps: './build'
          url_prefix: '~'

In this job, our task involves reviewing the code and extracting the repository name. The Sentry action entails creating the release in Sentry, uploading sourcemaps, and linking the release with the new version tag. This process is crucial for effectively tracking errors and managing releases.

Complete YAML Configuration

To provide a comprehensive view of the entire pipeline, here’s the complete YAML configuration file:

name: CI/CD Pipeline
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
jobs:
  build:
    name: Build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: '20'


 - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

  test:
    name: Run Tests
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: build
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: '20'
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      - name: Run tests with coverage
        run: npm run test:coverage
      - name: Upload coverage reports to Codecov
        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3
        with:
          files: ./coverage/lcov.info
          flags: unittests
          name: codecov-umbrella
          fail_ci_if_error: true
        env:
          CODECOV_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CODECOV_TOKEN }}

  sonarcloud:
    name: SonarCloud Analysis
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: test
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: '20'
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      - name: SonarCloud Scan
        uses: SonarSource/sonarcloud-github-action@master
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          SONAR_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SONAR_TOKEN }}
        with:
          projectBaseDir: .
          args: >
            -Dsonar.organization=rowjay007
            -Dsonar.projectKey=nardy-books
            -Dsonar.sources=src
            -Dsonar.tests=src/test
            -Dsonar.javascript.lcov.reportPaths=coverage/lcov.info
            -Dsonar.typescript.tsconfigPath=tsconfig.json
            -Dsonar.exclusions=**/node_modules/**,**/dist/**,**/coverage/**,**/public/**
            -Dsonar.test.inclusions=**/*.test.ts

  generate_git_tags:
    name: Generate Git Tags
    needs: [test, sonarcloud]
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      output_new_tag: ${{ steps.taggerFinal.outputs.new_tag }}
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Generate Final Version
        id: taggerFinal
        uses: anothrNick/github-tag-action@1.67.0
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          WITH_V: true
      - name: Echo New Tag
        run: |
          echo "The next new tag will be: ${{ steps.taggerFinal.outputs.new_tag }}"

  generate_git_release:
    needs: [test, sonarcloud, generate_git_tags]
    name: GitHub Release
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Release Action
        uses: ncipollo/release-action@v1.14.0
        with:
          tag: ${{ needs.generate_git_tags.outputs.output_new_tag }}
          token: ${{ secrets.CHANGELOG_RELEASE }}

  generate_sentry_release:
    needs: [test, sonarcloud, generate_git_tags, generate_git_release]
    name: Sentry Release
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Split Repo Name
        uses: jungwinter/split@v2.0.0
        id: split_repo_name
        with:
          separator: '/'
          msg: ${{ github.repository }}
      - name: Echo Repo name
        run: echo "${{ steps.split_repo_name.outputs._1 }}"
      - name: Sentry Release
        uses: getsentry/action-release@v1.7.0
        env:
          SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SENTRY_AUTH_TOKEN }}
          SENTRY_ORG: ${{ secrets.SENTRY_ORG }}
          SENTRY_PROJECT: ${{ secrets.SENTRY_PROJECT }}
        with:
          environment: 'production'
          version: '${{ steps.split_repo_name.outputs._1 }}@${{ needs.generate_git_tags.outputs.output_new_tag }}'
          sourcemaps: './build'
          url_prefix: '~'

Conclusion

In this article, we have configured a comprehensive CI/CD pipeline using GitHub Actions, SonarCloud, Codecov, and Sentry. This setup ensures our code is built, tested, analyzed for code quality, and monitored for performance issues.

To enhance this pipeline further, you can integrate platform-as-a-service (PaaS) providers like Azure or AWS for deployment. Additionally, incorporating Docker and Docker Hub can streamline your deployment process, making it easier to manage and deploy your applications.

By setting up a robust CI/CD pipeline, you ensure a more reliable, efficient, and maintainable development process, ultimately leading to better software quality and faster delivery.

Feel free to modify this pipeline to better fit your project’s needs and enjoy the advantages of automated and efficient development.

References:
GitHub Actions Documentation
SonarCloud GitHub Action
Codecov GitHub Action
Sentry GitHub Action
Nardy Book REST API