Set Up CI/CD Pipelines & Automate Laravel Deployments

💡 Why CI/CD Matters for Developers

In modern web development, speed and reliability matter more than ever. Whether you’re building APIs, frontend apps, or backend systems, continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) ensure your code gets tested and deployed automatically whenever you push updates.

With GitHub Actions, you can build powerful pipelines directly from your GitHub repository — no external service needed. It’s simple, flexible, free and integrates seamlessly with any stack (Laravel, Node.js, Vue, React, etc.).

⚙️ What is CI/CD?

CI (Continuous Integration) — automatically test and verify code when it’s pushed. CD (Continuous Deployment) — automatically deploy code to your server if all tests pass.

For example:

• You push code to the dev branch.
• GitHub Actions runs automated tests.
• If all tests succeed, the app is deployed to your development server via SSH.

🧩 Example: Auto Deploy Laravel to DEV Server

Here’s a ready-to-use GitHub Actions workflow that deploys your Laravel app whenever you push to the dev branch.

# .github/workflows/deploy.yml
name: Deploy to DEV Server

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - dev

jobs:
  laravel-tests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup PHP
        uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
        with:
          php-version: '8.2'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: composer install --no-interaction --prefer-dist

      - name: Run PHPUnit tests
        run: php artisan test

      - name: Deploy to server
        if: success()  # Only deploy if tests passed
        uses: appleboy/ssh-action@v1.1.0
        with:
          host: ${{ secrets.HOST }}
          username: ${{ secrets.USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.PASSWORD }}
          script: "cd /var/www/api/html && ./script/production.sh"

🔒 Pro Tip:

Keep your SSH credentials (host, username, password) safe by storing them as GitHub Secrets — Go to Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → New repository secret.

📜 The production.sh Script

This Bash script handles your actual server-side deployment safely and efficiently.

#!/bin/bash

set -e

echo "Deployment started ..."

# Enter maintenance mode or return true
(php artisan down) || true

# Pull the latest version of the app
git fetch --all
git reset --hard HEAD
git clean -f -d
git pull origin production

rm composer.lock
composer install --no-dev --no-interaction --prefer-dist --optimize-autoloader

php artisan optimize:clear
php artisan clear-compiled
php artisan optimize

php artisan up

echo "Deployment finished!"

🧠 How It Works (Step-by-Step)

1. Push code to the dev branch.
2. GitHub Actions runs tests using PHPUnit or any configured test suite.
3. If tests succeed → the SSH deploy action runs.
4. The production.sh script executes on your server, pulling the latest code and clearing caches.
5. Your app is live — automatically!

🧪 Adding Post-Deployment API Testing (Optional)

After deployment, you can even run automated API tests with Postman or Newman CLI to ensure your endpoints are working properly.

Add a step after deployment:

- name: Run Postman API Tests
  run: |
    npm install -g newman
    newman run tests/api-collection.json --environment tests/dev-env.json

This ensures your frontend or mobile clients always connect to working APIs.

🌐 Benefits of Using GitHub Actions for CI/CD

• ✅ Free for public repos and affordable for private ones.
• ⚙️ Native GitHub integration — no external setup.
• 🔄 Works with any framework (Laravel, Node.js, React, etc.).
• 🧠 Easily extendable with test, lint, and build steps.
• 🚀 Deploy anywhere — VPS, AWS, DigitalOcean, or Firebase.

🏁 Wrapping Up

Setting up CI/CD pipelines with GitHub Actions is one of the easiest ways to automate your development workflow. Once you configure it, every push triggers:

• automated tests,
• followed by secure SSH deployment,
• and optionally, API tests with Postman.

This means less manual work, faster releases, and higher confidence in every deploy.

✍️ Final Thoughts (for SEO)

If you’re serious about becoming a modern web developer, mastering tools like GitHub Actions, Postman, and API testing pipelines will make you stand out. Automate your builds, test your APIs, and deploy confidently — all from GitHub.