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CI/CD for Node.js

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📚 Buddy Tutorial: Learn how to develop a simple Node.js Discord bot

Node.js in an open-source environment that runs on the Javascript engine allowing you to invoke JavaScript code

How to setup CI/CD pipeline for Node.js

With Buddy, you can create a pipeline that builds, tests, and deploys Node applications on a push to Git. The configuration is super simple and setting up your CI/CD process takes 5 to 10 minutes.

Image loading...CI/CD pipeline example for Node

However, before we get started, let's gather some basic knowledge on CI/CD key features:

  • Continuous Integration – assumes that every single change to source code is built and tested automatically, and then integrated into a remote repository, with the build status returned to the sender. Automated testing, including unit tests, is one of the main assumptions of Continuous Integration, allowing developers to check their code for possible bugs at the early stage of development process.

  • Continuous Deployment – means real-time deployment to staging or production environment (or web service), under condition that the tested code is valid and no longer requires bug fixes.

1. Select your Git repository

Buddy lets you deploy source code from all popular Git hosting providers. You can hook up Buddy with your GitHub repository, Bitbucket or a GitLab one. You can also use your own private Git server, or host code directly on Buddy.

Image loading...Supported Git providers

2. Add a new delivery pipeline

Enter the pipeline's name, select the trigger mode, and define the branch from which Buddy will fetch your code:

Image loading...Exemplary pipeline settings

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Trigger modes

  • Manually (on click) — recommended for Production
  • On events (automatic) — recommended for Development
  • On schedule (on time interval) — recommended for Staging/Testing
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Event-based triggers allow you to run pipelines whenever a push is made to any branch in the repository, or whenever a branch, tag or a pull request is created or deleted. Image loading...On event pipeline trigger mode If you want to learn more on pull request testing with Buddy, click here

3. Add actions

Buddy lets you choose from dozens of predefined actions. In this example, we'll add 4 actions that perform the following tasks:

  • Build and test Node.js app: download dependencies (npm, yarn, etc.), run automated tests, compile assets (npm tasks, webpack, etc.)
  • Upload code to server together with compiled assets
  • Restart application
  • Send notification to Slack

3.1 Build your Node.js application

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Build actions in Buddy are run in isolated containers run from official Docker images. When the pipeline is run, Buddy pulls the container, runs build commands, and uploads the results to the pipeline filesystem.

Look up and click Node.js on the action list to add it to the pipeline:

Image loading...Action list

The Run tab lets you determine the commands to execute. The default commands are:

bash
npm install
npm test$$

Image loading...Default build commands

3.1.2 Node version

You can change the version of Node and install missing packages & tools in the runtime environment tab:

Image loading...Node action image

Tip
If your tests require a database to run, you can attach it in the Services tab: Image loading...Services tab

3.2 Deploy application to server

The compiled application needs to be uploaded to the server. Head to the Transfer section and select your upload action (SFTP in our case):

Image loading...File transfer actions

When adding the action, you can choose what and where should be uploaded:

Image loading...SFTP action configuration

3.2.1 Node modules

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Make sure to add node_modules to the ignore paths (Transfer tab) - we will install them on the server after the deployment in the next step. Image loading...Ignore paths config

3.3 Install modules & restart application

Once the app is deployed, you can run additional commands on your server with the SSH action:

Image loading...SSH action selection

In this case, we shall run npm install and restart the application with a script:

Image loading...Restarting the application

3.4 (Optional) Send notification to Slack

You can configure Buddy to send your team a message after the deployment. In this example we'll use Slack:

Image loading...Notification actions

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If you add this action in the On Failure tab, Buddy will only send the message if something goes wrong with your build or deployment. Image loading...On failure notification

4. Summary

Congratulations! You have just automated your entire delivery process 🍾🙌. Make a push to the selected branch and watch Buddy fetch, build, and deploy your project to the production environment. With Continuous Delivery applied, you can now focus on what's really important: developing awesome apps! 🔥

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Bear in mind that this article is only a brief example of what Buddy can do. You can create additional pipelines for staging and production environments, integrate with your favorite services (AWS, Google, Azure), trigger tests on pull requests, build Docker images, and push them to the registry—the possibilities are unlimited.
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If you want us to create a delivery pipeline for your project, drop a line to support@buddy.works – we'll be happy to help!

Additional resources

Last modified on Feb 17, 2025

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