Harden Android CI Node/Gradle integration for react-native-reanimated evaluation

[Copilot]

The Android GitHub Actions job was failing while evaluating :react-native-reanimated because the Gradle build step’s node invocation exited non-zero. This PR updates the Android workflow so Node is explicitly available/compatible during Gradle evaluation and the workflow definition is valid and deterministic.

• Workflow normalization + runtime pinning

  • Replaced malformed HTML-escaped workflow content with valid YAML.
  • Pinned workflow Node runtime to 20.19.0 for stable compatibility with RN/Gradle tooling in CI.

• Make Node explicitly available to Gradle subprocesses

  • Added a step to export NODE_BINARY and NODE_BIN_DIR to GITHUB_ENV.
  • Passed these into Gradle build steps so react-native-reanimated’s node-based resolution can run reliably.

• Android build-step robustness

  • Added chmod +x android/gradlew before Gradle execution.
  • Added --stacktrace to Gradle invocations for actionable CI diagnostics.

• Workflow token hardening

  • Added explicit least-privilege workflow permissions:
    • permissions: contents: read

env:
  NODE_VERSION: '20.19.0'

- name: Expose Node runtime for Gradle subprocesses
  run: |
    echo "NODE_BINARY=$(command -v node)" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
    echo "NODE_BIN_DIR=$(dirname \"$(command -v node)\")" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"

- name: Build Android APK (debug)
  env:
    PATH: ${{ env.NODE_BIN_DIR }}:${{ env.PATH }}
    NODE_BINARY: ${{ env.NODE_BINARY }}
  run: |
    cd android
    ./gradlew assembleDebug --stacktrace

Warning

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I tried to connect to the following addresses, but was blocked by firewall rules:

• dl.google.com
  • Triggering command: /usr/lib/jvm/temurin-17-jdk-amd64/bin/java /usr/lib/jvm/temurin-17-jdk-amd64/bin/java --add-opens=java.base/java.lang=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.base/java.lang.invoke=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.base/java.util=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.prefs/java.util.prefs=ALL-UNNAMED --add-exports=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.api=ALL-UNNAMED --add-exports=jdk.compiler/com.sun.tools.javac.util=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.base/java.util=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.prefs/java.util.prefs=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.base/java.nio.charset=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.base/java.net=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.base/java.util.concurrent.atomic=ALL-UNNAMED --add-opens=java.xml/javax.xml.namespace=ALL-UNNAMED -Xmx1536m -Dfile.encoding=UTF-8 -Duser.country -Duser.language=en -Duser.variant -cp /home/REDACTED/.gradle/wrapper/dists/gradle-8.14.3-all/10utluxaxniiv4wxiphsi49nj/gradle-8.14.3/lib/gradle-daemon-main-8.14.3.jar (dns block)

If you need me to access, download, or install something from one of these locations, you can either:

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Original prompt

Fix the Android build failure in GitHub Actions. The failing job is https://github.com/King-Austin/Smart_Classroom_Attendance/actions/runs/26154570175/job/76930444878. Error: Gradle fails evaluating :react-native-reanimated because running node in native/node_modules/react-native-reanimated/android/build.gradle (line 53) exits with code 1. Update the repo so the build runs successfully in CI. Make changes needed in workflow/config/dependencies to ensure Node is available and compatible during the Gradle build, and that react-native-reanimated’s build step succeeds. After fixing, open a PR with the changes.

The following is the prior conversation context from the user's chat exploration (may be truncated):

User: How can I fix this build?

Assistant: Your build failed at the react-native-reanimated native module. The main issue is this error:

Process 'command 'node'' finished with non-zero exit value 1

This means the Gradle build couldn't execute a node process successfully while evaluating react-native-reanimated's build.gradle (line 53).

How to fix:

1. Make sure Node.js is installed and accessible in your build environment.

2. Verify you are using compatible versions of:

   • Node.js
   • react-native
   • react-native-reanimated

3. Try deleting node_modules and clearing Gradle cache:

   rm -rf node_modules android/build .gradle
   yarn install
   cd android && ./gradlew clean
   

4. Double-check your react-native-reanimated installation steps in the official documentation: https://docs.swmansion.com/react-native-reanimated/docs/fundamentals/installation/

If the error continues, check the file:

• native/node_modules/react-native-reanimated/android/build.gradle at line 53
  for any custom code that might fail.

If you need help analyzing that part of the code, let me know!

User: pls do a fix to this:
i need the build to run successfully
then make a PR

Assistant: I’m waiting for your approval to proceed with the fix and PR—once you confirm, I’ll continue.

This pull request was created from Copilot chat.

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Project	Deployment	Actions	Updated (UTC)
smart-attendance	Ready	Preview, Comment	May 20, 2026 10:46am

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR repairs and hardens the Android GitHub Actions workflow so Gradle can reliably execute Node during react-native-reanimated evaluation, and makes the workflow definition valid YAML.

Changes:

• Replaced the previously HTML-escaped (invalid) workflow content with proper YAML.
• Pinned the Node runtime to 20.19.0 and added a step to expose Node path details for downstream steps.
• Added Gradle robustness tweaks (chmod +x on gradlew, --stacktrace) and least-privilege workflow permissions (contents: read).

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

.github/workflows/build-android.yml:64

• Same issue here: PATH: ${{ env.NODE_BIN_DIR }}:${{ env.PATH }} references env.PATH, which is unset in this workflow, so PATH can become effectively just NODE_BIN_DIR:. Use $GITHUB_PATH once (preferred) or prepend using the shell’s $PATH to avoid breaking the environment for Gradle.

        env:
          PATH: ${{ env.NODE_BIN_DIR }}:${{ env.PATH }}
          NODE_BINARY: ${{ env.NODE_BINARY }}

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