github-actions-demo

Express API plus static frontend CI/CD example.

Local development

cp .env.example .env
npm ci
npm run build
npm start

APP_ENV=local is default. Express serves dist and /api/hello from one process, so frontend uses same-origin /api/hello.

End-to-end tests

E2E tests use Playwright to drive a real browser against the page, including clicking the "Say Hello Again" button.

npx playwright install --with-deps   # once, to download browsers
npm run test:e2e

By default this builds the app and starts it locally (http://localhost:3000). To run the same tests against a deployed site instead, set E2E_BASE_URL:

E2E_BASE_URL=https://<staging-site>.onrender.com npm run test:e2e

Render: separate API and static site

Staging and production each need two Render services. Do not host frontend through API Web Service.

Service	Render type	Build command	Start/publish setting
API	Web Service	npm ci	npm start
Site	Static Site	npm ci && npm run build	Publish directory: dist

Set these environment variables in Render:

Environment	Static Site variables	API Web Service variables
Staging	APP_ENV=staging, API_BASE_URL=https://<staging-api>.onrender.com	APP_ENV=staging, SITE_ORIGIN=https://<staging-site>.onrender.com
Production	APP_ENV=production, API_BASE_URL=https://github-actions-demo-tk0d.onrender.com	APP_ENV=production, SITE_ORIGIN=https://<production-site>.onrender.com

API_BASE_URL is required for staging/production static builds and must be absolute HTTP(S). SITE_ORIGIN is required for staging/production API services and accepts comma-separated static site origins. Application exits at startup/build when deployed configuration is incomplete.

GitHub staging and production environments need SITE_URL and API_URL variables plus separate RENDER_SITE_DEPLOY_HOOK and RENDER_API_DEPLOY_HOOK secrets. The deploy workflows trigger both independent Render services; Render builds the site using its own API_BASE_URL.