GitHub Automation Bot

A full-stack GitHub Automation platform that enables users to connect GitHub repositories, create configurable automation rules, automate repository workflows, send AI-powered Slack notifications, and monitor all automation activity through a centralized dashboard.

The project is built using Next.js, Express.js, Prisma, PostgreSQL (Neon), GitHub OAuth, GitHub Webhooks, Slack Incoming Webhooks, and Google Gemini AI.

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Live Demo

Frontend: https://github-automation-tan.vercel.app/

Backend: https://github-automation-anrl.onrender.com (As Render is on free trial please wait for a minute after the first backend request as render may take a while to load. Thanks for your patience)

Features

Authentication

• GitHub OAuth Authentication
• Secure Passport.js session-based login
• Protected frontend pages
• Protected backend API routes
• Secure logout with session destruction

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Repository Management

• Connect GitHub repositories
• Disconnect repositories
• Automatic webhook creation
• Automatic webhook deletion
• Multiple repositories per user

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Configurable Automation Rules

Create automation rules directly from the UI.

Supported Triggers

• Issue Opened
• Pull Request Opened

Supported Conditions

• Title contains keyword
• Description contains keyword
• Author matches username
• Label matches

Supported Actions

• Add GitHub Label
• Add GitHub Comment
• Send Slack Notification

Rules are completely configurable without changing backend code.

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AI-powered Slack Notifications

Instead of sending static Slack messages, the application uses Google Gemini to generate human-friendly summaries for GitHub Issues and Pull Requests before sending notifications.

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Dashboard

Every automation activity is recorded.

Dashboard events include:

• Repository Connected
• Repository Disconnected
• Rule Created
• Rule Updated
• Rule Deleted
• Label Added
• Comment Added
• Slack Notification Sent
• Job Retry
• Job Success
• Job Failure

Dashboard events can be filtered by repository.

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Reliable Webhook Processing

The application is designed to safely process GitHub webhooks.

Implemented reliability features:

• GitHub webhook signature verification
• Replay attack prevention
• Duplicate webhook detection
• Background job processing
• Automatic retry mechanism
• Idempotent action execution
• Dashboard logging for failures and retries

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Tech Stack

Frontend

• Next.js
• React
• Tailwind CSS

Backend

• Express.js
• Passport.js
• Prisma ORM
• PostgreSQL (Neon)

External Services

• GitHub OAuth
• GitHub REST API
• GitHub Webhooks
• Slack Incoming Webhooks
• Google Gemini API

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Project Structure

github-automation/
│
├── frontend/
│   ├── app/
│   ├── components/
│   └── public/
│
├── backend/
│   ├── prisma/
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── config/
│   │   ├── controllers/
│   │   ├── middleware/
│   │   ├── routes/
│   │   ├── services/
│   │   ├── utils/
│   │   └── lib/
│   └── package.json
│
└── README.md

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Running the Project Locally

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/<repository-name>.git

cd <repository-name>

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2. Install Dependencies

Backend

cd backend

npm install

Frontend

cd ../frontend

npm install

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3. Create a PostgreSQL Database

You may use:

• Neon
• Supabase
• Local PostgreSQL

Copy the PostgreSQL connection string.

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4. Configure Backend Environment Variables

Create:

backend/.env

Add the following:

PORT=5000

DATABASE_URL=

SESSION_SECRET=

CLIENT_ID=
CLIENT_SECRET=

YOUR_PUBLIC_URL=

FRONTEND_URL=http://localhost:3000

WEBHOOK_SECRET=

GEMINI_API_KEY=

Environment Variable Explanation

Variable	Description
PORT	Backend port
DATABASE_URL	PostgreSQL connection string
SESSION_SECRET	Secret used to sign sessions
CLIENT_ID	GitHub OAuth Client ID
CLIENT_SECRET	GitHub OAuth Client Secret
YOUR_PUBLIC_URL	Public backend URL (ngrok during local development)
FRONTEND_URL	Frontend URL
WEBHOOK_SECRET	GitHub webhook secret
GEMINI_API_KEY	Google Gemini API Key

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5. Configure Frontend Environment Variables

Create:

frontend/.env.local

Add:

NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=http://localhost:5000

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6. Generate Prisma Client

Inside the backend:

npx prisma generate

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7. Push Database Schema

npx prisma db push

(Optional)

Open Prisma Studio:

npx prisma studio

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8. Create a GitHub OAuth App

Go to:

https://github.com/settings/developers

Create a new OAuth App.

Use:

Homepage URL

http://localhost:3000

Authorization Callback URL

https://<your-ngrok-domain>.ngrok-free.app/auth/github/callback

Copy the generated:

• Client ID
• Client Secret

into your backend .env.

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9. Expose Your Backend

GitHub Webhooks require a public URL.

Run:

ngrok http 5000

Example:

https://abc123.ngrok-free.app

Copy this URL.

Update:

YOUR_PUBLIC_URL

inside .env.

Restart the backend.

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10. Generate a GitHub Webhook Secret

Generate any random string.

Example:

my-super-secret-key

Store it as:

WEBHOOK_SECRET

The same value is automatically used while creating GitHub webhooks.

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11. Create a Slack Incoming Webhook

Create a Slack App.

Enable:

Incoming Webhooks

Create a webhook for your desired channel.

Copy the generated webhook URL.

When creating a rule in the application, choose the Slack action and paste this webhook URL into the action value field.

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12. Generate a Gemini API Key

Visit:

https://aistudio.google.com/

Create a new API key.

Store it as:

GEMINI_API_KEY

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13. Start the Backend

cd backend

npm run dev

The backend starts on:

http://localhost:5000

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14. Start the Frontend

cd frontend

npm run dev

Frontend:

http://localhost:3000

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Using the Application

Step 1

Open:

http://localhost:3000

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Step 2

Login using GitHub.

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Step 3

Connect one or more repositories.

The application automatically:

• Stores repository information
• Creates a GitHub webhook

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Step 4

Create automation rules.

Example:

Trigger:

Issue Opened

Condition:

Title contains "bug"

Actions:

• Add label
• Comment
• Send Slack notification

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Step 5

Open an Issue or Pull Request in the connected repository.

The application will automatically:

• Receive the GitHub webhook
• Verify its signature
• Store the webhook job
• Execute matching automation rules
• Retry failures automatically
• Update the dashboard

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Step 6

Visit the Dashboard to monitor:

• Connected repositories
• Automation history
• Successful actions
• Failed actions
• Retry history

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Security Features

The application includes several production-oriented security measures:

• GitHub webhook signature verification
• Session-based authentication
• Protected API routes
• Replay attack prevention
• Duplicate webhook protection
• Idempotent action execution
• Environment variable-based secret management
• Automatic retry mechanism for failed jobs

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Future Improvements

Potential enhancements include:

• GitHub App authentication
• AI-powered issue triage
• AI-generated labels
• Priority prediction
• Nested AND/OR rule builder
• Multiple Slack workspaces
• Microsoft Teams integration
• Discord integration
• Email notifications
• Scheduled workflows
• Redis/BullMQ job queue
• Exponential retry backoff
• Docker support
• GitHub Actions CI/CD
• Prometheus & Grafana monitoring
• WebSocket-based live dashboard
• Unit and integration tests

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Deployment

The application is deployed using:

Component	Platform
Frontend	Vercel
Backend	Render
Database	Neon PostgreSQL

Frontend: https://github-automation-tan.vercel.app/

Backend API: https://github-automation-anrl.onrender.com

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Testing

To test the application:

1. Sign in using your own GitHub account.

2. Connect any GitHub repository that you own or have admin access to.

3. Create a rule.

Example:

Trigger:

• Issue Opened

Condition:

• Title contains "bug"

Actions:

• Add Label "bug"
• Comment "Thanks for reporting!"
• Slack Notification (optional)

4. Open a new GitHub Issue with the title:

bug: testing automation

5. Within a few seconds you should observe:

• Label added to the issue
• Comment posted
• Slack notification (if configured)
• Dashboard updated

For convenience, a public demo repository is available:

https://github.com/thunDer2203/github_automation_demo

Reviewers may fork this repository and connect it to the application for testing.

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License

This project was developed for educational purposes and as a demonstration of building reliable GitHub automation workflows using modern web technologies.