Continuous integration with GitHub Actions#
Set up GitHub Actions as your continuous integration (CI) workflow for commits and pull requests.
Nix lets CI build and cache developer environments for every project on every branch using binary caches.
Build time is a key CI metric. Cachix (below) is the most straightforward caching option.
Caching builds using Cachix#
Using Cachix you’ll never have to waste time building a derivation twice, and you’ll share built derivations with all your developers.
After each job, just-built derivations are pushed to your binary cache.
Before each job, derivations to be built are first substituted (if they exist) from your binary cache.
1. Creating your first binary cache#
It’s recommended to have different binary caches per team, depending on who will have write/read access to it.
Fill out the form on the create binary cache page.
On your freshly created binary cache, follow the Push binaries tab instructions.
2. Setting up secrets#
On your GitHub repository or organization (for use across all repositories):
Click on
Settings.Click on
Secrets.Add your previously generated secrets (
CACHIX_SIGNING_KEYand/orCACHIX_AUTH_TOKEN).
3. Setting up GitHub Actions#
Create .github/workflows/test.yml with:
name: "Test"
on:
pull_request:
push:
jobs:
tests:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: cachix/install-nix-action@v25
with:
nix_path: nixpkgs=channel:nixos-unstable
- uses: cachix/cachix-action@v14
with:
name: mycache
# If you chose signing key for write access
signingKey: '${{ secrets.CACHIX_SIGNING_KEY }}'
# If you chose API tokens for write access OR if you have a private cache
authToken: '${{ secrets.CACHIX_AUTH_TOKEN }}'
- run: nix-build
- run: nix-shell --run "echo OK"
Once you commit and push to your GitHub repository, you should see status checks appearing on commits and PRs.
Next steps#
To quickly set up a Nix project read through Getting started Nix template.