CI/CD Standards

Priority: P1 (HIGH)

Automates code quality checks, testing, and deployment to prevent regressions and accelerate delivery.

Core Pipeline Steps

1. Environment Setup: Use stable Flutter channel. Cache dependencies (pub, gradle, cocoapods).
2. Static Analysis: Enforce flutter analyze and dart format. Fail on any warning in strict mode.
3. Testing: Run unit, widget, and integration tests. Upload coverage reports (e.g., Codecov).
4. Build:
   • Android: Build App Bundle (.aab) for Play Store.
   • iOS: Sign and build .ipa (requires macOS runner).
5. Deployment (CD): Automated upload to TestFlight/Play Console using standard tools (Fastlane, Codemagic).

Best Practices

• Timeout Limits: Always set timeout-minutes (e.g., 30m) to save costs on hung jobs.
• Fail Fast: Run Analyze/Format before Tests/Builds.
• Secrets: Never commit keys. Use GitHub Secrets or secure vaults for keystore.jks and .p8 certs.
• Versioning: Automate version bumping based on git tags or semantic version scripts.

Reference

• GitHub Actions Template - Standard workflow file.
• Advanced Large-Scale Workflow - Parallel jobs, Caching, Strict Mode.
• Fastlane Standards - Automated Signing & Deployment.

Anti-Patterns

• ❌ Committing keystore.jks, .p8, or .env files — store all signing credentials in GitHub Secrets or a secure vault
• ❌ CI job without timeout-minutes — hung jobs burn runner minutes; always set an explicit timeout (e.g., 30m)
• ❌ Manual version: 1.0.0+42 edits in pubspec.yaml — automate via git tags or a version script to prevent human error
• ❌ Running flutter analyze after flutter build — analysis is cheap and fast; fail fast by running it before builds/tests

Related Topics

flutter/testing | dart/tooling