Running Cypress Tests in CI/CD with GitHub Actions

Integrating Cypress tests into your CI/CD pipeline ensures automated test execution for every commit, push, or pull request. GitHub Actions is a free, easy-to-configure platform to do just that.

🧰 Prerequisites

• Cypress tests already created and working locally
• Your project hosted on GitHub
• cypress listed as a dev dependency in package.json

🗂️ Step 1: Create the GitHub Actions Workflow

Inside your project, create a file:

.github/workflows/cypress.yml

Add the following content:

name: Cypress Tests

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  cypress-run:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Setup Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: 18

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm install

      - name: Run Cypress tests
        run: npx cypress run

🧪 Step 2: Push to GitHub

Once this file is pushed to your repository, GitHub will automatically trigger Cypress tests on every push or pull request.

You’ll see test results under the Actions tab of your repo.

💡 Optional: Add Cypress Dashboard Recording

To get richer insights like screenshots and video recordings:

1. Create an account at Cypress Dashboard
2. Set up your project ID and record key
3. Update your run step like this:

- name: Run Cypress tests with Dashboard
  run: npx cypress run --record --key ${{ secrets.CYPRESS_RECORD_KEY }}

Add the record key in your GitHub repo’s secrets as CYPRESS_RECORD_KEY.

✅ Benefits

• Ensures stability by catching bugs early
• Makes test results visible to the whole team
• Speeds up QA feedback cycle

🚀 Final Thoughts

Running Cypress tests in GitHub Actions is one of the easiest ways to set up automated end-to-end testing. Just commit your workflow file and go — CI/CD magic begins!

Next in Series: Extending Cypress with Plugins: Unlock Extra Power