In the evolving world of software development, automation and scalability are more than just buzzwords—they’re the backbone of modern DevOps. As a developer navigating cloud ecosystems, I’ve found that integrating GitHub Actions with Azure App Service provides an incredibly smooth CI/CD pipeline with minimal overhead and maximum flexibility.

Recently, I built a simple web application and decided to streamline its deployment using GitHub Actions. Here's a look into that journey—from code commit to live deployment—without ever leaving my development flow.

🔧 Setting Up the Project

My app (a Node.js REST API) is hosted on GitHub. Azure App Service was a natural choice for hosting since it supports various runtimes out of the box, including Node.js, Python, .NET, Java, and more.

After creating the Azure App Service from the Azure Portal, I downloaded the publish profile, which contains all the credentials required for automated deployments.

⚙️ Creating the CI/CD Pipeline with GitHub Actions

The next step was wiring up GitHub Actions. Here’s the minimal deploy.yml workflow file I used:

name: Azure CI/CD

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  build-and-deploy:
    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 tests
        run: npm test

      - name: Deploy to Azure
        uses: azure/webapps-deploy@v2
        with:
          app-name: <your-app-service-name>
          publish-profile: ${{ secrets.AZURE_WEBAPP_PUBLISH_PROFILE }}
          package: .

A few highlights:

Automatic deployment on each push to the main branch.
Secure authentication via a GitHub Secret (AZURE_WEBAPP_PUBLISH_PROFILE).
Test automation before deploying—crucial for catching issues early.

☁️ Why Azure + GitHub Actions?

There are many CI/CD options, so why did I choose this combo?

Built-in Integration: Azure and GitHub are deeply integrated. The Azure Portal even offers a one-click setup for GitHub Actions.
No External Tools Required: Everything is handled inside GitHub and Azure—no Jenkins, no pipelines-as-a-service subscriptions.
Scalability: Whether you’re deploying a small app or an enterprise-grade API, the same pipeline can scale with your needs.

🔄 Iteration Made Simple

The best part? Iterating is fast. Once the pipeline is live, making changes becomes a seamless loop:

Edit code
Commit and push
Watch GitHub Actions build, test, and deploy in minutes

For solo developers and teams alike, this flow enforces consistency and reduces “it works on my machine” problems.

🚀 Final Thoughts

Setting up CI/CD with Azure App Service and GitHub Actions isn’t just for production-ready apps—it’s also perfect for hobby projects, prototypes, and personal websites. The learning curve is gentle, and the benefits in productivity and reliability are immediate.

As I continue expanding my cloud skills, especially around Azure DevOps, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), and containerisation, this workflow provides a solid foundation to build on.

End-to-End DevOps with Azure and GitHub Actions: A Developer's Journey