GitHub Actions Reference

kindling ships two reusable composite actions that replace 15+ lines of signal-file boilerplate with a single uses: step. These actions live in the kindling repo under .github/actions/ and are referenced as:

kindling-sh/kindling/.github/actions/kindling-build@main
kindling-sh/kindling/.github/actions/kindling-deploy@main

---

kindling-build

Build and push a container image via the Kaniko build-agent sidecar.

Dockerfile required

This action runs the Dockerfile found in the build context directory as-is using Kaniko. It does not generate or modify Dockerfiles. Each service must have a working Dockerfile that builds successfully on its own (e.g. docker build .). If it doesn't build locally, it won't build in kindling.

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
name	✅	—	Unique build name (used for signal files: /builds/<name>.*)
context	✅	—	Path to the build context directory
image	✅	—	Full image reference (registry/name:tag)
exclude	❌	""	tar --exclude patterns (space-separated, e.g. "./ui ./.git")
dockerfile	❌	""	Path to Dockerfile relative to build context (e.g. api/Dockerfile). If omitted, Kaniko uses the default Dockerfile in the context root.
timeout	❌	300	Max seconds to wait for the build to complete

What it does

1. Creates a tarball of the build context at /builds/<name>.tar.gz (with optional --exclude patterns)
2. Writes the target image to /builds/<name>.dest
3. If dockerfile is specified, writes the path to /builds/<name>.dockerfile
4. Touches /builds/<name>.request to trigger the Kaniko sidecar
5. Polls for /builds/<name>.done (up to timeout seconds)
6. Checks /builds/<name>.exitcode — exits non-zero on failure

Usage

- name: Build my-app
  uses: kindling-sh/kindling/.github/actions/kindling-build@main
  with:
    name: my-app
    context: ${{ github.workspace }}
    image: "registry:5000/my-app:${{ github.sha }}"

With exclusions

- name: Build API (exclude UI directory)
  uses: kindling-sh/kindling/.github/actions/kindling-build@main
  with:
    name: my-api
    context: ${{ github.workspace }}
    image: "registry:5000/my-api:${{ github.sha }}"
    exclude: "./ui ./.git ./node_modules"

With custom Dockerfile path

When the Dockerfile is not at the context root (common in monorepos or projects using docker-compose with context: . and dockerfile: api/Dockerfile):

- name: Build API (Dockerfile in subdirectory)
  uses: kindling-sh/kindling/.github/actions/kindling-build@main
  with:
    name: my-api
    context: ${{ github.workspace }}
    image: "registry:5000/my-api:${{ github.sha }}"
    dockerfile: "api/Dockerfile"

---

kindling-deploy

Deploy a DevStagingEnvironment CR via the build-agent sidecar.

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
name	✅	—	DSE metadata.name (typically <actor>-<service>)
image	✅	—	Container image reference
port	✅	—	Container port (string)
labels	❌	""	Extra labels as YAML block
env	❌	""	Extra env vars as YAML block
dependencies	❌	""	Dependencies as YAML block
ingress-host	❌	""	Ingress hostname (omit to skip ingress)
ingress-class	❌	nginx	Ingress class name
health-check-path	❌	/healthz	HTTP health check path
replicas	❌	1	Number of replicas
service-type	❌	ClusterIP	Service type
wait	❌	true	Wait for deployment rollout
wait-timeout	❌	180s	Rollout wait timeout

What it does

1. Generates a complete DevStagingEnvironment YAML manifest from the inputs
2. Writes it to /builds/<name>-dse.yaml
3. Touches /builds/<name>-dse.apply to trigger sidecar kubectl apply
4. Waits for the sidecar to confirm the apply succeeded
5. Optionally waits for the Deployment rollout to complete

Basic usage

- name: Deploy my-app
  uses: kindling-sh/kindling/.github/actions/kindling-deploy@main
  with:
    name: "${{ github.actor }}-my-app"
    image: "registry:5000/my-app:${{ github.sha }}"
    port: "8080"
    ingress-host: "${{ github.actor }}-my-app.localhost"

With dependencies

- name: Deploy with Postgres + Redis
  uses: kindling-sh/kindling/.github/actions/kindling-deploy@main
  with:
    name: "${{ github.actor }}-my-app"
    image: "registry:5000/my-app:${{ github.sha }}"
    port: "8080"
    ingress-host: "${{ github.actor }}-my-app.localhost"
    dependencies: |
      - type: postgres
        version: "16"
      - type: redis

With env vars

- name: Deploy with environment variables
  uses: kindling-sh/kindling/.github/actions/kindling-deploy@main
  with:
    name: "${{ github.actor }}-my-ui"
    image: "registry:5000/my-ui:${{ github.sha }}"
    port: "80"
    health-check-path: "/"
    ingress-host: "${{ github.actor }}-my-ui.localhost"
    env: |
      - name: API_URL
        value: "http://${{ github.actor }}-my-api:8080"
      - name: NODE_ENV
        value: "development"

---

Complete workflow example

A full workflow using both actions:

name: Dev Deploy
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  build-and-deploy:
    runs-on: [self-hosted, "${{ github.actor }}"]
    env:
      TAG: ${{ github.sha }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Clean builds directory
        run: rm -f /builds/*

      # ── Build ──────────────────────────────────────────────
      - name: Build API image
        uses: kindling-sh/kindling/.github/actions/kindling-build@main
        with:
          name: my-api
          context: ${{ github.workspace }}
          image: "registry:5000/my-api:${{ env.TAG }}"
          exclude: "./ui"

      - name: Build UI image
        uses: kindling-sh/kindling/.github/actions/kindling-build@main
        with:
          name: my-ui
          context: "${{ github.workspace }}/ui"
          image: "registry:5000/my-ui:${{ env.TAG }}"

      # ── Deploy ─────────────────────────────────────────────
      - name: Deploy API
        uses: kindling-sh/kindling/.github/actions/kindling-deploy@main
        with:
          name: "${{ github.actor }}-my-api"
          image: "registry:5000/my-api:${{ env.TAG }}"
          port: "8080"
          ingress-host: "${{ github.actor }}-my-api.localhost"
          dependencies: |
            - type: postgres
              version: "16"
            - type: redis

      - name: Deploy UI
        uses: kindling-sh/kindling/.github/actions/kindling-deploy@main
        with:
          name: "${{ github.actor }}-my-ui"
          image: "registry:5000/my-ui:${{ env.TAG }}"
          port: "80"
          health-check-path: "/"
          ingress-host: "${{ github.actor }}-my-ui.localhost"
          env: |
            - name: API_URL
              value: "http://${{ github.actor }}-my-api:8080"

---

Troubleshooting

Build times out

Increase the timeout:

with:
  timeout: "600"  # 10 minutes

Deploy apply fails

Check the output for:

• Invalid YAML indentation
• Missing required fields
• Image not found in registry

Rollout doesn't complete

Check pod events:

kubectl describe pod -l app.kubernetes.io/name=<name>
kubectl logs -l app.kubernetes.io/name=<name>

Common causes:

• Image pull errors (image not pushed to registry:5000)
• Health check failing (wrong path or port)
• Dependency not ready (database still starting)