CI/CD Integration

Automate your OTA deployments so every push to main ships an update to your users -- no manual steps required.

tip

For CLI reference, see CI/CD CLI Reference. This guide focuses on step-by-step setup.

How It Works

1. Developer pushes code to main
2. CI runs swiftpatch deploy
3. Users receive the update on next app launch

Prerequisites

Before you start

• SwiftPatch CLI installed in your CI environment
• A CI token stored as a secret (SWIFTPATCH_CI_TOKEN)

Step 1: Create a CI Token

Step 1: Go to your app in the dashboard.

Step 2: Navigate to Settings > API Keys.

Step 3: Click Create Token and name it.

Step 4: Copy immediately -- it is shown only once.

note

CI tokens use prefix sp_ci_ and are scoped to one app.

Step 2: Set Up GitHub Actions

.github/workflows/ota-deploy.yml

name: OTA Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    paths:
      - 'src/**'
      - 'package.json'

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        platform: [ios, android]

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test
      - run: npm install -g @swiftpatch/cli
      - name: Deploy
        run: |
          swiftpatch deploy \
            -p ${{ matrix.platform }} \
            --hermes \
            -n "Deploy from commit ${{ github.sha }}" \
            --ci-token ${{ secrets.SWIFTPATCH_CI_TOKEN }}

Step 3: Separate Staging and Production

Use different branches and tokens for each environment:

jobs:
  staging:
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/develop'
    steps:
      - # ... setup
      - run: swiftpatch deploy -p ios --hermes --ci-token ${{ secrets.SWIFTPATCH_STAGING_CI_TOKEN }}

  production:
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    steps:
      - # ... setup
      - run: swiftpatch deploy -p ios --hermes --ci-token ${{ secrets.SWIFTPATCH_CI_TOKEN }}

Environment Variables

Variable	Description
SWIFTPATCH_CI_TOKEN	CI token for authentication

warning

Always use CI secrets management. Never hardcode tokens in your workflow files.

Best Practices

1. Always use --hermes if Hermes is enabled (RN 0.70+ default)
2. Match --app-version exactly to the native binary version
3. Run tests before deploying -- broken code should never reach swiftpatch deploy
4. Ensure clean working directory -- deploy bundles whatever is in the working directory
5. Use staged rollouts -- manage rollout percentage from the dashboard
6. Include commit info in release descriptions for traceability
7. Separate staging and production tokens
8. Monitor after deploy -- watch for rollback events in the dashboard
9. Sign bundles with --private-key for enterprise security