GitHub workflows for running Cypress automation in various variations

1. Final workflow in ver complexity7 includes

Initiating workflows through various events (on schedule, on demand, on pull_request).

• Building packages and a sample React application.
• Running the application locally (via serve -s /build).
• Executing Cypress tests in parallel.
• Reporting results on Slack with custom messages.

2. Details of the individual files

cy-automation-tests-complexity7.yml

This file is only defining on which event workflow will be run it and with which steps
Main workflow is decomposed into "shared workflows"
"shared workflows" are responsible for specific jobs like building, running, reporting

This file defines the conditions under which the workflow will run and the steps it will take.
The main workflow is broken down into "shared workflows"
responsible for specific tasks such as building, running, and reporting.

Section on explains the events the workflow is waiting for:

• on schedule scheduled runs at defined times (based on cron rules, examples: https://crontab.guru/examples.html)
• on pull_request triggered when a new pull_request is created.
• triggered manually through workflow_dispatch (a screenshot is presented below in the
• on demand workflow_dispatch, by manual triggering ( a screenshot is presented below in the )
  workflow_dispatch also allows passing additional values, such as the environment.

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 8 * * *"
  pull_request:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      environment:
        type: choice
        description: "Environment: localhost / dev"
        required: true
        options:
          - localhost
          - dev
        default: "localhost"

The 'jobs' section outlines the steps involved, incorporating the content of the 'shared workflows' files.
The needs attribute specifies that two other steps, list-specs and build-packages, must be completed before this step.

jobs:
  list-specs:
    name: Files
    uses: "./.github/workflows/cy-list-of-specs.yml"

  build-packages:
    name: Build
    uses: "./.github/workflows/cy-build-packages.yml"

  run-specs:
    name: Run
    needs: [list-specs, build-packages]
    if: always()
    uses: "./.github/workflows/cy-run-specs.yml"

cy-build-packages.yml

The steps will build project packages and the app for testing and then save the build folder with the app itself based on specific event conditions, namely, when github.event.inputs.environment is set to 'localhost' and 'pull_request'.

    - name: Build packages
        run: yarn

    - name: Build application
        run: yarn build-localhost

    - name: Save build folder
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
            name: build
            if-no-files-found: error
            path: build

cy-list-of-specs.yml

• Get list of feature files by running script: /cypress/scripts/getAllSpecs.js
  It will return array with list of Feature files from /cypress/e2e/

    [
        "e2e/Sample1.feature",
        "e2e/Sample2.feature"
    ]
  

cy-run-specs.yml

If the environment is 'localhost' or the event type will be 'pull_request' then workflow will run demo app on localhost before starting with Cypress tests

    - name: Install Serve
        run: yarn global add serve

    - name: Run application on localhost
        run: serve -s ${{ github.workspace }}/build &

matrix.spec is a parameter with value from: /cypress/scripts/getAllSpecs.js
It will pass array with feature files to the Cypress run

Depending on the event:
github.event.inputs.environment == 'localhost'
github.event_name == 'pull_request'
github.event_name == 'schedule'
it will run tests on localhost or on dev environment

      - name: Run Tests on LOCALHOST
        uses: cypress-io/github-action@v4
        with:
          install: true
          wait-on: "http://localhost:3000"
          wait-on-timeout: 120
          browser: chrome
          spec: cypress/${{ matrix.spec }}
          config-file: /${{ github.workspace }}/cypress/configs/cypress.localhost.config.js

      - name: Run Tests on DEV
        uses: cypress-io/github-action@v4
        with:
          install: true
          browser: chrome
          spec: cypress/${{ matrix.spec }}
          config-file: /${{ github.workspace }}/cypress/configs/cypress.dev.config.js

At the end it will create artifacts with screenshots and videos from the test run

cy-slack-reporting.yml

First will gather all informations about test run like: status of the run, event name, environment, branch name
Then will run node script: /slack/success_message.js or /slack/failed_message.js

3. How to run

Go to that workflow directly and click on 'Run workflow button'