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Sohanuzzaman Soad
Sohanuzzaman Soad

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🚀 Master Flutter CI/CD: Automate App Deployment with GitHub Actions

#mobile #programming #githubactions #beginners

Are you tired of manually deploying your Flutter apps every time you make a change? It’s time to level up your CI/CD game with GitHub Actions! 💡

GitHub Actions offers a seamless way to automate your Flutter app’s build, test, and deployment processes for both Android and iOS, saving you time and effort. With just a few lines of YAML, you can create workflows that:

✅ Automatically build your Flutter app when you push to a specific branch.
✅ Run tests to ensure your app remains rock solid.
✅ Deploy APKs to Google Play Store or TestFlight for iOS with minimal manual intervention.

Why Automate Deployment?

Manual deployment is prone to errors, repetitive, and time-consuming. Automation ensures:

  • Consistency: Every build follows the same steps, leaving no room for missed configurations.
  • Speed: Focus on coding while GitHub Actions handles deployment.
  • Confidence: Continuous testing ensures every release is bug-free.

Setting Up GitHub Actions for Flutter

Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting up GitHub Actions for your Flutter app:

1. Create a Workflow File

Navigate to your project repository and create the directory .github/workflows/. Inside this directory, create a file named deploy.yml. This file will define the steps for automating your app deployment.

2. Define Workflow Triggers

Specify when the workflow should run, for example, on a push to the main branch:

on: push: branches: - main
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This ensures the workflow runs whenever new changes are pushed to the main branch.

3. Setup Flutter Environment

Install and configure Flutter in your workflow using the subosito/flutter-action:

- name: Setup Flutter uses: subosito/flutter-action@v2 with: flutter-version: 'stable'
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4. Install Dependencies
Ensure all required packages are fetched:

- name: Install Dependencies run: flutter pub get
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5. Run Tests
Add a step to execute tests and validate the app:

- name: Run Tests run: flutter test
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6. Build the App
Build the APK (For Android):

- name: Build APK run: flutter build apk
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But in most cases we need Signed APK.
For Signed APK:

- name: Decode Keystore File run: echo "${{ secrets.ANDROID_KEYSTORE }}" | base64 --decode > android/app/keystore.jks - name: Decode Keystore Credentials run: | echo "${{ secrets.KEYSTORE_ALIAS }}" | base64 --decode > keystore_alias.txt echo "${{ secrets.KEYSTORE_PASSWORD }}" | base64 --decode > keystore_password.txt echo "${{ secrets.KEY_PASSWORD }}" | base64 --decode > key_password.txt - name: Build Signed APK run: | flutter build apk --release \ --dart-define=KEYSTORE_PATH=android/app/keystore.jks \ --dart-define=KEYSTORE_ALIAS=$(cat keystore_alias.txt) \ --dart-define=KEYSTORE_PASSWORD=$(cat keystore_password.txt) \ --dart-define=KEY_PASSWORD=$(cat key_password.txt)
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For iOS apps:

- name: Build iOS run: flutter build ios --no-codesign
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7. Deploy Automatically
Use deployment tools or scripts to upload your build to the respective platforms. Here’s an example for deploying to Google Play:

- name: Deploy to Google Play uses: r0adkll/upload-google-play@v1 with: serviceAccountJson: ${{ secrets.GOOGLE_PLAY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT }} packageName: com.example.yourapp releaseFiles: build/app/outputs/flutter-apk/app-release.apk
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For iOS, you can use fastlane or similar tools to deploy to TestFlight. I'll write another post about iOS deployments in depth.

Full Sample Workflow

Here’s a complete workflow example for Flutter deployment with a signed APK and Base64-encoded secrets:

name: Flutter Deployment on: push: branches: - main jobs: build-and-deploy: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - name: Checkout Repository uses: actions/checkout@v3 - name: Setup Flutter uses: subosito/flutter-action@v2 with: flutter-version: 'stable' - name: Install Dependencies run: flutter pub get - name: Run Tests run: flutter test - name: Decode Keystore File run: echo "${{ secrets.ANDROID_KEYSTORE }}" | base64 --decode > android/app/keystore.jks - name: Decode Keystore Credentials run: | echo "${{ secrets.KEYSTORE_ALIAS }}" | base64 --decode > keystore_alias.txt echo "${{ secrets.KEYSTORE_PASSWORD }}" | base64 --decode > keystore_password.txt echo "${{ secrets.KEY_PASSWORD }}" | base64 --decode > key_password.txt - name: Build Signed APK run: | flutter build apk --release \ --dart-define=KEYSTORE_PATH=android/app/keystore.jks \ --dart-define=KEYSTORE_ALIAS=$(cat keystore_alias.txt) \ --dart-define=KEYSTORE_PASSWORD=$(cat keystore_password.txt) \ --dart-define=KEY_PASSWORD=$(cat key_password.txt) - name: Deploy to Google Play uses: r0adkll/upload-google-play@v1 with: serviceAccountJson: ${{ secrets.GOOGLE_PLAY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT }} packageName: com.example.yourapp releaseFiles: build/app/outputs/flutter-apk/app-release.apk
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Wrapping Up

By automating Flutter app deployment with GitHub Actions, ensuring signed APKs, and securely storing secrets in Base64, you save valuable time and minimize errors. A solid CI/CD pipeline ensures every release is reliable and reaches your users faster. 🌟

What challenges have you faced while setting up GitHub Actions? Let us know in the comments below! 💬

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