GitLab CI/CD

To ship every commit from GitLab CI/CD, a job on the default branch builds the app and runs npx hotcodepush release create with two masked CI/CD variables. The CLI is pinned as a dev dependency, so the job needs nothing but a Node.js image.

Ship every commit has the prerequisites and the three disciplines. This page carries the .gitlab-ci.yml.

Secrets to setCopy Anchor Link

All three live under the project's Settings › CI/CD › Variables, each marked Masked. A masked value is a single line without spaces, so the key goes in as its base64 body: grep -v -- '-----' hotcodepush-private-key.pem | tr -d '\n'. The CLI reads it as it reads the file.

Leave Protected off while a preview job runs on merge requests, since a protected variable reaches only pipelines on protected branches.

The pipelineCopy Anchor Link

image: node:22

release:
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npm run build
    - npx hotcodepush release create --channel production --bundle-version "$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)" --git-ref "$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" --yes --json

• The rule runs the job for a push to the default branch and for nothing else.
• A React Native or Expo app drops the npm run build line: the CLI packages the bundle per platform inside the upload. A Cordova app whose www is written by hand drops it too.
• The runner checks out the commit rather than the branch, so --git-ref "$CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME" records the branch. release lists every flag.

A failed command fails the job with the CLI's exit code and prints the error as JSON, and the error catalog names the fix. A green job and a device that did not take the release is the other case. See Troubleshooting.

A preview channel per merge request runs from a second job in merge request pipelines. Test with preview channels has the commands. GitLab runs no pipeline when a merge request closes, so give the channel an expiry.

Next stepsCopy Anchor Link

• Ship every commit names the three disciplines a pipeline that ships every commit keeps.
• Test with preview channels builds the tester build that follows a preview channel from the QR code.
• Roll out gradually puts --rollout-percent 10 --progression on the release line and explains the counters behind auto-pause.