docmd Deploy — GitHub Action

The docmd-io/deploy action builds your documentation site and outputs the path to the compiled assets, ready for upload to GitHub Pages or any other hosting target. It handles Node.js setup, config detection, dependency installation, and the build step in a single composable action.

Quick Start

Add the action to any workflow file in your repository:

# .github/workflows/docs.yml
name: Deploy Docs

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

permissions:
  contents: write
  pages: write
  id-token: write

jobs:
  docs:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment:
      name: github-pages
      url: ${{ steps.deploy.outputs.page_url }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: docmd-io/deploy@v1
        id: build

      - uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3
        with:
          path: ${{ steps.build.outputs.site-dir }}

      - uses: actions/deploy-pages@v4
        id: deploy

Reusable Workflow (Recommended)

If you want the absolute minimum boilerplate, use the hosted reusable workflow. It handles permissions, checkout, build, upload, and deploy in one call:

# .github/workflows/docs.yml
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  docs:
    uses: docmd-io/deploy/.github/workflows/deploy.yml@v1

This is the recommended approach for new projects and the docmd Template.

Inputs

Outputs

What the Action Does

The action runs the following steps internally:

1. Sets up Node.js using the specified version.
2. Detects your config — searches the repository tree (up to two levels deep) for docmd.config.json, docmd.config.js, or docmd.config.ts. Subdirectory configs are fully supported.
3. Initialises docmd — if no config is found, runs npx @docmd/core init to scaffold one automatically.
4. Installs dependencies — runs npm ci if a package.json is present, otherwise installs @docmd/core directly.
5. Builds the site — runs npx @docmd/core build and reads the output directory from your config.
6. Outputs the path — exposes site-dir so the upload step knows where to find the compiled assets.

First-Time Setup

GitHub Pages must be configured to deploy from GitHub Actions (not from a branch). This is a one-time step per repository:

1. Go to your repository on GitHub.
2. Navigate to Settings → Pages.
3. Under Source, select GitHub Actions.
4. Save.

After this, every push to main triggers a deployment automatically.

Nested Config Support

If your docmd.config.json lives in a subdirectory — for example, packages/docs/docmd.config.json in a monorepo — the action detects it and passes --cwd to docmd automatically. No manual path configuration is required.

Custom Domain

To use a custom domain:

1. Add a CNAME file to your docs/ directory (or your configured assets folder) containing your domain, e.g. docs.example.com.
2. Set the url field in docmd.config.json to your custom domain so sitemaps and canonical tags are correct.
3. Configure the domain in Settings → Pages → Custom domain.

Pinning the Action Version

For production documentation sites, pin to a specific release tag rather than @v1:

- uses: docmd-io/deploy@v1.0.0
  id: build

This prevents unexpected behaviour from future minor updates.

Troubleshooting

Error: Dependencies lock file is not found

This occurs when actions/setup-node is configured with cache: 'npm' but no package-lock.json exists. The docmd-io/deploy action handles caching internally — do not add a separate actions/setup-node step with cache: 'npm' when using this action.

Build succeeds but the site is not live

Ensure GitHub Pages is set to deploy from GitHub Actions, not from a branch. See First-Time Setup above.

Config not detected

The action searches up to two directory levels. If your config is deeper, pass --cwd manually in a custom workflow step or use the Deployer Package to generate a tailored workflow.