Spring Boot - Continuous Integration Using GitHub Actions

Last Updated : 23 Jul, 2025

Let's say we have two or more developers who are merging code into a single repository. There can be issues in merging code from different developers. So the Continuous Integration tools help in solving not just that but many other things like:

Run an automated build after successful merging (like build, test code coverage, etc.).
We can also automate deployment after proper checks.
Not just that, these platforms also provide a way to communicate with others with comments to let's say, solve a merging conflict or review a pull request.
It also helps in running it on different OS.

One of the tools that we will be using here is GitHub Actions to accomplish our CI workflow. It is a powerful tool that can be utilized for continuous deployment as well.

Prerequisites:

Keep IntelliJ Community(or related IDE)
GitHub account
JDK 11 and gitbash (or a related tool to push code)

Step-by-Step Implementation

Step 1: Let's create a basic Spring boot project first

a). Go to https://start.spring.io/

Project: Maven | Language: Java | Spring Boot: 2.7.14
Project Metadata:
Group: com.example | Artifact: demo-springgithubactions | Name: demo-springgithubactions
Description: Demo project for Spring Boot with GitHub actions
Package name: com.example.demo-springgithubactions
Packaging: Jar | Java: 11 | Dependencies: Spring Web

b). Open in IntelliJ. Run the following command in the terminal

./mvnw clean install

c). Create following folders (....\demo-springgithubactions\.github\workflows\build.yml) and file (build.yml) which will be detected and used by github to run workflows using github actions.

d). Update the file with following code

name: Build a JAR in spring boot using springboot
on:
push:
branches:
- master

jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Check out code
uses: actions/checkout@v2

- name: Set up JDK 11
uses: actions/setup-java@v1

with:
java-version: '11'

- name: Build with Maven
run: mvn clean install

- name: Upload artifact for deployment job
uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2

with:
name: java-app
path: '${{ github.workspace }}/target/*.jar'

- name: Run Tests
run: mvn test

e). Create following folders (....\src\main\java\com\example\demospringgithubactions\controller\HelloWorld.java) and file (HelloWorld.java).
create-javaFile-helloworld

f). Update the file with following code.

Java

package com.example.demospringgithubactions.controller;

import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;

@RestController
public class HelloWorld {

    @GetMapping 
    public String hello()
    {
        return "<!DOCTYPE html>\n"
            + "<html>\n"
            + "<head>\n"
            + "<style>\n"
            + "h1 {text-align: center;}\n"
            + "</style>\n"
            + "</head>\n"
            + "<body>\n"
            + "\n"
            + "<h1>Yaay!! you did it XD</h1>\n"
            + "\n"
            + "</body>\n"
            + "</html>\n";
    }
}

g). Create following folders

(....\src\test\java\com\example\demospringgithubactions\DemoSpringgithubactionsApplicationTests.java) and file (DemoSpringgithubactionsApplicationTests.java).

java-testFile-testController h). Update the file with following code.

Java

package com.example.demospringgithubactions;

import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
import static org.springframework.test.web.servlet.request.MockMvcRequestBuilders.get;
import static org.springframework.test.web.servlet.result.MockMvcResultMatchers.content;
import static org.springframework.test.web.servlet.result.MockMvcResultMatchers.status;

import com.example.demospringgithubactions.controller.HelloWorld;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.boot.test.autoconfigure.web.servlet.WebMvcTest;
import org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringRunner;
import org.springframework.test.web.servlet.MockMvc;

@RunWith(SpringRunner.class)
@WebMvcTest(HelloWorld.class)
class DemoSpringgithubactionsApplicationTests {

    @Autowired
    private MockMvc mockMvc;

    @Test
    public void checkSuccessMessage() throws Exception
    {
        this.mockMvc
            .perform(get("/"))
            .andExpect(status().isOk())
            .andExpect(content().string(
                containsString("Yaay!! you did it XD")));
    }
}

i). Run the code and verify if you are able to hit "http://localhost:8080/" end point with message dispalyed "Yaay!! you did it XD".

Step 2: Let's push our code to GitHub

git init
git add -A
git commit -m 'Added my project'
git remote add origin <github-ssh-url>
git push -u -f origin main

Step 3: Go to Github actions tab and you will see the job running automatically

github-actions-folder

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Article Tags :

Spring Boot - Continuous Integration Using GitHub Actions

Step-by-Step Implementation

Step 1: Let's create a basic Spring boot project first

Step 2: Let's push our code to GitHub

Step 3: Go to Github actions tab and you will see the job running automatically

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