CI/CD for a Capacitor App with GitHub Actions

Build the web layer, sync native, and produce an Android build automatically.

Capacitor wraps a web build into native iOS and Android projects. This recipe builds the web bundle, runs cap sync, and compiles the Android APK with Gradle in CI.

What the pipeline does

install deps with npm ci
build the web bundle
sync native with npx cap sync android
assemble the APK with Gradle
upload the APK artifact

The workflow

cap sync copies the web build into the native project and updates plugins; the Gradle wrapper then assembles the APK. iOS builds need a macOS runner with Xcode and signing.

.github/workflows/ci.yml

name: CI
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
jobs:
  android:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: npm
      - uses: actions/setup-java@v4
        with:
          distribution: temurin
          java-version: 17
          cache: gradle
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build
      - run: npx cap sync android
      - run: cd android && ./gradlew assembleDebug
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: app-debug
          path: android/app/build/outputs/apk/debug/app-debug.apk

Caching and speed

cache: npm covers the web install and cache: gradle restores the Gradle dependency cache, which is the biggest CI win for the Android build. The native compile is heavy; cheaper managed runners such as Latchkey (around 69% cheaper than GitHub-hosted) keep these builds affordable and auto-retry transient Gradle download failures.

Deploying

For releases, run ./gradlew bundleRelease to produce an AAB, sign it, and upload to the Play Console (manually or with a Play publisher action). Build iOS on a macOS runner with npx cap sync ios followed by xcodebuild and TestFlight upload.

Key takeaways

cap sync injects the web build into the native projects.
Cache Gradle to cut Android build time substantially.
iOS builds require a macOS runner with Xcode and signing.