GCP Node.js CI/CD Pipeline Generation

This Skill generates production-ready CI/CD pipelines for Node.js and Angular applications deployed to Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) via Cloud Build.

When to Use This Skill

• Creating new Node.js or Angular services
• Setting up deployment pipelines
• Configuring multi-environment deployments (dev, staging, production)
• Implementing security scanning and quality gates
• Deploying containerized applications to GKE

Organizational Context

Build Standards

• Node.js versions: 18.x, 20.x (LTS only)
• Package manager: npm (lock file required)
• Build process: Multi-stage Docker builds
• Test coverage: Minimum 80% for production deployments
• Linting: ESLint with organizational config

Security Requirements

• Dependency scanning: Snyk (0 critical vulnerabilities allowed)
• Container scanning: Trivy (no high/critical CVEs)
• SAST: SonarQube (Quality Gate must pass)
• SBOM: Generate and upload to Artifact Registry
• Secrets: Must use GCP Secret Manager (never hardcoded)

Deployment Strategies

• Development: Auto-deploy on commit
• Staging: Manual approval required
• Production: Canary deployment (5% → 50% → 100%)
• Rollback: Automatic on health check failures or error rate >5%

Instructions

Step 1: Analyze Service Context

First, determine the service type and requirements by checking:

# Check package.json for framework
cat package.json | jq '.dependencies'

# Identify service type
if [ -f "angular.json" ]; then
  SERVICE_TYPE="angular"
elif grep -q "express" package.json; then
  SERVICE_TYPE="express"
elif grep -q "@nestjs" package.json; then
  SERVICE_TYPE="nestjs"
else
  SERVICE_TYPE="nodejs-generic"
fi

Step 2: Generate Cloud Build Configuration

Use the appropriate template from templates/cloudbuild/:

For Node.js services:

# See templates/cloudbuild/nodejs-service.yaml
steps:
  - name: 'node:${NODE_VERSION}'
    entrypoint: npm
    args: ['ci']
  
  - name: 'node:${NODE_VERSION}'
    entrypoint: npm
    args: ['run', 'build']
  
  - name: 'node:${NODE_VERSION}'
    entrypoint: npm
    args: ['test']
    
  # Security scanning - see templates/security/
  # Docker build - see templates/docker/
  # GKE deployment - see templates/kubernetes/

For Angular applications:

# See templates/cloudbuild/angular-app.yaml
# Includes ng build with optimization flags
# Static asset handling
# Environment-specific configurations

Step 3: Implement Security Scanning

Always include all three security scans:

# Snyk dependency scan
- name: 'snyk/snyk:node'
  entrypoint: 'sh'
  args:
    - '-c'
    - 'snyk test --severity-threshold=high || exit 1'
  secretEnv: ['SNYK_TOKEN']

# Trivy container scan
- name: 'aquasec/trivy'
  args: ['image', '--severity', 'HIGH,CRITICAL', '${IMAGE_NAME}']

# SonarQube SAST
- name: 'sonarsource/sonar-scanner-cli'
  args: ['sonar-scanner', '-Dsonar.qualitygate.wait=true']

Use validator at validators/security-policy.rego to verify all scans are present.

Step 4: Generate Kubernetes Manifests

Create deployment, service, and HPA configurations:

# See templates/kubernetes/deployment.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: ${SERVICE_NAME}
  namespace: ${NAMESPACE}
spec:
  replicas: ${REPLICAS}
  template:
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: ${SERVICE_NAME}
        image: ${IMAGE_NAME}
        resources:
          requests:
            cpu: "100m"
            memory: "128Mi"
          limits:
            cpu: "500m"
            memory: "512Mi"
        livenessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /health
            port: 8080
          initialDelaySeconds: 30
          periodSeconds: 10
        readinessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /ready
            port: 8080
          initialDelaySeconds: 5
          periodSeconds: 5

Step 5: Configure Multi-Environment Deployment

Set up deployment strategy per environment:

Development:

• Auto-deploy on every commit
• No approval required
• Rolling update strategy

Staging:

• Manual approval required (team lead)
• Smoke tests must pass
• Rolling update strategy

Production:

• Two approvals required (team lead + platform lead)
• Canary deployment strategy
• Automated rollback on metrics degradation

Step 6: Add Monitoring and Observability

Include Cloud Monitoring configuration:

# Metrics to collect
metrics:
  - http_requests_total
  - http_request_duration_seconds
  - http_errors_total
  
# Alerts to configure
alerts:
  - error_rate_high (>5% for 5 minutes)
  - latency_p99_high (>2s for 5 minutes)
  - pod_restart_frequent (>3 in 10 minutes)

Step 7: Generate Documentation

Create comprehensive documentation:

# Service Name

## CI/CD Pipeline

This service uses the following deployment pipeline:
- Build: Multi-stage Docker with Node.js ${VERSION}
- Test: Unit tests with 80%+ coverage
- Security: Snyk + Trivy + SonarQube
- Deploy: Canary to GKE with automated rollback

## Deployment

**Development:**
- Auto-deployed on commit to main
- URL: https://dev.example.com

**Production:**
- Requires 2 approvals
- Canary deployment (5% → 50% → 100%)
- URL: https://api.example.com

## Rollback

If deployment fails:
```bash
platform-cli rollback payment-api --to-version previous

## Validation Rules

Before completing generation, validate using `validators/security-policy.rego`:

```rego
# Validation checks
package cloudbuild

# Rule: Security scans required
deny[msg] {
  not input.steps[_].name == "snyk/snyk:node"
  msg = "Snyk dependency scan is required"
}

deny[msg] {
  not input.steps[_].name == "aquasec/trivy"
  msg = "Trivy container scan is required"
}

# Rule: Secrets must be in Secret Manager
deny[msg] {
  input.steps[_].args[_] contains "password"
  msg = "Hardcoded secrets detected. Use Secret Manager."
}

# Rule: Production requires approval
deny[msg] {
  input.environment == "production"
  not input.approvals
  msg = "Production deployments require approval"
}

Examples

For complete working examples, see:

• examples/payment-service/ - Express API with PCI compliance
• examples/user-api/ - NestJS service with authentication
• examples/frontend-app/ - Angular SPA with SSR

Troubleshooting

Build fails with "npm ci" error:

• Ensure package-lock.json is committed
• Check Node.js version matches package.json engines

Security scan fails:

• Review Snyk dashboard for vulnerabilities
• Update dependencies to patch CVEs
• Request exception if no patch available

Deployment fails:

• Check GKE cluster has sufficient resources
• Verify namespace exists
• Confirm image was pushed to Artifact Registry

Canary rollback triggered:

• Check Cloud Monitoring for error rates
• Review logs in Cloud Logging
• Validate health check endpoints

Additional Resources

• Cloud Build Docs
• GKE Best Practices
• Organizational Build Standards
• Security Requirements