home / skills / physics91 / claude-vibe / ci-cd-reviewer

ci-cd-reviewer skill

/skills/ci-cd-reviewer

This skill reviews CI/CD pipelines for structure, security, and optimization, helping you improve workflows across GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and Jenkins.

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---
name: ci-cd-reviewer
description: |
  WHEN: CI/CD pipeline review, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, build optimization
  WHAT: Pipeline structure + Job optimization + Security scanning + Caching strategy + Deployment patterns
  WHEN NOT: Kubernetes → k8s-reviewer, Terraform → terraform-reviewer
---

# CI/CD Reviewer Skill

## Purpose
Reviews CI/CD pipelines for structure, security, optimization, and best practices.

## When to Use
- GitHub Actions workflow review
- GitLab CI pipeline review
- Jenkins pipeline review
- Build optimization
- Deployment strategy review

## Project Detection
- `.github/workflows/*.yml`
- `.gitlab-ci.yml`
- `Jenkinsfile`
- `azure-pipelines.yml`
- `.circleci/config.yml`

## Workflow

### Step 1: Analyze Project
```
**Platform**: GitHub Actions
**Triggers**: push, pull_request
**Jobs**: build, test, deploy
**Environments**: staging, production
```

### Step 2: Select Review Areas
**AskUserQuestion:**
```
"Which areas to review?"
Options:
- Full CI/CD review (recommended)
- Pipeline structure
- Security and secrets
- Caching and optimization
- Deployment strategy
multiSelect: true
```

## Detection Rules

### GitHub Actions

#### Workflow Structure
| Check | Recommendation | Severity |
|-------|----------------|----------|
| All jobs sequential | Parallelize independent jobs | MEDIUM |
| No job dependencies | Add needs for proper order | HIGH |
| Duplicate steps | Extract to composite action | MEDIUM |
| No concurrency control | Add concurrency group | MEDIUM |

```yaml
# BAD: Sequential, no optimization
name: CI
on: push

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: npm install
      - run: npm run build
      - run: npm test
      - run: npm run lint
      - run: docker build .
      - run: docker push

# GOOD: Parallel jobs with dependencies
name: CI

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

jobs:
  lint:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run lint

  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test

  build:
    needs: [lint, test]  # Run after lint and test pass
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: build
          path: dist/

  deploy:
    needs: build
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: production
    steps:
      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: build
      - run: ./deploy.sh
```

#### Security
| Check | Recommendation | Severity |
|-------|----------------|----------|
| Secrets in plain text | Use secrets context | CRITICAL |
| No permissions defined | Add explicit permissions | HIGH |
| Third-party actions unpinned | Pin to SHA | HIGH |
| No environment protection | Use environments | MEDIUM |

```yaml
# BAD: Security issues
name: Deploy
on: push

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: |
          curl -X POST https://api.example.com \
            -H "Authorization: Bearer ${{ secrets.API_KEY }}"
      - uses: some-org/some-action@main  # Unpinned!

# GOOD: Secure workflow
name: Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

permissions:
  contents: read
  id-token: write  # For OIDC

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: production  # Requires approval
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11 # v4.1.1

      - name: Configure AWS credentials
        uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@e3dd6a429d7300a6a4c196c26e071d42e0343502 # v4.0.2
        with:
          role-to-assume: ${{ secrets.AWS_ROLE_ARN }}
          aws-region: us-east-1

      - name: Deploy
        run: ./deploy.sh
        env:
          DEPLOY_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.DEPLOY_TOKEN }}
```

#### Caching
| Check | Recommendation | Severity |
|-------|----------------|----------|
| No dependency caching | Add cache action | HIGH |
| No Docker layer cache | Use buildx cache | MEDIUM |
| Cache key not specific | Include lockfile hash | MEDIUM |

```yaml
# GOOD: Comprehensive caching
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      # Node.js caching
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'

      # Or manual cache
      - uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: ~/.npm
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-node-

      # Docker layer caching
      - uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3

      - uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          tags: myapp:latest
          cache-from: type=gha
          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
```

### GitLab CI

```yaml
# .gitlab-ci.yml
stages:
  - lint
  - test
  - build
  - deploy

variables:
  NODE_VERSION: "20"

.node_template: &node_template
  image: node:${NODE_VERSION}-alpine
  cache:
    key:
      files:
        - package-lock.json
    paths:
      - node_modules/
  before_script:
    - npm ci --cache .npm --prefer-offline

lint:
  <<: *node_template
  stage: lint
  script:
    - npm run lint

test:
  <<: *node_template
  stage: test
  script:
    - npm test
  coverage: '/Coverage: \d+\.\d+%/'
  artifacts:
    reports:
      junit: junit.xml
      coverage_report:
        coverage_format: cobertura
        path: coverage/cobertura-coverage.xml

build:
  <<: *node_template
  stage: build
  script:
    - npm run build
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - dist/
    expire_in: 1 week

deploy_staging:
  stage: deploy
  environment:
    name: staging
    url: https://staging.example.com
  script:
    - ./deploy.sh staging
  only:
    - main

deploy_production:
  stage: deploy
  environment:
    name: production
    url: https://example.com
  script:
    - ./deploy.sh production
  when: manual
  only:
    - main
```

### Deployment Strategies
| Check | Recommendation | Severity |
|-------|----------------|----------|
| Direct to production | Add staging environment | HIGH |
| No rollback plan | Add rollback mechanism | HIGH |
| No health checks | Add post-deploy verification | MEDIUM |

```yaml
# Blue-Green / Canary with GitHub Actions
deploy:
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  environment: production
  steps:
    - name: Deploy canary (10%)
      run: |
        kubectl set image deployment/app app=myapp:${{ github.sha }}
        kubectl rollout status deployment/app --timeout=5m

    - name: Verify canary
      run: |
        sleep 60
        ./verify-deployment.sh

    - name: Promote to 100%
      if: success()
      run: kubectl scale deployment/app --replicas=10

    - name: Rollback on failure
      if: failure()
      run: kubectl rollout undo deployment/app
```

## Response Template
```
## CI/CD Review Results

**Project**: [name]
**Platform**: GitHub Actions
**Jobs**: 4 | **Workflows**: 2

### Pipeline Structure
| Status | File | Issue |
|--------|------|-------|
| MEDIUM | ci.yml | All jobs run sequentially |

### Security
| Status | File | Issue |
|--------|------|-------|
| HIGH | deploy.yml | Actions not pinned to SHA |

### Caching
| Status | File | Issue |
|--------|------|-------|
| HIGH | ci.yml | No dependency caching |

### Deployment
| Status | File | Issue |
|--------|------|-------|
| HIGH | deploy.yml | No staging environment |

### Recommended Actions
1. [ ] Parallelize lint and test jobs
2. [ ] Pin all actions to commit SHA
3. [ ] Add npm caching
4. [ ] Add staging deployment step
```

## Best Practices
1. **Structure**: Parallel jobs, proper dependencies
2. **Security**: Pin actions, use OIDC, minimal permissions
3. **Caching**: Cache dependencies and Docker layers
4. **Deployment**: Staging → Production with approvals
5. **Monitoring**: Add status checks and notifications

## Integration
- `docker-reviewer`: Container build steps
- `k8s-reviewer`: Kubernetes deployments
- `security-scanner`: SAST/DAST in pipeline

Overview

This skill reviews CI/CD pipelines to surface structure, security, caching, and deployment issues. It targets common pipeline files (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, Jenkins, CircleCI, Azure) and provides prioritized recommendations. The goal is concrete, actionable fixes to speed builds, reduce risk, and improve deployment safety. It excludes deep Kubernetes or Terraform reviews which are handled by dedicated skills.

How this skill works

The reviewer scans repository pipeline definitions and detects platform, triggers, jobs, and environments. It applies rules for structure (parallelization, job dependencies), security (secrets, permissions, pinned actions), caching (dependency and Docker layer caches), and deployment patterns (staging, rollbacks, verifications). Results are returned as a short report with severity levels and recommended fixes.

When to use it

  • You want a fast audit of GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Jenkins pipelines
  • Optimizing build time and caching across CI jobs
  • Validating secrets handling, permissions, and third-party action pinning
  • Checking deployment safety: staging, rollbacks, and health checks
  • Before merging heavy pipeline changes or onboarding CI for a repo

Best practices

  • Parallelize independent jobs and use needs to express dependencies
  • Explicitly set permissions and avoid plaintext secrets; prefer OIDC where possible
  • Pin third-party actions to commit SHAs or immutable tags
  • Add dependency caching (lockfile hashes) and Docker layer cache
  • Use separate staging environment and manual approvals for production
  • Include post-deploy verification and rollback steps in deployment jobs

Example use cases

  • Audit a repo with .github/workflows/*.yml to identify sequential jobs and missing caches
  • Review a GitLab CI file for reusable templates, caching, and artifact retention
  • Detect unpinned third-party actions and missing permissions that expose secrets
  • Recommend a canary or blue-green promotion flow with verification and rollback
  • Suggest converting duplicated steps into composite actions or shared templates

FAQ

Which files does the reviewer look for?

It detects .github/workflows/*.yml, .gitlab-ci.yml, Jenkinsfile, azure-pipelines.yml, and .circleci/config.yml.

Does it modify pipeline files automatically?

No. It produces a prioritized report with concrete suggestions; changes should be applied and tested by maintainers.