CI/CD Integration

Automate your deployments by integrating Senate with your CI/CD pipeline using webhooks.

Overview

Senate supports automated deployments through Webhooks - trigger deployments via HTTP POST requests.

Setting Up Webhooks

GitHub Repository Webhook (Recommended)

The easiest way to set up CI/CD is using GitHub's built-in webhook feature:

Get the Webhook URL

Go to Services → Select your service
Click Settings tab
Copy the Webhook URL

Webhook URL in service settings

Configure GitHub

In your GitHub repository, go to Settings → Webhooks
Click Add webhook
Paste the Senate webhook URL
Set Content type to application/json
Choose Just the push event or select specific events
Click Add webhook

GitHub webhook configuration

Now every push to your repository will automatically trigger a deployment.

Keep your webhook URL secret. Anyone with this URL can trigger deployments.

Webhook URL Format

Each service has a unique webhook URL:

https://senate.example.com/api/services/<service-id>/deploy?token=<secret-token>

Manual Trigger

You can also trigger deployments manually via curl:

curl https://senate.example.com/api/services/<service-id>/deploy?token=<secret-token>

Troubleshooting

Webhook not triggering

Check webhook URL is correct
Verify network connectivity (can GitHub reach your Senate instance?)
Check Senate logs for errors
Ensure webhook is enabled in service settings

Deployment stuck

Check image can be pulled
Verify container starts successfully
Check health check isn't failing
Review deployment logs in Senate dashboard

Advanced: GitHub Actions Workflows

For more control over your deployment pipeline (e.g., running tests, building images before deploy), you can use GitHub Actions workflows.

Basic Deployment

Create .github/workflows/deploy.yml:

name: Deploy to Senate

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Trigger deployment
        run: |
          curl ${{ secrets.SENATE_WEBHOOK_URL }}

With Docker Build

Build and push image, then deploy:

name: Build and Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  build-and-deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Login to Docker Hub
        uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}
      
      - name: Build and push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          push: true
          tags: myuser/myapp:${{ github.sha }}
      
      - name: Deploy to Senate
        run: |
          curl "${{ secrets.SENATE_WEBHOOK_URL }}

Environment-Specific Deployments

Deploy to different environments based on branch:

name: Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
      - develop

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Deploy to staging
        if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/develop'
        run: curl ${{ secrets.SENATE_STAGING_WEBHOOK }}
      
      - name: Deploy to production
        if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
        run: curl ${{ secrets.SENATE_PROD_WEBHOOK }}

Setting Up GitHub Secrets

Go to your GitHub repo → Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions
Click New repository secret
Add SENATE_WEBHOOK_URL with your webhook URL

Manual Approval for Production

For production deployments requiring approval:

jobs:
  deploy-prod:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: production  # Requires approval
    steps:
      - run: curl ${{ secrets.SENATE_PROD_WEBHOOK }}

Deployments - Deployment details
Services - Service configuration
First Deployment - Getting started

CI/CD Integration

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