Skip to main content
The AL-Go for GitHub Workshop is a comprehensive, hands-on learning experience that takes you through all the essential features and workflows of AL-Go for GitHub. Whether you’re new to GitHub or an experienced developer, this workshop will help you master DevOps for Business Central development.

​
What You’ll Learn

This workshop covers everything from basic setup to advanced scenarios, including:
  • Creating and managing AL-Go repositories
  • Working with single-project and multi-project repositories
  • Implementing versioning and release strategies
  • Setting up continuous delivery and deployment
  • Adding automated testing
  • Managing dependencies between projects
  • Keeping your repository up-to-date

​
Access the Workshop

The complete AL-Go workshop is available online:

AL-Go Workshop

Start the interactive workshop at aka.ms/algoworkshop

​
Prerequisites

Before starting the workshop, you’ll need:

​
Required Tools

  • GitHub account - Free tier is sufficient for the workshop
  • GitHub organizational account - Free tier works with public repositories
  • VS Code (optional for some sections) - With AL Language, Git, and PowerShell extensions
  • Docker Desktop (optional for local development sections)

​
GitHub Setup

1

Create organizational secret

Create an organizational secret called GHTOKENWORKFLOW containing a personal access token:For classic tokens:
  • Grant workflow permissions (automatically includes repo permissions)
For fine-grained tokens:
  • Read and Write access to Contents, Pull Requests, and Workflows
  • Read-only access to Actions and Metadata
The secret should be available to all public repositories.
Organizational settings must allow personal access tokens. See the Update AL-Go System Files scenario for more details.
2

Create organizational variable

Create an organizational variable called ALGOORGSETTINGS with the following JSON:
{
  "useCompilerFolder": true,
  "doNotPublishApps": true,
  "artifact": "//*//first"
}
The combination of useCompilerFolder and doNotPublishApps optimizes performance by avoiding container creation during builds. You’ll modify these settings later when working with automated tests.

​
Workshop Modules

The workshop is organized into progressive modules, each building on the previous one:

​
Getting Started

Introduction

Learn about GitHub, AL-Go for GitHub, and the differences between personal and organizational accounts

Prerequisites

Set up all required tools, accounts, and configurations

Get Started

Create your first AL-Go for GitHub repository

Add an App

Add your first Business Central app to the repository

​
Core Concepts

Versioning

Understand how AL-Go handles versioning of apps and artifacts

Releasing

Learn to create releases and issue hotfixes

Single vs Multi-Project

Explore the differences between repository structures

Dependencies

Manage dependencies within and across repositories

​
Advanced Topics

Continuous Delivery

Configure delivery of your apps to various targets

Continuous Deployment

Set up automatic deployment to Business Central environments

Production Publishing

Securely publish apps to production environments

Automated Tests

Add and run automated tests in your projects

​
Testing & Documentation

Scheduled Test Runs

Test against latest and future Business Central versions

Performance Testing

Add performance tests to your workflows (coming soon)

Reference Documentation

Generate and maintain up-to-date reference docs

Development Environments

Set up development environments for your projects (coming soon)

​
Professional Workflows

Development Process

Work with feature branches, pull requests, and code reviews (coming soon)

Keep Up-to-Date

Update AL-Go to the latest version via workflows (coming soon)

​
Expert Level Topics

For advanced users who want to customize AL-Go:
These topics are planned for future workshop releases.
  • Custom Delivery - Deliver to custom targets like Teams channels
  • Custom Deployment - Deploy to on-premises environments
  • Custom Jobs - Add custom jobs to AL-Go workflows
  • Custom Templates - Ensure consistency across multiple repositories

​
Workshop Format

Each module in the workshop includes:
  • Clear learning objectives - Know what you’ll accomplish
  • Step-by-step instructions - Follow along with detailed guidance
  • Screenshots and examples - Visual aids for every step
  • Hands-on exercises - Practice with real repositories
  • Best practices - Learn recommended approaches

​
Additional Topics

The workshop continues to expand with new content on:
  • Dependencies to other apps
  • AppSource validation
  • Publishing to AppSource
  • Advanced settings configuration
  • Versioning strategies
  • Power Platform integration
  • Self-hosted runners
  • Repository customization

​
Why Take This Workshop?

No DevOps Experience Needed

Start with zero DevOps knowledge - no prior experience with Docker, PowerShell, or YAML required

Hands-On Learning

Build real repositories and workflows as you learn

Free and Open Source

All tools and templates are free to use (GitHub costs may apply)

Professional DevOps

Get enterprise-grade DevOps processes without hiring a DevOps engineer

​
What is AL-Go for GitHub?

AL-Go for GitHub is the plug-and-play DevOps solution for Business Central development on GitHub:
  • Open source and free - No licensing costs
  • Supports PTEs and AppSource apps - Works for all project types
  • Easy to use - No specialized DevOps knowledge required
  • Easy to maintain - Stay current with workflow updates
  • DevOps as a tool - Not an investment area

​
Getting Help

If you need assistance during the workshop:

​
Start Learning

Ready to become an AL-Go expert? Start the workshop now:

Launch the AL-Go Workshop

Begin your journey at aka.ms/algoworkshop
The workshop uses public repositories and free GitHub accounts, making it accessible to everyone. For private repositories in a production environment, you’ll need a paid GitHub organizational account (Teams tier is recommended).

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us