CI/CD Setup

The Jowy Portfolio is designed to automatically fetch fresh content from Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, and Google Calendar during each build. Setting up automated weekly rebuilds ensures your portfolio always displays your latest tracks, videos, and events without manual intervention.

Why Automated Rebuilds?

Your portfolio is a static site that fetches dynamic content during the build process. Without automated rebuilds:

New tracks won’t appear until you manually trigger a build
Upcoming events won’t update
Video playlists remain static
Metrics like follower counts become outdated

Solution: Schedule weekly rebuilds to automatically fetch and display fresh content.

The portfolio already has a GitHub Actions workflow configured at .github/workflows/rebuild.yml. This guide explains how it works and how to customize it.

How It Works

The automated rebuild system uses two components:

GitHub Actions: A cron job that runs on a schedule
Vercel Deploy Hook: A webhook URL that triggers a new deployment

Setting Up Automated Rebuilds

Create a Vercel Deploy Hook

Deploy Hooks are unique URLs that trigger a deployment when called.

Go to your project in the Vercel Dashboard
Navigate to Settings → Git
Scroll to Deploy Hooks
Enter a name (e.g., “Weekly Rebuild”)
Select the branch to deploy (usually main or master)
Click Create Hook
Copy the generated webhook URL

The URL will look like:

https://api.vercel.com/v1/integrations/deploy/prj_xxxxx/yyyyy

Keep this URL secret! Anyone with access to it can trigger deployments of your site.

Add Deploy Hook to GitHub Secrets

Store the webhook URL securely in GitHub:

Go to your GitHub repository
Click Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions
Click New repository secret
Name: VERCEL_DEPLOY_HOOK
Value: Paste the webhook URL from Vercel
Click Add secret

Verify the Workflow File

Your repository should already have .github/workflows/rebuild.yml. Let’s review it:

name: Reconstrucción Semanal
on:
  schedule:
    # Runs every Monday at 8:00 AM UTC
    - cron: "0 8 * * 1"
  workflow_dispatch: # Allows manual trigger from GitHub

jobs:
  trigger_deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Llamar al Deploy Hook de Vercel
        run: curl -X POST ${{ secrets.VERCEL_DEPLOY_HOOK }}

This workflow:

Runs every Monday at 8:00 AM UTC (rebuild.yml:6)
Can be manually triggered via GitHub Actions UI (rebuild.yml:7)
Makes a POST request to your Vercel Deploy Hook (rebuild.yml:14)

Test the Workflow

Before waiting a week, test that everything works:

Go to your GitHub repository
Click Actions tab
Select Reconstrucción Semanal workflow
Click Run workflow dropdown
Click the green Run workflow button
Watch the workflow execute in real-time
Verify a new deployment appears in Vercel

The workflow should complete in a few seconds. The actual build happens in Vercel and takes 1-2 minutes.

Customizing the Schedule

The default schedule is every Monday at 8:00 AM UTC. You can customize this using cron syntax.

Cron Syntax

┌───────────── minute (0 - 59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0 - 23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of month (1 - 31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1 - 12)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of week (0 - 6) (Sunday to Saturday)
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

Common Schedules

Description	Cron Expression	Use Case
Every Monday at 8 AM UTC	`0 8 * * 1`	Weekly updates (default)
Every day at midnight UTC	`0 0 * * *`	Daily fresh content
Twice weekly (Mon & Thu)	`0 8 * * 1,4`	More frequent updates
First day of month	`0 0 1 * *`	Monthly rebuild
Every Sunday at 6 AM UTC	`0 6 * * 0`	Weekend preparation

Use crontab.guru to generate and validate cron expressions. GitHub Actions uses UTC timezone.

Example: Daily Rebuilds

To rebuild every day at midnight UTC:

name: Daily Rebuild
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 0 * * *"  # Changed from weekly to daily
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  trigger_deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Trigger Vercel Deploy Hook
        run: curl -X POST ${{ secrets.VERCEL_DEPLOY_HOOK }}

Advanced Configuration

Multiple Deploy Hooks

If you have staging and production environments:

name: Multi-Environment Rebuild
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 8 * * 1"  # Weekly for production
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  deploy_staging:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Deploy to Staging
        run: curl -X POST ${{ secrets.VERCEL_STAGING_HOOK }}
  
  deploy_production:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: deploy_staging  # Wait for staging to finish
    steps:
      - name: Deploy to Production
        run: curl -X POST ${{ secrets.VERCEL_PRODUCTION_HOOK }}

Conditional Rebuilds

Rebuild only if new content exists (requires API checks):

name: Conditional Rebuild
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 8 * * 1"
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  check_and_deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Check for new Spotify releases
        id: check
        run: |
          # Add logic to check Spotify API for new releases
          # Set output: echo "new_content=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
          echo "new_content=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
      
      - name: Trigger deploy if new content
        if: steps.check.outputs.new_content == 'true'
        run: curl -X POST ${{ secrets.VERCEL_DEPLOY_HOOK }}

Notifications

Get notified when rebuilds complete:

name: Rebuild with Notifications
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 8 * * 1"
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  trigger_deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Trigger Vercel Deploy
        id: deploy
        run: |
          curl -X POST ${{ secrets.VERCEL_DEPLOY_HOOK }}
          echo "Deploy triggered at $(date)" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
      
      - name: Send Slack notification
        if: always()
        uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v1
        with:
          webhook-url: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
          payload: |
            {
              "text": "Portfolio rebuild triggered! Check Vercel for deployment status."
            }

Monitoring Automated Builds

GitHub Actions Dashboard

Go to your repository’s Actions tab
View all workflow runs with timestamps
Click any run to see detailed logs
Check for failures and debug issues

Vercel Deployments

Open your Vercel Dashboard
Click on your project
View all deployments with:
- Trigger source (GitHub Actions hook)
- Build duration
- Build logs
- Deployment preview

Deployments triggered by the Deploy Hook will show “Deploy Hook” as the source in Vercel, making them easy to identify.

Troubleshooting

Workflow Not Running

Symptom: No builds are triggered automatically Solutions:

Verify the cron schedule is correct
Check that GitHub Actions are enabled for your repository
Ensure the workflow file is on the default branch (main or master)
GitHub Actions may have a delay of up to 5 minutes

Deploy Hook Fails

Symptom: Workflow runs but Vercel doesn’t build Solutions:

Verify VERCEL_DEPLOY_HOOK secret is set correctly
Check the webhook URL is still valid in Vercel settings
Ensure the secret has no extra spaces or characters
Regenerate the Deploy Hook in Vercel if needed

Build Succeeds But Content Not Updated

Symptom: Deployment completes but shows old content Possible causes:

Browser cache: Hard refresh with Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac)
CDN cache: Vercel CDN cache may take a few minutes to invalidate
API rate limits: Check Vercel function logs for API errors
Stale cache: The server-side cache resets with each build, so this shouldn’t be an issue

GitHub Actions Quota

Symptom: Workflow disabled due to quota Solution: GitHub provides 2,000 free Action minutes per month for private repos (unlimited for public repos). This workflow uses less than 1 minute per run, so quota shouldn’t be an issue unless you run it very frequently.

Best Practices

Start with weekly rebuilds: Daily rebuilds may be overkill unless you publish content very frequently
Use manual triggers for testing: Always test the workflow with workflow_dispatch before relying on cron
Monitor build times: If builds take too long, consider optimizing API calls or caching strategies
Check API quotas: Ensure your weekly rebuilds don’t exceed API rate limits (especially YouTube Data API)
Version your workflow: Commit changes to the workflow file with clear messages explaining schedule changes
Set up notifications: Add Slack or email notifications for failed workflows so you know immediately if something breaks

Cost Considerations

GitHub Actions

Public repos: Unlimited free minutes
Private repos: 2,000 free minutes per month
This workflow uses: ~0.5 minutes per run
Weekly cost: ~2 minutes per month (essentially free)

Vercel

Free tier: 100 deployments per day
This workflow adds: 4-5 deployments per month
Impact: Negligible on free tier quota

Both GitHub Actions and Vercel’s free tiers are more than sufficient for automated weekly rebuilds. You won’t incur any costs.

Alternative CI/CD Platforms

While GitHub Actions is the default choice, you can also use:

GitLab CI

# .gitlab-ci.yml
schedule:rebuild:
  only:
    - schedules
  script:
    - curl -X POST $VERCEL_DEPLOY_HOOK

Vercel Cron Jobs (Coming Soon)

Vercel is developing native cron job support that won’t require GitHub Actions.

External Cron Services

Use services like cron-job.org or EasyCron:

Create an account
Add a new cron job
Set URL to your Vercel Deploy Hook
Configure schedule
Set method to POST

Next Steps

Your portfolio is now fully automated! Consider:

Monitoring Vercel Analytics to see how users engage with fresh content
Adding more API integrations to showcase additional platforms
Creating a custom rebuild notification system
Documenting your schedule for future reference

Your portfolio will now stay fresh automatically, showcasing your latest work without any manual intervention.

Setup

Styling

Why Automated Rebuilds?

How It Works

Setting Up Automated Rebuilds

Customizing the Schedule

Cron Syntax

Common Schedules

Example: Daily Rebuilds

Advanced Configuration

Multiple Deploy Hooks

Conditional Rebuilds

Notifications

Monitoring Automated Builds

GitHub Actions Dashboard

Vercel Deployments

Troubleshooting

Workflow Not Running

Deploy Hook Fails

Build Succeeds But Content Not Updated

GitHub Actions Quota

Best Practices

Cost Considerations

GitHub Actions

Vercel

Alternative CI/CD Platforms

GitLab CI

Vercel Cron Jobs (Coming Soon)

External Cron Services

Next Steps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Setup

Styling

​Why Automated Rebuilds?

​How It Works

​Setting Up Automated Rebuilds

​Customizing the Schedule

​Cron Syntax

​Common Schedules

​Example: Daily Rebuilds

​Advanced Configuration

​Multiple Deploy Hooks

​Conditional Rebuilds

​Notifications

​Monitoring Automated Builds

​GitHub Actions Dashboard

​Vercel Deployments

​Troubleshooting

​Workflow Not Running

​Deploy Hook Fails

​Build Succeeds But Content Not Updated

​GitHub Actions Quota

​Best Practices

​Cost Considerations

​GitHub Actions

​Vercel

​Alternative CI/CD Platforms

​GitLab CI

​Vercel Cron Jobs (Coming Soon)

​External Cron Services

​Next Steps

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Why Automated Rebuilds?

How It Works

Setting Up Automated Rebuilds

Customizing the Schedule

Cron Syntax

Common Schedules

Example: Daily Rebuilds

Advanced Configuration

Multiple Deploy Hooks

Conditional Rebuilds

Notifications

Monitoring Automated Builds

GitHub Actions Dashboard

Vercel Deployments

Troubleshooting

Workflow Not Running

Deploy Hook Fails

Build Succeeds But Content Not Updated

GitHub Actions Quota

Best Practices

Cost Considerations

GitHub Actions

Vercel

Alternative CI/CD Platforms

GitLab CI

Vercel Cron Jobs (Coming Soon)

External Cron Services

Next Steps