Auto Deploy

Deploy your WordPressify theme automatically with GitHub Actions whenever you push to main.

Setup

Create a GitHub repository

Push your WordPressify project to a new GitHub repository.

Add secrets and variables

In your repository, go to Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions:

Under Variables, create THEME_NAME with your theme directory name (e.g., my-theme).
Under Secrets, add the credentials for your chosen deployment method (see below).

Create the workflow file

Create .github/workflows/deploy.yml in your repository and paste one of the configurations below.

Deployment Methods

Add these secrets to your repository: FTP_SERVER, FTP_USERNAME, FTP_PASSWORD.

name: Deploy WordPressify
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
env:
  THEME_NAME: ${{ vars.THEME_NAME }}

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "20"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          npm install
          npm run build

      - name: Build theme
        run: |
          npm run export

      - name: Set permissions
        run: |
          sudo chown -R $USER:$USER ./dist
          chmod -R 755 ./dist
          mkdir -p dist/themes/${{ env.THEME_NAME }}
          touch dist/themes/${{ env.THEME_NAME }}/.ftp-deploy-sync-state.json
          chmod 666 dist/themes/${{ env.THEME_NAME }}/.ftp-deploy-sync-state.json

      - name: Deploy to WordPress
        uses: SamKirkland/[email protected]
        with:
          server: ${{ secrets.FTP_SERVER }}
          username: ${{ secrets.FTP_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.FTP_PASSWORD }}
          local-dir: ./dist/themes/${{ env.THEME_NAME }}/
          server-dir: /public_html/wp-content/themes/${{ env.THEME_NAME }}/
          exclude: |
            **/.git*
            **/.git*/**
            **/node_modules/**
            **/src/**
            gulpfile.js
            package.json
            package-lock.json

Add these secrets to your repository: SSH_HOST, SSH_USERNAME, SSH_KNOWN_HOSTS, SSH_PRIVATE_KEY.

name: Deploy WordPressify
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
env:
  THEME_NAME: ${{ vars.THEME_NAME }}

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "20"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          npm install
          npm run build

      - name: Build theme
        run: |
          npm run export

      - name: Set permissions
        run: |
          sudo chown -R $USER:$USER ./dist
          chmod -R 755 ./dist
          mkdir -p dist/themes/${{ env.THEME_NAME }}

      - name: Install SSH key
        uses: shimataro/ssh-key-action@v2
        with:
          key: ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIVATE_KEY }}
          known_hosts: ${{ secrets.SSH_KNOWN_HOSTS }}

      - name: Deploy to WordPress via SSH
        run: |
          rsync -avz --delete \
            -e "ssh -p 22" \
            --exclude '.git*' \
            --exclude '.git*/**' \
            --exclude 'node_modules/**' \
            --exclude 'src/**' \
            --exclude 'gulpfile.js' \
            --exclude 'package.json' \
            --exclude 'package-lock.json' \
            ./dist/themes/${{ env.THEME_NAME }}/ \
            ${{ secrets.SSH_USERNAME }}@${{ secrets.SSH_HOST }}:/var/www/html/wp-content/themes/${{ env.THEME_NAME }}/

Important notes:

Set THEME_NAME as a repository variable (not a secret). This is the name of your WordPress theme directory.
Do not commit your .env file to the repository if it contains sensitive values. Use GitHub secrets and variables instead.
Verify the server-dir (FTP) or rsync destination path matches your server's WordPress installation directory.
Keep at least one file in src/plugins/ (even an empty .gitkeep). An empty directory will cause the build to fail.

Triggering the Deployment

Once the workflow file is committed and pushed to main, every subsequent push to main will automatically build and deploy your theme.

Secrets are encrypted and cannot be viewed once saved. You can update a secret at any time by creating a new one with the same name. Never commit credentials to your repository.