Orchestration of GitHub Actions and Azure Pipelines

In this guide, you’ll learn how to trigger a GitHub Actions workflow from an Azure Pipeline to build and deploy a Node.js application. We’ll use the KodeKloudCoffee repository as our example, combining the flexibility of Azure Pipelines with GitHub Actions CI/CD.

1. Repository Overview

Our private GitHub repo KodeKloudCoffee contains a Node.js app that builds automatically on commits to main.

Here’s the current GitHub Actions run history:

When a Pull Request is merged, the build kicks off and shows a success check:

2. Create a GitHub Personal Access Token

Azure Pipelines needs a PAT with repo and workflow scopes to dispatch workflows.

1. Go to User Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens.
2. Click Generate new token (Classic), name it (e.g., push-to-azure), and set an expiration.
3. Under Scopes, select:
   • repo (full control of private repos)
   • workflow (manage GitHub Actions workflows)

3. Modify the GitHub Actions Workflow

Open .github/workflows/main.yml. The existing trigger section is:

name: Deploy to Azure
on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]
  workflow_dispatch:

To enable API-driven dispatches, add repository_dispatch::

name: Deploy to Azure
on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]
  repository_dispatch:
  workflow_dispatch:

env:
  AZURE_WEBAPP_NAME: kodekloudcoffee
  AZURE_WEBAPP_PACKAGE_PATH: '.'
  NODE_VERSION: '20.x'

permissions:
  contents: read

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'
      - name: Build and test
        run: |
          npm install
          npm run build --if-present
          npm test --if-present

Commit and push this change to the main branch.

4. Configure Azure Pipelines

In Azure DevOps, create a new pipeline connected to KodeKloudCoffee. Use the Starter pipeline template and set:

trigger:
- none

pool:
  vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

steps:
- script: echo Hello, world!
  displayName: 'Run a one-line script'

The trigger: none prevents automatic runs—this pipeline will only run manually or via API.

4.1 Add the PAT as a Secret Variable

1. In your pipeline’s Variables tab, add github_token.
2. Paste the PAT and mark it as secret.
3. Save and close.

5. Dispatch GitHub Actions from Azure Pipelines

Replace the starter step with a PowerShell task that sends a repository_dispatch event:

trigger:
- none

pool:
  vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest'

steps:
- task: PowerShell@2
  inputs:
    targetType: 'inline'
    script: |
      $body = '{ "ref": "main" }'
      $headers = @{
        'Authorization'        = "Bearer $env:github_token"
        'Accept'               = 'application/vnd.github+json'
        'X-GitHub-Api-Version' = '2022-11-28'
      }
      Invoke-RestMethod `
        -Uri 'https://api.github.com/repos/jeremykodekloud/KodeKloudCoffee/actions/workflows/main.yml/dispatches' `
        -Method POST `
        -Headers $headers `
        -Body $body `
        -ContentType 'application/json' `
        -ErrorAction Stop
  displayName: 'Trigger GitHub Actions via Repository Dispatch'

Run the pipeline. It will call the GitHub API and start the Deploy to Azure job.

Refresh the Actions tab to see the new dispatch run:

6. Managing Deployment Gates

Now you can control deployments from Azure Pipelines—perfect for environments requiring approvals.

Links and References

• GitHub Actions Documentation
• Azure Pipelines YAML reference
• Authenticating with the REST API