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In this guide, you’ll learn how to configure a GitHub development environment to manage deployment secrets, variables, and protection rules in your repository. Environments help you isolate settings for stages like dev, UAT, SIT, or prod, ensuring each has its own safeguards and credentials. For more details, see the GitHub Environments documentation.

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1. Create the Environment

  1. Go to Settings in your repository.
  2. Click Environments in the sidebar.
  3. Select New environment and enter development.
Once created, you can configure:
  • Protection rules (required reviewers, wait timers, branch/tag restrictions)
  • Environment secrets
  • Environment variables
  • Deployment branch and tag restrictions

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1.1 Configure Protection Rules

Under Protection rules, you can enforce deployment policies. Use the table below as a quick reference:
Rule TypeConfigurable Options
Wait timerDuration (e.g., 1 minute), admin bypass
Required reviewersNumber of reviewers, specific teams or users
Branch/tag filtersOnly allow deployments from selected refs
To add a 1-minute wait timer:
  1. Enable Wait timer.
  2. Set the value to 1 minute.
  3. Check Allow repository administrators to bypass if desired.
  4. Click Save.
You can extend protection with custom rules by exploring third-party Actions or writing your own.

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1.2 Add an Environment Secret

Environment secrets have higher precedence than repository-level secrets. To add a KUBECONFIG secret:
  1. In the Secrets section, click Add secret.
  2. Enter KUBECONFIG as the name and paste its value.
  3. Click Add secret.
Environment secrets override repository secrets with the same name.
The image shows a GitHub interface where a user is adding a secret in the environment settings. The user is entering a name and value for the secret, with suggestions like "DOCKER_PASSWORD" and "MONGO_PASSWORD" visible.

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1.3 Review Protection Rules

Here’s how the Protection rules page appears, including reviewers, wait timers, and restrictions:
The image shows a GitHub settings page for configuring environment deployment protection rules, including options for required reviewers, wait timers, and environment secrets. The sidebar displays various settings categories like branches, tags, and security options.

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2. Add Environment Variables

Switch to Variables under the same environment and add the following:
VariableValueDescription
NAMESPACEdevelopmentKubernetes namespace name
REPLICAS1Number of pod replicas

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3. Verify Environment Setup

After saving, navigate back to Settings → Environments. You should see:
  • Environment: development
  • Protection rule: 1-minute wait timer
  • Secret: KUBECONFIG
  • Variables: NAMESPACE, REPLICAS
In Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions, both environment-level and repository-level settings appear. When names collide, the environment value wins.
The image shows a GitHub repository settings page, specifically the "Secrets and variables" section under "Actions," displaying environment and repository variables.

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4. Integrate with GitHub Actions

Reference your development environment in workflows: 
jobs:
  deploy-dev:
    environment: development
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Deploy to Development
        run: |
          echo "Using NAMESPACE=${{ vars.NAMESPACE }} and replicas=${{ vars.REPLICAS }}"
This ensures your workflow picks up the correct secrets, variables, and rules during deployment.

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