MokoOnyx/docs/WORKFLOW_GUIDE.md

Workflow Guide - Moko Cassiopeia

Quick reference guide for GitHub Actions workflows and common development tasks.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Workflow Quick Reference
• Common Development Tasks
• Troubleshooting
• Best Practices

Overview

This repository uses GitHub Actions for continuous integration, testing, quality checks, and deployment. All workflows are located in .github/workflows/.

Workflow Execution Model

┌─────────────────┐
│  Code Changes   │
└────────┬────────┘
         │
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│   CI Pipeline   │  ← Validation, Testing, Quality
└────────┬────────┘
         │
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ Version Branch  │  ← Create dev/X.Y.Z branch
└────────┬────────┘
         │
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│ Release Pipeline│  ← dev → rc → version → main
└────────┬────────┘
         │
         ▼
┌─────────────────┐
│  Distribution   │  ← ZIP package + GitHub Release
└─────────────────┘

Workflow Quick Reference

Continuous Integration (ci.yml)

Trigger: Automatic on push/PR to main, dev/, rc/, version/* branches

Purpose: Validates code quality and repository structure

What it does:

• ✅ Validates Joomla manifest XML
• ✅ Checks XML well-formedness
• ✅ Validates GitHub Actions workflows
• ✅ Runs PHP syntax checks
• ✅ Checks for secrets in code
• ✅ Validates license headers
• ✅ Verifies version alignment

When to check: After every commit

How to view results:

# Via GitHub CLI
gh run list --workflow=ci.yml --limit 5
gh run view <run-id> --log

PHP Quality Checks (php_quality.yml)

Trigger: Automatic on push/PR to main, dev/, rc/, version/* branches

Purpose: Ensures PHP code quality and compatibility

What it does:

• 🔍 PHPStan static analysis (level 5)
• 📏 PHP_CodeSniffer with PSR-12 standards
• ✔️ PHP 8.0+ compatibility checks

Matrix: PHP 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3

When to check: Before committing PHP changes

How to run locally:

# Install tools
composer global require "squizlabs/php_codesniffer:^3.0" --with-all-dependencies
composer global require "phpstan/phpstan:^1.0" --with-all-dependencies

# Run checks
phpcs --standard=phpcs.xml src/
phpstan analyse --configuration=phpstan.neon

Joomla Testing (joomla_testing.yml)

Trigger: Automatic on push/PR to main, dev/, rc/ branches

Purpose: Tests template compatibility with Joomla versions

What it does:

• 📦 Downloads and installs Joomla (4.4, 5.0, 5.1)
• 🔧 Installs template into Joomla
• ✅ Validates template installation
• 🧪 Runs Codeception tests

Matrix: Joomla 4.4/5.0/5.1 × PHP 8.0/8.1/8.2/8.3

When to check: Before releasing new versions

How to test locally:

# See docs/JOOMLA_DEVELOPMENT.md for local testing setup
codecept run

Version Branch Creation (version_branch.yml)

Trigger: Manual workflow dispatch

Purpose: Creates a new version branch and bumps version numbers

What it does:

• 🏷️ Creates dev/, rc/, or version/* branch
• 📝 Updates version in all files
• 📅 Updates manifest dates
• 📋 Moves CHANGELOG unreleased to version
• ✅ Validates version hierarchy

When to use: Starting work on a new version

How to run:

1. Go to Actions → Create version branch
2. Click "Run workflow"
3. Enter version (e.g., 03.06.00)
4. Select branch prefix (dev/, rc/, or version/)
5. Click "Run workflow"

Example:

new_version: 03.06.00
branch_prefix: dev/
version_text: beta

Release Pipeline (release_pipeline.yml)

Trigger: Manual workflow dispatch or release event

Purpose: Promotes branches through release stages and creates distributions

What it does:

• 🔄 Promotes branches: dev → rc → version → main
• 📅 Normalizes dates in manifest and CHANGELOG
• 📦 Builds distributable ZIP package
• 🚀 Uploads to SFTP server
• 🏷️ Creates Git tag
• 📋 Creates GitHub Release
• 🔒 Attests build provenance

When to use: Promoting a version through release stages

How to run:

1. Go to Actions → Release Pipeline
2. Click "Run workflow"
3. Select classification (auto/rc/stable)
4. Click "Run workflow"

Release flow:

dev/X.Y.Z → rc/X.Y.Z → version/X.Y.Z → main
  (dev)      (RC)        (stable)      (production)

Deploy to Staging (deploy_staging.yml)

Trigger: Manual workflow dispatch

Purpose: Deploys template to staging/development environments

What it does:

• ✅ Validates deployment prerequisites
• 📦 Builds deployment package
• 🚀 Uploads via SFTP to environment
• 📝 Creates deployment summary

When to use: Testing in staging before production release

How to run:

1. Go to Actions → Deploy to Staging
2. Click "Run workflow"
3. Select environment (staging/development/preview)
4. Optionally specify version
5. Click "Run workflow"

Required secrets:

• STAGING_HOST - SFTP hostname
• STAGING_USER - SFTP username
• STAGING_KEY - SSH private key (or STAGING_PASSWORD)
• STAGING_PATH - Remote deployment path

Repository Health (repo_health.yml)

Trigger: Manual workflow dispatch (admin only)

Purpose: Comprehensive repository health and configuration checks

What it does:

• 🔐 Validates release configuration
• 🌐 Tests SFTP connectivity
• 📂 Checks scripts governance
• 📄 Validates required artifacts
• 🔍 Extended checks (SPDX, ShellCheck, etc.)

When to use: Before major releases or when debugging deployment issues

How to run:

1. Go to Actions → Repo Health
2. Click "Run workflow"
3. Select profile (all/release/repo)
4. Click "Run workflow"

Profiles:

• all - Run all checks
• release - Release configuration and SFTP only
• scripts - Scripts governance only
• repo - Repository health only

Common Development Tasks

Starting a New Feature

# 1. Create a new version branch via GitHub Actions
# Actions → Create version branch → dev/X.Y.Z

# 2. Clone and checkout the new branch
git fetch origin
git checkout dev/X.Y.Z

# 3. Make your changes
vim src/index.php

# 4. Validate locally
make validate-required

# 5. Commit and push
git add -A
git commit -m "feat: add new feature"
git push origin dev/X.Y.Z

Running All Validations Locally

# Run comprehensive validation suite
make validate-required

# Run quality checks
make quality

Creating a Release Package

# Package with auto-detected version
```bash
# Package with auto-detected version
make package

# Verify package contents
unzip -l dist/moko-cassiopeia-*.zip

Updating Version Numbers

# Via GitHub Actions (recommended)
# Actions → Release Management workflow

Updating CHANGELOG

Update CHANGELOG.md manually or via pull request following the existing format.

Troubleshooting

CI Failures

PHP Syntax Errors

# Check specific file
php -l src/index.php

# Run validation
make validate-required

Manifest Validation Failed

# Validate manifest and XML files
make validate-required

Version Alignment Issues

# Check version consistency
make validate-required

Workflow Failures

"Branch already exists"

# Check existing branches
git branch -r | grep dev/

# Delete remote branch if needed (carefully!)
git push origin --delete dev/03.06.00

"Missing required secrets"

Go to repository Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions, and add:

• FTP_SERVER
• FTP_USER
• FTP_KEY or FTP_PASSWORD
• FTP_PATH

SFTP Connection Failed

1. Verify credentials in repo_health workflow:

   • Actions → Repo Health → profile: release

2. Check SSH key format (OpenSSH, not PuTTY PPK)

3. Verify server allows connections from GitHub IPs

Quality Check Failures

PHPStan Errors

# Run locally to see full output
phpstan analyse --configuration=phpstan.neon

# Generate baseline to ignore existing issues
phpstan analyse --configuration=phpstan.neon --generate-baseline

PHPCS Violations

# Check violations
phpcs --standard=phpcs.xml src/

# Auto-fix where possible
phpcbf --standard=phpcs.xml src/

# Show specific error codes
phpcs --standard=phpcs.xml --report=source src/

Joomla Testing Failed

1. Check PHP/Joomla version matrix compatibility
2. Review MySQL connection errors
3. Verify template manifest structure
4. Check template file paths

Best Practices

Version Management

1. Always use version branches: dev/X.Y.Z, rc/X.Y.Z, version/X.Y.Z
2. Follow hierarchy: dev → rc → version → main
3. Update CHANGELOG: Document all changes in Unreleased section
4. Semantic versioning: Major.Minor.Patch (03.06.00)

Code Quality

1. Run validations locally before pushing
2. Fix PHPStan warnings at level 5
3. Follow PSR-12 coding standards
4. Add SPDX license headers to new files
5. Keep functions small and well-documented

Workflow Usage

1. Use CI for every commit - automated validation
2. Run repo_health before releases - comprehensive checks
3. Test on staging first - never deploy directly to production
4. Monitor workflow runs - fix failures promptly
5. Review workflow logs - understand what changed

Release Process

1. Create dev branch → Work on features
2. Promote to rc → Release candidate testing
3. Promote to version → Stable release
4. Merge to main → Production (auto-merged via PR)
5. Create GitHub Release → Public distribution

Security

1. Never commit secrets - use GitHub Secrets
2. Use SSH keys for SFTP (not passwords)
3. Scan for secrets - runs automatically in CI
4. Keep dependencies updated - security patches
5. Review security advisories - GitHub Dependabot

Documentation

1. Update docs with code - keep in sync
2. Document workflow changes - update this guide
3. Add examples - show, don't just tell
4. Link to relevant docs - cross-reference
5. Keep README current - first impression matters

Quick Links

• Main README - Project overview
• Joomla Development Guide - Testing and quality
• CHANGELOG - Version history
• CONTRIBUTING - Contribution guidelines

Getting Help

1. Check workflow logs - Most issues have clear error messages
2. Review this guide - Common solutions documented
3. Run validation scripts - Identify specific issues
4. Open an issue - For bugs or questions
5. Contact maintainers - For access or configuration issues

---

Metadata

• Document: docs/WORKFLOW_GUIDE.md
• Repository: https://git.mokoconsulting.tech/MokoConsulting/MokoOnyx
• Path: /docs/WORKFLOW_GUIDE.md
• Owner: Moko Consulting
• Version: 03.06.03
• Status: Active
• Effective Date: 2026-01-30
• Classification: Public Open Source Documentation

Revision History

Date	Change Summary	Author
2026-01-30	Updated metadata to MokoStandards format	GitHub Copilot
2025-01-04	Initial workflow guide created	GitHub Copilot