CI/CD & Release Management Strategy

📖 Concept

CI/CD for React Native is more complex than web because you're building for two platforms (iOS + Android), managing native dependencies, and dealing with app store review processes.

CI Pipeline stages:

PR Created
  → Lint (TypeScript, ESLint, Prettier check)
  → Unit Tests (Jest, ~2 min)
  → Integration Tests (RNTL + MSW, ~5 min)
  → Build Check (Metro bundling, ~3 min)
  → [Optional] E2E Tests on PR (Detox, ~15 min)

Merge to main
  → All above
  → E2E Tests (full suite, ~30 min)
  → Build iOS (Xcode, ~15 min)
  → Build Android (Gradle, ~15 min)
  → Upload to TestFlight / Firebase App Distribution

Release Branch
  → Full test suite
  → Code signing
  → Store submission (App Store Connect, Google Play Console)
  → [OTA] CodePush for JS-only changes

Release strategies:

Full store release: Native + JS changes. 1-7 days review time. Staged rollout (1% → 10% → 100%).
OTA update (CodePush): JS-only changes. Instant delivery. No store review. Use for bug fixes, content changes.
Feature flags: Ship code behind flags. Enable/disable without any release. Gradual rollout.

Monitoring & observability post-release:

Crash-free rate (Sentry, Crashlytics) — target >99.5%
ANR rate (Android vitals) — target <0.5%
App startup time — monitor p50, p95, p99
Bundle size tracking — alert on >5% increase
API error rates — dashboard per endpoint
User-reported issues — in-app feedback, support tickets

💻 Code Example

codeTap to expand ⛶

1// === CI/CD CONFIGURATION ===
2
3// .github/workflows/ci.yml (GitHub Actions)
4const ciConfig = {
5  name: 'CI',
6  on: {
7    pull_request: { branches: ['main', 'develop'] },
8    push: { branches: ['main'] },
9  },
10  jobs: {
11    lint_and_test: {
12      'runs-on': 'ubuntu-latest',
13      steps: [
14        { uses: 'actions/checkout@v4' },
15        { uses: 'actions/setup-node@v4', with: { 'node-version': '20' } },
16        { run: 'npm ci' },
17        { run: 'npm run lint', name: 'ESLint' },
18        { run: 'npm run typecheck', name: 'TypeScript' },
19        { run: 'npm test -- --coverage', name: 'Unit Tests' },
20        {
21          name: 'Coverage Gate',
22          run: 'npx coverage-threshold --statements 80 --branches 70',
23        },
24      ],
25    },
26    build_android: {
27      'runs-on': 'ubuntu-latest',
28      needs: 'lint_and_test',
29      if: "github.event_name == 'push'",
30      steps: [
31        // Setup Java, NDK, build, upload to Firebase App Distribution
32      ],
33    },
34    build_ios: {
35      'runs-on': 'macos-latest',
36      needs: 'lint_and_test',
37      if: "github.event_name == 'push'",
38      steps: [
39        // Setup Xcode, fastlane, build, upload to TestFlight
40      ],
41    },
42  },
43};
44
45// === RELEASE MANAGEMENT ===
46
47// Version management strategy
48// package.json version = marketing version (1.2.3)
49// Build number auto-incremented by CI
50
51// Release checklist (automated where possible)
52const releaseChecklist = {
53  preRelease: [
54    'All tests passing on release branch',
55    'No P0/P1 bugs open',
56    'Release notes written',
57    'Staging build tested by QA',
58    'Performance benchmarks within thresholds',
59    'Bundle size within budget',
60    'Crash-free rate on staging > 99.5%',
61  ],
62  release: [
63    'Tag release in git (v1.2.3)',
64    'Build signed APK/IPA',
65    'Submit to App Store Connect',
66    'Submit to Google Play Console',
67    'Staged rollout: 1% for 24h',
68    'Monitor crash rates, ANR rates, support tickets',
69    'If metrics ok: 10% for 24h → 50% → 100%',
70  ],
71  postRelease: [
72    'Verify analytics events flowing',
73    'Monitor error rates for 48h',
74    'Close release-related tickets',
75    'Update internal documentation',
76    'Start next release branch',
77  ],
78};
79
80// OTA updates with CodePush
81import codePush from 'react-native-code-push';
82
83const codePushOptions = {
84  checkFrequency: codePush.CheckFrequency.ON_APP_RESUME,
85  installMode: codePush.InstallMode.ON_NEXT_RESTART,
86  // Don't force immediate install — user might be mid-action
87};
88
89// Wrap root component
90const App = codePush(codePushOptions)(AppRoot);
91
92// For critical fixes — install immediately
93async function deployHotfix() {
94  const update = await codePush.checkForUpdate();
95  if (update && update.isMandatory) {
96    await update.download();
97    update.install(codePush.InstallMode.IMMEDIATE);
98    // Shows update dialog and restarts app
99  }
100}

🏋️ Practice Exercise

CI/CD & Release Exercises:

Set up a GitHub Actions CI pipeline that runs lint, typecheck, and tests on every PR
Configure Fastlane for automated iOS TestFlight deployment
Set up CodePush and deploy a JS-only update to a staging environment
Create a release checklist that includes bundle size comparison with the previous release
Implement a staged rollout strategy with automated rollback on crash rate increase
Set up monitoring dashboards for crash rate, startup time, and API error rates

⚠️ Common Mistakes

Not caching node_modules and native dependencies in CI — builds take 20+ minutes instead of 5
Using CodePush for changes that include native code — native changes require a full store release
Not testing on real devices in CI — simulators miss device-specific bugs (camera, GPS, Bluetooth)
Skipping staged rollout — deploying to 100% immediately means a bug affects all users instantly
Not tracking bundle size over time — gradual increases go unnoticed until the app exceeds size limits

💼 Interview Questions

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