Keel × GitHub Actions

Operator-facing guide for the workflow templates in keel/templates/github-actions/. Covers secrets setup, self-hosted runner decisions, and Actions cost notes.

Available templates

Template	What it does	Trigger	Typical runtime
`keel-ota-publish.yml`	Build JS bundles + publish OTA update to both platforms	`push` to `main`	3–6 min
`keel-submit-stores.yml`	Native build (.ipa + .aab) + submit to App Store, Google Play, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, Tencent MyApp	`push` tag `v..*`	30–60 min
`keel-pr-check.yml`	Typecheck + lint + dry-run build (fast feedback)	`pull_request`	2–4 min
`keel-cert-healthcheck.yml`	Weekly probe of CDN/Update endpoints + TLS expiry	`cron` + manual	< 1 min

To install a template, copy it into .github/workflows/ of your project repo and populate the required secrets. See the directory’s README.md for one-line install commands.

Setting up GitHub Secrets

Repo Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions → New repository secret. Use Environments for tag-triggered deploys so you can require manual approval before store submission.

Per-template required secrets

keel-ota-publish.yml

Secret	Source	How to obtain
`KEEL_API_KEY`	Keel Cloud	Create on the dashboard’s “API tokens” page; copy the `keel_live_...` string into the secret. In the workflow, `keel login --ci` picks it up from this env var.
`KEEL_PROJECT`	Keel Cloud	`<team-slug>/<project-slug>` from `keel.json`

keel-pr-check.yml — same two as above.

keel-submit-stores.yml — KEEL_API_KEY + KEEL_PROJECT plus:

Secret	Source	Format	Notes
`ASC_KEY_ID`	App Store Connect → Users and Access → Keys	10-char string
`ASC_ISSUER_ID`	Same page, top of the table	UUID
`ASC_KEY_P8_B64`	`.p8` download from ASC	base64 of the file	`base64 < AuthKey_XXX.p8 \| pbcopy`
`GOOGLE_PLAY_JSON_B64`	GCP service account with Play Console role	base64 of the JSON
`HUAWEI_CLIENT_ID` / `HUAWEI_CLIENT_SECRET`	AppGallery Connect → API client	strings
`XIAOMI_USERNAME` / `XIAOMI_PASSWORD`	dev.mi.com publisher account	strings	Recommend dedicated CI sub-account
`OPPO_CLIENT_ID` / `OPPO_CLIENT_SECRET`	open.oppomobile.com console	strings
`VIVO_ACCESS_KEY` / `VIVO_ACCESS_SECRET`	dev.vivo.com.cn → API config	strings
`YYB_USERNAME` / `YYB_PASSWORD`	Tencent MyApp publisher	strings

P8 keys and service-account JSON must be base64-encoded before storing. GitHub’s secret editor preserves the bytes, but downstream shell interpolation can mangle embedded newlines; base64 sidesteps that. The template decodes them with printf … | base64 -d at the start of the submit job.

keel-cert-healthcheck.yml

Secret	Source
`KEEL_PROJECT`	Same as above
`SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL`	Slack workspace → Apps → Incoming Webhooks

Credential schema cross-reference

The names and shapes above match the keys keel submit looks up in ~/.keel/credentials.yml. Authoritative schema lives in submit §11. If you find a mismatch, that doc is the source of truth — file an issue against the template.

Self-hosted runners

GitHub-hosted runners cover most needs. Use self-hosted when:

iOS native builds (keel-submit-stores.yml’s build job): the template uses the macos-14 (Apple Silicon) GitHub-hosted runner. Self-host only if you need a non-public provisioning profile setup or your codebase pulls private CocoaPods from inside a corporate VPN.
China-region network access: domestic-market submission endpoints (Huawei, Xiaomi, etc.) are usually reachable from ubuntu-latest. If you hit TLS / rate-limit issues from GitHub’s US/EU IPs, run an ECS / Aliyun self-hosted runner in mainland China.
Long native builds (> 60 min wall time): pre-warmed self-hosted runners avoid the cold pod install + Gradle dependency download.

Self-hosted setup is out of scope here; see GitHub’s docs. Tag the runner with self-hosted, macOS, arm64 (or self-hosted, linux, cn) and change runs-on: in the template accordingly.

Cost notes

GitHub Actions free tier (public repos: unlimited; private repos: 2,000 min/month on Free plan, 3,000 on Pro, 50,000 on Team/Enterprise):

Runner	Multiplier	Effective cost
`ubuntu-latest`	1×	cheapest — use for everything except iOS native build
`windows-latest`	2×	not needed for Keel
`macos-13` (Intel)	10×	avoid — Apple Silicon is faster and same cost-per-minute
`macos-14`	10×	required for iOS native build, ~2× faster than Intel
`macos-14-large`	12×	only if `pod install` truly bottlenecks

Typical monthly burn for a small team:

50 PRs × 3 min × ubuntu-latest = 150 min
30 main-branch pushes × 5 min × ubuntu-latest = 150 min
4 releases × 40 min, of which 15 min on macos-14 = 4 × 25 ubuntu + 4 × 15 × 10 = 100 + 600 = 700 min
Weekly healthcheck: negligible

→ comfortably under the 3,000-min Pro plan. The macOS multiplier is the single biggest lever; minimize macos-14 job duration by doing all non-Xcode work on ubuntu-latest (the template already does this — only the build job lands on macOS).