feat(continuous-integration): add container input for OCI-based CI execution

[Copilot]

Overview

This PR adds support for running the continuous integration workflow inside a Docker container instead of checking out files locally. This enables testing the exact same environment that will be deployed to production.

Motivation

When building Docker images for production deployment, it's critical to ensure that CI checks (linting, building, testing) are performed in the same environment that will run in production. Previously, the workflow only supported checking out code and setting up the Node.js environment on the runner, which could lead to discrepancies between the tested and deployed environments.

Changes

New Workflow Input

Added a new optional container input parameter:

• Type: string
• Default: "" (empty string, maintains current behavior)
• Description: Docker container image to run CI steps in. When specified, steps will execute inside this container instead of checking out code. The container should have the project code and dependencies pre-installed.

Updated Jobs

Modified all CI jobs (setup, lint, build, test) to support container execution:

• Added container: configuration to each job that conditionally uses the specified image
• Made checkout and setup-node steps conditional with if: inputs.container == ''
• Updated command execution to use npm run when in container mode

Documentation

Updated .github/workflows/continuous-integration.md with:

• New container parameter in the inputs table
• Comprehensive example demonstrating container-based CI workflow
• Guidance on disabling CodeQL and dependency-review when using container mode (as they require repository checkout)

Test Coverage

Enhanced .github/workflows/__test-workflow-continuous-integration.yml to validate both modes:

• Without container: Tests the original behavior with checkout and artifact upload
• With container: Builds a test Docker image from npm test fixtures, loads it, and executes lint/test commands inside the container

This ensures the feature works correctly in both traditional and container-based execution modes.

Usage Example

jobs:
  # Build Docker image with application code and dependencies
  build-image:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: docker build -t my-app:${{ github.sha }} .
      - run: docker push ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}:${{ github.sha }}

  # Run CI checks inside the container
  continuous-integration:
    needs: build-image
    uses: hoverkraft-tech/ci-github-nodejs/.github/workflows/continuous-integration.yml@main
    with:
      container: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}:${{ github.sha }}
      code-ql: ""  # Disable (requires checkout)
      dependency-review: false  # Disable (requires checkout)
      lint: true
      test: true

Backward Compatibility

✅ Fully backward compatible. The container input defaults to an empty string, so existing workflows continue to function without any changes.

Testing

• ✅ Linter passes with no errors
• ✅ CodeQL security scan passes with no vulnerabilities
• ✅ No breaking changes to existing functionality
• ✅ Test workflow validates both traditional and container-based execution modes

Benefits

• Environment parity: Test in the exact environment that will run in production
• Confidence: Promote the tested Docker image to production knowing it passed all CI checks
• Flexibility: Choose between traditional checkout-based CI or container-based CI depending on your needs

Original prompt

Update this workflow: .github/workflows/continuous-integration.yml to allows to execute in a given image container instead of local checkout files

Use case: I build a docker image that will be promote to production so I need to perform CI check in this image to ensure that it will be the same ecosystem that is tested and deployed

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[neilime]

@copilot update test .github/workflows/__test-workflow-continuous-integration.yml to validate behavior with and without container

[Copilot]

@copilot update test .github/workflows/__test-workflow-continuous-integration.yml to validate behavior with and without container

Updated test workflow in f780db3 to validate both scenarios:

• Without container mode: Tests original behavior with checkout and artifact upload
• With container mode: Builds a test container, loads it, and runs lint/test commands inside

The test workflow now builds a Docker image from the npm test fixtures and validates that commands can be executed inside the container.