Automation & CI/CD

Automate sync operations with scripts, CI/CD pipelines, and webhooks.

• Command Line Sync
• GitHub Actions Integration
• Scheduled Sync
• GitLab CI/CD Integration
• Webhook-Triggered Sync
• Workflows
• Content Publishing Workflow
• Multi-Environment Setup
• Disaster Recovery
• Sync Scripts Library
• Selective Model Sync
• Pull Production for Development
• Translations Sync
• Environment Configuration
• Development
• Staging
• Production
• Sync Notifications

Command Line Sync

Create a PHP script for automated sync:

#!/usr/bin/env php
<?php
// sync-to-production.php

include 'index.php';

$target = [
    'uri' => 'https://production.example.com',
    'mode' => 'push',
    'syncKey' => getenv('PRODUCTION_SYNC_KEY')
];

$jobs = [
    ['name' => 'content', 'syncSettings' => ['syncAll' => true]],
    ['name' => 'assets', 'syncSettings' => []],
];

try {
    Cockpit()->helper('sync')->run($target, $jobs);
    echo "Sync completed successfully\n";
} catch (Exception $e) {
    echo "Sync failed: " . $e->getMessage() . "\n";
    exit(1);
}

Run with:

php sync-to-production.php

GitHub Actions Integration

# .github/workflows/deploy-content.yml
name: Deploy Content to Production

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup PHP
        uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
        with:
          php-version: '8.2'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: composer install --no-dev

      - name: Run sync to production
        env:
          PRODUCTION_SYNC_KEY: ${{ secrets.PRODUCTION_SYNC_KEY }}
        run: php sync-to-production.php

Scheduled Sync

name: Scheduled Content Sync

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 2 * * *'  # Daily at 2 AM

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: shivammathur/setup-php@v2
        with:
          php-version: '8.2'
      - run: composer install --no-dev
      - env:
          PRODUCTION_SYNC_KEY: ${{ secrets.PRODUCTION_SYNC_KEY }}
        run: php sync-to-production.php

GitLab CI/CD Integration

# .gitlab-ci.yml
stages:
  - test
  - deploy

deploy-content:
  stage: deploy
  image: php:8.2-cli
  script:
    - composer install --no-dev
    - php sync-to-production.php
  environment:
    name: production
  only:
    - main
  variables:
    PRODUCTION_SYNC_KEY: $PRODUCTION_SYNC_KEY

Webhook-Triggered Sync

Combine with the Webhooks addon for automated publishing:

// /config/bootstrap.php
$app->on('content.item.publish', function($model, $item) use ($app) {

    // Auto-sync published items to production
    $target = [
        'uri' => getenv('PRODUCTION_URL'),
        'mode' => 'push',
        'syncKey' => getenv('PRODUCTION_SYNC_KEY')
    ];

    $app->helper('sync')->syncItem('content', $target, [
        'model' => $model,
        'item' => $item,
        'syncAssets' => true
    ]);
});

Workflows

Content Publishing Workflow

1. [Author] Creates content on Staging
2. [Editor] Reviews and approves
3. [Admin] Pushes to Production
4. [Production] Content is live

Multi-Environment Setup

Development → Staging → Production

1. Develop and test on Development
2. Push content models to Staging
3. Content team works on Staging
4. Push approved content to Production

Disaster Recovery

Regular backups via sync:

// backup-content.php
$targets = [
    [
        'uri' => 'https://backup1.example.com',
        'mode' => 'push',
        'syncKey' => getenv('BACKUP1_KEY')
    ],
    [
        'uri' => 'https://backup2.example.com',
        'mode' => 'push',
        'syncKey' => getenv('BACKUP2_KEY')
    ]
];

foreach ($targets as $target) {
    Cockpit()->helper('sync')->run($target, [
        ['name' => 'content', 'syncSettings' => ['syncAll' => true]],
        ['name' => 'assets', 'syncSettings' => []],
        ['name' => 'pages', 'syncSettings' => ['syncAll' => true]],
    ]);
}

Sync Scripts Library

Selective Model Sync

<?php
// sync-posts.php

include 'index.php';

$target = [
    'uri' => getenv('PRODUCTION_URL'),
    'mode' => 'push',
    'syncKey' => getenv('PRODUCTION_SYNC_KEY')
];

$jobs = [
    [
        'name' => 'content',
        'syncSettings' => [
            'models' => ['posts', 'authors', 'categories'],
            'mirror' => false
        ]
    ]
];

Cockpit()->helper('sync')->run($target, $jobs);

Pull Production for Development

<?php
// pull-from-production.php

include 'index.php';

$target = [
    'uri' => getenv('PRODUCTION_URL'),
    'mode' => 'pull',
    'syncKey' => getenv('PRODUCTION_SYNC_KEY')
];

$jobs = [
    ['name' => 'content', 'syncSettings' => ['syncAll' => true]],
    ['name' => 'assets', 'syncSettings' => []],
];

Cockpit()->helper('sync')->run($target, $jobs);

echo "Local environment updated with production data\n";

Translations Sync

<?php
// sync-translations.php

include 'index.php';

$target = [
    'uri' => getenv('PRODUCTION_URL'),
    'mode' => 'push',
    'syncKey' => getenv('PRODUCTION_SYNC_KEY')
];

$jobs = [
    [
        'name' => 'lokalize',
        'syncSettings' => [
            'projects' => ['website', 'app'],
            'missingKeysOnly' => true  // Don't overwrite existing
        ]
    ]
];

Cockpit()->helper('sync')->run($target, $jobs);

Environment Configuration

Development

// config/config.php
return [
    'sync' => [
        'syncKey' => 'dev-key-for-local-testing'
    ]
];

Staging

// config/config.php
return [
    'sync' => [
        'syncKey' => $_ENV['STAGING_SYNC_KEY']
    ]
];

Production

// config/config.php
return [
    'sync' => [
        'syncKey' => $_ENV['PRODUCTION_SYNC_KEY']
    ]
];

Sync Notifications

Send notifications after sync completes:

<?php
// sync-with-notification.php

include 'index.php';

$target = [
    'uri' => getenv('PRODUCTION_URL'),
    'mode' => 'push',
    'syncKey' => getenv('PRODUCTION_SYNC_KEY')
];

$jobs = [
    ['name' => 'content', 'syncSettings' => ['syncAll' => true]]
];

try {
    Cockpit()->helper('sync')->run($target, $jobs);

    // Notify Slack
    file_get_contents(getenv('SLACK_WEBHOOK'), false, stream_context_create([
        'http' => [
            'method' => 'POST',
            'header' => 'Content-Type: application/json',
            'content' => json_encode([
                'text' => '✅ Content sync to production completed successfully'
            ])
        ]
    ]));

} catch (Exception $e) {
    // Notify on failure
    file_get_contents(getenv('SLACK_WEBHOOK'), false, stream_context_create([
        'http' => [
            'method' => 'POST',
            'header' => 'Content-Type: application/json',
            'content' => json_encode([
                'text' => '❌ Content sync failed: ' . $e->getMessage()
            ])
        ]
    ]));

    exit(1);
}