Implement CI/CD pipeline

[mahedee]

CI/CD Options for EduTrack (.NET 10 + Angular + PostgreSQL)

Here's a comparison of mainstream CI/CD platforms suitable for your stack.

📊 Comparison table

#	Platform	Popularity	Pricing for public repos	Pricing for private repos	Self-host option	Best fit for EduTrack
1	GitHub Actions	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (dominant for GitHub repos)	Free, unlimited	2,000 free min/mo (Free plan), 3,000 (Pro), pay-as-you-go after	✅ Self-hosted runners (free)	🥇 Top pick — repo already on GitHub
2	Azure DevOps Pipelines	⭐⭐⭐⭐ (huge in .NET / enterprise)	Free, unlimited (1 parallel job, 1,800 min/mo)	1 free parallel job (1,800 min/mo); $40/mo per extra parallel job	✅ Self-hosted agents (free)	🥈 Excellent for .NET; deep Azure integration
3	GitLab CI/CD	⭐⭐⭐⭐	400 free CI min/mo (Free tier) on SaaS	Free / Premium $29/user/mo / Ultimate $99/user/mo	✅ Self-managed GitLab + runners (free CE)	Good if you mirror to GitLab; great single-vendor DevOps
4	Jenkins	⭐⭐⭐⭐ (legacy/enterprise)	Free	Free	✅ Self-host only	Full control, infra-heavy; overkill unless on-prem required
5	TeamCity (JetBrains)	⭐⭐⭐	Free Professional tier (100 build configs, 3 agents)	Enterprise: from ~$2,400/yr (3 agents)	✅ Self-host; TeamCity Cloud SaaS from $45/mo	Strong .NET support, great UI
6	CircleCI	⭐⭐⭐	Free tier: 6,000 build min/mo	Performance from $15/mo; Scale custom	❌ SaaS (self-hosted runners optional)	Fast SaaS; less common for .NET shops
7	Travis CI	⭐⭐ (declining)	Limited free tier for OSS	From $69/mo	❌ SaaS	Was popular for OSS; mostly replaced by GH Actions
8	Bitbucket Pipelines	⭐⭐⭐	50 free build min/mo (Free plan)	Standard $3/user/mo (2,500 min); Premium $6/user/mo (3,500 min)	✅ Self-hosted runners	Only relevant if you move to Bitbucket
9	AWS CodePipeline / CodeBuild	⭐⭐⭐	Pay-per-use (~$1/active pipeline/mo + build minutes)	Same	❌ Managed AWS	Good only if deploying primarily to AWS
10	Google Cloud Build	⭐⭐	120 free build min/day	Pay-per-use after free tier	❌ Managed GCP	Only if deploying to GCP
11	Drone CI	⭐⭐	OSS edition free	Enterprise license required for >5k users	✅ Self-host	Lightweight, container-native
12	Buildkite	⭐⭐	30-day trial	$15/user/mo (Pro); custom Enterprise	✅ Hybrid (Buildkite controls, your agents)	Hybrid model, great for scale
13	Argo CD / Argo Workflows	⭐⭐⭐ (Kubernetes GitOps)	Free (OSS)	Free	✅ K8s-only	Pair with another CI for GitOps CD on Kubernetes
14	Tekton	⭐⭐ (CNCF)	Free (OSS)	Free	✅ K8s-only	Cloud-native CI on K8s; steeper learning curve
15	Spacelift / Harness / Octopus Deploy	⭐⭐⭐ (commercial CD specialists)	Limited free tiers	Paid (Harness from $100/mo, Octopus from $360/yr)	Hybrid	Specialized release/deployment management

🏆 Recommendation for EduTrack

Given your project context (GitHub-hosted, .NET 10 + Angular + PostgreSQL, MIT-licensed, single maintainer + community contributors):

Rank	Choice	Why
🥇	GitHub Actions	Zero setup, already integrated with PRs/issues, free for public repos, huge marketplace (actions/setup-dotnet, actions/setup-node, postgres service container), works seamlessly with the Contributing + PR workflow you already document
🥈	Azure DevOps Pipelines	Best-in-class .NET tooling, free tier generous enough, ideal if you later deploy to Azure App Service / AKS
🥉	GitLab CI/CD (self-hosted) or Jenkins	Only if you need fully on-prem control

✅ What a typical GitHub Actions pipeline for EduTrack would do

1. CI on PRs — restore, build, dotnet test with coverage, npm ci && npm run test && npm run build for Angular, lint, security scan
2. PostgreSQL service container for integration tests
3. CD on main — build Docker images, push to GHCR/Docker Hub, deploy to Azure/AWS/your server
4. Release automation — tag-triggered, attach artifacts, auto-generate release notes
5. Quality gates — CodeQL scan, Dependabot, code coverage threshold

You already reference this direction in cicd-configuration.md and the "CI/CD Ready" badge in README.md.

Want me to outline a concrete GitHub Actions workflow file (build + test + Docker) tailored to your EduTrack + edutrack-ui layout?