CI/CD Integration

NeuralRepo’s REST API integrates cleanly into CI/CD pipelines. You can automatically create ideas, update statuses, and track project lifecycle events from GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or any automation platform.

Setting Up API Key Auth for CI

1. Create a dedicated API key. Go to Settings > API Keys in the NeuralRepo web dashboard and create a new key. Name it something descriptive like github-actions or ci-pipeline.

2. Store as a secret. Add the key as a repository secret in your CI provider:

   • GitHub Actions: Repository Settings > Secrets > New repository secret. Name it NEURALREPO_API_KEY.
   • GitLab CI: Settings > CI/CD > Variables. Add NEURALREPO_API_KEY as a masked variable.

3. Use in your pipeline. Reference the secret in your workflow file.

Caution

Never commit API keys to your repository. Always use your CI provider’s secret management.

GitHub Actions Examples

Create an Idea on Release

Automatically capture a new idea when a GitHub Release is published:

name: NeuralRepo — Track Release
on:
  release:
    types: [published]

jobs:
  track-release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Create NeuralRepo idea
        run: |
          curl -s -X POST "https://neuralrepo.com/api/v1/ideas" \
            -H "X-API-Key: ${{ secrets.NEURALREPO_API_KEY }}" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            -d '{
              "title": "Release: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}",
              "body": "${{ github.event.release.body }}",
              "tags": ["release", "${{ github.event.repository.name }}"],
              "status": "shipped",
              "source_url": "${{ github.event.release.html_url }}"
            }'

Update Status on Deploy

Mark an idea as shipped when a deployment succeeds:

name: Deploy & Update NeuralRepo
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

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

      - name: Deploy application
        run: |
          # Your deployment steps here
          echo "Deploying..."

      - name: Update NeuralRepo idea status
        if: success()
        run: |
          curl -s -X PATCH "https://neuralrepo.com/api/v1/ideas/${{ vars.NEURALREPO_IDEA_ID }}" \
            -H "X-API-Key: ${{ secrets.NEURALREPO_API_KEY }}" \
            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
            -d '{
              "status": "shipped",
              "add_tags": ["deployed"]
            }'

Tip

Store the NeuralRepo idea ID as a GitHub Actions variable (vars.NEURALREPO_IDEA_ID) so it is easy to update across workflows.

Search and Annotate on PR

Search for related ideas when a PR is opened and post them as a comment:

name: NeuralRepo Context
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened]

jobs:
  find-context:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Search NeuralRepo for related ideas
        id: search
        run: |
          RESULT=$(curl -s "https://neuralrepo.com/api/v1/ideas/search?query=${{ github.event.pull_request.title }}&limit=3" \
            -H "X-API-Key: ${{ secrets.NEURALREPO_API_KEY }}")
          echo "result=$RESULT" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"

      - name: Post comment with related ideas
        uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          script: |
            const result = JSON.parse('${{ steps.search.outputs.result }}');
            if (result.ideas && result.ideas.length > 0) {
              const ideas = result.ideas.map(i =>
                `- **#${i.id}**: ${i.title} (${i.status})`
              ).join('\n');
              await github.rest.issues.createComment({
                owner: context.repo.owner,
                repo: context.repo.repo,
                issue_number: context.issue.number,
                body: `## Related NeuralRepo Ideas\n${ideas}`
              });
            }

JSON Output Mode

When parsing API responses in CI scripts, use jq for reliable JSON extraction:

# Create an idea and capture the returned ID
IDEA_ID=$(curl -s -X POST "https://neuralrepo.com/api/v1/ideas" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $NEURALREPO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"title": "Automated release tracking", "status": "captured"}' \
  | jq -r '.id')

echo "Created idea: $IDEA_ID"

# Use the ID in subsequent steps
curl -s -X PATCH "https://neuralrepo.com/api/v1/ideas/$IDEA_ID" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $NEURALREPO_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"status": "shipped"}'

Best Practices

• One key per pipeline. Create a separate API key for each CI environment so you can revoke individually.
• Use descriptive tags. Tag CI-created ideas with ci, the repository name, and the event type (e.g., release, deploy).
• Handle failures gracefully. Wrap NeuralRepo API calls in if: success() conditions so they only run after your primary workflow succeeds.
• Rate limits. The API allows 100 requests per day on the Free plan and 10,000 per day on Pro. This is more than enough for typical CI usage, but avoid calling the API in tight loops.

Next Steps

API Overview Full API reference with authentication, pagination, and response formats.

CLI Installation Install the nrepo CLI for local and CI usage.