Design System CI/CD Checks

Works with Any CI

Basic CI command

# Run drift check in CI mode
npx ahoybuoy drift check

# Exit codes:
# 0 = No critical drift
# 1 = Critical drift found (blocks merge)
# 2 = Error running scan

GitHub Actions

npx ahoybuoy drift check

GitLab CI

npx ahoybuoy drift check --format json

CircleCI

npx ahoybuoy drift check --fail-on warning

Jenkins

npx ahoybuoy drift check

Azure Pipelines

npx ahoybuoy drift check

Bitbucket Pipelines

npx ahoybuoy drift check

Output Formats

CLI (default)

Human-readable output for terminal

--format cli

JSON

Machine-readable for custom integrations

--format json

JUnit XML

For CI systems that parse JUnit reports

--format junit

SARIF

For GitHub Code Scanning

--format sarif

Failure Thresholds

Configure when to fail

# Fail on any critical issues (recommended)
npx ahoybuoy drift check --fail-on critical

# Fail on warnings too (stricter)
npx ahoybuoy drift check --fail-on warning

# Never fail, just report (audit mode)
npx ahoybuoy drift check --fail-on none

# Custom thresholds
npx ahoybuoy drift check \
  --max-critical 0 \
  --max-warning 10 \
  --max-info 50

Health Score Gate

Set a minimum health score in your config. No CLI flags needed — buoy drift check exits with code 1 when the score drops below your threshold.

.buoy.yaml

# Config-based gate — no flags required
health:
  failBelow: 70    # Exit code 1 if health score < 70

Config gate vs CLI flags

health.failBelow (config)

Lives in .buoy.yaml. Enforced automatically. Same threshold everywhere — local, CI, every developer.

--fail-on (CLI flag)

Per-invocation. Threshold based on severity counts. Use alongside the health gate for layered CI gating.

Full GitHub Actions Example

.github/workflows/design-drift.yml

name: Design Drift Check
on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

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

      - name: Setup Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run Buoy drift check
        run: npx ahoybuoy drift check --fail-on critical
        # Also respects health.failBelow from .buoy.yaml

      - name: Upload SARIF (optional)
        if: always()
        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v3
        with:
          sarif_file: buoy-results.sarif

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Design System CI/CD Checks

Works with Any CI

GitHub Actions

GitLab CI

CircleCI

Jenkins

Azure Pipelines

Bitbucket Pipelines

Output Formats

CLI (default)

JSON

JUnit XML

SARIF

Failure Thresholds

Health Score Gate

Config gate vs CLI flags

Full GitHub Actions Example

Setting up CI? Get the PR review cheat sheet.

Ready to catch design drift?

Related Features

GitHub App

Drift Detection