GitHub Actions: from build to verified release

This tutorial walks through a full attested CI pipeline using aflock-ai/cilock-action, five steps (lint, SAST, test, build, docker-build) each producing signed in-toto attestations via OIDC. The pattern below is taken directly from Cole's reference implementation at github.com/testifysec/dropbox-clone.

What you'll build

A pipeline where every step is wrapped by cilock-action and produces a signed attestation. All signing is keyless (Fulcio + GitHub OIDC), all attestations are timestamped (Sigstore TSA), and all evidence is uploaded to Archivista using OIDC for auth, no static API keys.

Prerequisites

• A GitHub repo (this tutorial assumes a Go project, but any language works)
• Permission to add workflow files
• Optional: an Archivista instance + Fulcio reachable (the cilock-action defaults derive from platform-url)

Step 1: Set the right permissions

Cilock-action needs id-token: write to request the OIDC token used by Fulcio (signing) and Archivista (upload). It needs contents: read for checkout. Nothing else.

permissions:
  id-token: write
  contents: read

This is the same minimum set Cole uses in cilock-action-oidc.yaml.

Step 2: The five-step attested pipeline

name: cilock-action OIDC attestations

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  push:
    branches: [main]

permissions:
  id-token: write
  contents: read

env:
  STAGING_URL: https://platform.aws-sandbox-staging.testifysec.dev

jobs:
  attest:
    name: Attested CI Pipeline
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up Go
        uses: actions/setup-go@v5
        with:
          go-version: "1.24"

      - name: Install syft
        run: curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anchore/syft/main/install.sh | sh -s -- -b /usr/local/bin

      - name: Install gosec
        run: go install github.com/securego/gosec/v2/cmd/gosec@latest

      # 1. Lint + secret scan
      - name: lint + secrets
        uses: aflock-ai/cilock-action@v1.0.1
        with:
          step: lint
          command: echo "lint passed"
          attestations: environment git github secretscan
          platform-url: ${{ env.STAGING_URL }}

      # 2. SAST: gosec writes SARIF, captured as a product
      - name: sast
        uses: aflock-ai/cilock-action@v1.0.1
        with:
          step: sast
          command: bash -c "gosec -fmt=sarif -out=gosec-results.sarif ./... || true"
          attestations: environment git github sarif
          platform-url: ${{ env.STAGING_URL }}
          cilock-args: --attestor-product-include-glob "*.sarif"

      # 3. Tests
      - name: test
        uses: aflock-ai/cilock-action@v1.0.1
        with:
          step: test
          command: go test -count=1 ./...
          attestations: environment git github
          platform-url: ${{ env.STAGING_URL }}

      # 4. Build + SBOM in one step (cilock observes both)
      - name: build + sbom
        uses: aflock-ai/cilock-action@v1.0.1
        with:
          step: build
          command: bash -c "CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o bin/myapp ./cmd/myapp && syft bin/myapp -o cyclonedx-json=bin/bom.cdx.json"
          attestations: environment git github sbom
          platform-url: ${{ env.STAGING_URL }}
          cilock-args: --attestor-product-include-glob "bin/*"

      # 5. Container build
      - name: docker-build
        uses: aflock-ai/cilock-action@v1.0.1
        with:
          step: docker-build
          command: docker buildx build --metadata-file docker-metadata.json -t myapp:test --load .
          attestations: environment git github docker
          platform-url: ${{ env.STAGING_URL }}
          cilock-args: --attestor-product-include-glob "docker-metadata.json"

Why each step uses the attestor mix it does

Step	Extra attestor	Why
lint	secretscan	Cheap to run on a no-op command, catches credentials accidentally echoed during real lint output.
sast	sarif	The output is a SARIF file; the SARIF attestor parses it into structured findings inside the attestation.
test	(none)	Test runs primarily need command-run + git + CI context.
build	sbom	Build produces the binary that's also the SBOM target, one cilock invocation captures both.
docker-build	docker	The docker attestor parses the buildx metadata file and records image digests.

environment, git, and github are passed to every step, this gives you the source commit, runner identity, and CI context on every attestation, so verification policy can match identity claims per step.

What gets produced

Each step produces a signed DSSE envelope containing an in-toto Collection. With enable-archivista: true (the cilock-action default), each envelope is also pushed to Archivista using a fresh OIDC token. The attestation_file and git_oid action outputs let downstream steps reference the evidence:

- name: docker-build
  id: docker
  uses: aflock-ai/cilock-action@v1.0.1
  with:
    step: docker-build
    # ...

- name: Print evidence GitOID
  run: echo "Evidence stored at ${{ steps.docker.outputs.git_oid }}"

Adding a verification gate

To make this enforce policy (not just observe), add a separate job that runs cilock verify against a signed policy after all attested steps complete. See Verify in a release gate for the gate pattern.

Going further

• Need the raw CLI? Cole's test-staging-cilock.yaml shows the same five-step pipeline using cilock run directly instead of the action, useful for understanding what the action does under the hood.
• Two-pipeline architecture. The repo also splits CI (ci.yaml, PR-triggered, contents: read) from CD (deploy.yaml, push-triggered, full AWS credentials via OIDC federation). This is the "two pipelines, two trust boundaries" pattern; cilock is the proof that the boundary holds.
• Defending against real attacks. See Defending against supply-chain attacks for how the layers above stop the Trivy and LiteLLM compromises.