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This workflow helps you clone your database on a schedule or manually trigger it. It’s useful for creating regular backups or setting up test environments.

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Workflow configuration

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Authentication and environment variables

The workflow requires several environment variables to be set:
  • XATA_API_KEY: Your Xata API key (set as a GitHub secret)
  • XATA_ORGANIZATION_ID: Your Xata organization ID
  • XATA_PROJECT_ID: Your Xata project ID
  • XATA_BRANCH_ID: The ID of the main branch
  • XATA_BRANCH_NAME: The name of the main branch
  • XATA_DATABASE_NAME: Your database name
  • XATA_CLI_SOURCE_POSTGRES_URL: The source PostgreSQL database URL (set as a GitHub secret)
If you have the Xata CLI configured with your project locally, you can obtain these values with the following commands:

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Workflow steps

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1. Checkout code

This step checks out your repository code with full history and proper credentials configuration.

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2. Install Xata CLI

This step installs the Xata CLI using the official installer script and adds it to the GitHub Actions PATH.

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3. Check Xata status

This step verifies that your Xata CLI is properly configured and can connect to your database. For more details, see:

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4. Checkout clone branch

This step:
  • Checks out the clone_demo branch
  • Extracts the branch ID using jq
  • Stores it in an environment variable

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5. Start clone process

This step initiates the cloning process from your source PostgreSQL database. For more details, see the clone start command documentation.

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Triggering the workflow

The workflow can be triggered in two ways:
  1. Scheduled run
    Runs daily at 8:00 AM UTC
  2. Manual trigger
    Can be triggered manually from the GitHub Actions UI

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Concurrency control

The workflow uses GitHub Actions concurrency to prevent multiple runs from interfering with each other:
This ensures that:
  • Only one workflow run is active at a time
  • New runs cancel any in-progress runs
  • Prevents race conditions during cloning

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Best practices

  1. Set appropriate timeout
    • The workflow has a 10-minute timeout
    • Adjust based on your database size and cloning duration
  2. Use environment variables
    • Store sensitive information in GitHub secrets
    • Use environment variables for configuration
  3. Schedule regular clones
    • Set up a schedule that matches your backup needs
    • Consider your database size and update frequency