Setting Up GitHub Pages - The Basics

Today I learned the fundamentals of setting up GitHub Pages for free static site hosting.

What is GitHub Pages?

GitHub Pages is a free static site hosting service that lets you publish websites directly from your GitHub repositories. Perfect for:

• Project documentation
• Portfolio sites
• Landing pages
• Static blogs

Real Example: SpeakEasy Documentation

Let me walk through a real setup using my SpeakEasy repository which hosts documentation at speakeasy.arach.dev.

1. Repository Structure

The SpeakEasy repo has a landing/ folder containing a Next.js app:

speakeasy/
├── landing/           (Next.js documentation site)
│   ├── app/
│   ├── components/
│   ├── package.json
│   └── next.config.mjs
├── CNAME             (custom domain: speakeasy.arach.dev)
└── .github/workflows/deploy-landing.yml

2. GitHub Actions Workflow

Instead of basic branch deployment, I use GitHub Actions for automated builds:

# .github/workflows/deploy-landing.yml
name: Deploy Landing Page
on:
  push:
    branches: [ master ]
    paths: ['landing/**']

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: read
      pages: write
      id-token: write
    
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
      with:
        node-version: '20'
    - run: npm install --legacy-peer-deps
      working-directory: ./landing
    - run: npm run export
      working-directory: ./landing
    - uses: actions/configure-pages@v4
    - uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3
      with:
        path: ./landing/out
    - uses: actions/deploy-pages@v4

3. Enable GitHub Pages

In repository Settings → Pages:

• Source: “GitHub Actions” (not branch deployment)
• The workflow handles building and deployment automatically

Key Takeaways from the SpeakEasy Setup

• GitHub Actions is more powerful than basic branch deployment
• Monorepo friendly - only deploys when landing/ changes
• Build optimization - caches dependencies for faster builds
• Automatic deployment - pushes to master trigger builds

Pro Tips

• Check the Actions tab to monitor deployment status
• Use working-directory for monorepos with subdirectories
• Cache dependencies (actions/cache@v4) for faster builds
• Custom 404 pages work - just add a 404.html file

What’s Next?

Once you’ve got the basics down, check out my follow-up TIL on custom domains and subdomains using the SpeakEasy setup as an example.

GitHub Pages + GitHub Actions is incredibly powerful - perfect for documentation sites and project demos! 🚀