Hex CI Integration

Overview

Set up CI/CD for Hex data analytics integrations: run unit tests with mocked project run and connection responses on every PR, trigger live Hex project runs and validate outputs on merge to main. Hex provides collaborative data notebooks with scheduled runs and API-triggered execution, so CI pipelines verify data transform logic, trigger post-deploy dashboard refreshes, and monitor run status.

GitHub Actions Workflow

# .github/workflows/hex-ci.yml
name: Hex CI
on:
  pull_request:
    paths: ['src/hex/**', 'tests/**']
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  unit-tests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with: { node-version: '20' }
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test -- --reporter=verbose

  trigger-hex-refresh:
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    needs: unit-tests
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with: { node-version: '20' }
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run test:integration
        env:
          HEX_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HEX_API_TOKEN }}
          HEX_PROJECT_ID: ${{ vars.HEX_PROJECT_ID }}

Mock-Based Unit Tests

// tests/hex-service.test.ts
import { describe, it, expect, vi } from 'vitest';
import { triggerProjectRun, getRunStatus } from '../src/hex-service';

vi.mock('../src/hex-client', () => ({
  HexClient: vi.fn().mockImplementation(() => ({
    runProject: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
      runId: 'run_abc123',
      projectId: 'proj_xyz',
      status: 'running',
      startedAt: '2026-04-01T10:00:00Z',
    }),
    getRunStatus: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
      runId: 'run_abc123',
      status: 'completed',
      elapsedMs: 4500,
      outputs: { row_count: 1250, last_updated: '2026-04-01T10:00:04Z' },
    }),
    listProjects: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({
      projects: [{ id: 'proj_xyz', title: 'Revenue Dashboard' }],
    }),
  })),
}));

describe('Hex Service', () => {
  it('triggers a project run and returns run ID', async () => {
    const result = await triggerProjectRun('proj_xyz', { triggered_by: 'ci' });
    expect(result.runId).toBe('run_abc123');
    expect(result.status).toBe('running');
  });

  it('polls run status until complete', async () => {
    const status = await getRunStatus('run_abc123');
    expect(status.status).toBe('completed');
    expect(status.outputs.row_count).toBe(1250);
  });
});

Integration Tests

// tests/integration/hex.integration.test.ts
import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest';

const hasToken = !!process.env.HEX_API_TOKEN;

describe.skipIf(!hasToken)('Hex Live API', () => {
  it('triggers a project run via API', async () => {
    const res = await fetch(
      `https://app.hex.tech/api/v1/project/${process.env.HEX_PROJECT_ID}/run`,
      {
        method: 'POST',
        headers: {
          'Authorization': `Bearer ${process.env.HEX_API_TOKEN}`,
          'Content-Type': 'application/json',
        },
        body: JSON.stringify({ inputParams: { triggered_by: 'ci' }, updateCacheResult: true }),
      },
    );
    expect(res.status).toBe(200);
    const body = await res.json();
    expect(body).toHaveProperty('runId');
  });
});

Error Handling

CI Issue	Cause	Fix
401 Unauthorized	Invalid or expired API token	Regenerate at app.hex.tech account settings
404 Project not found	Wrong project ID	Verify HEX_PROJECT_ID matches the Hex dashboard URL
Run status stuck on running	Long-running query or connection issue	Set timeout and poll interval (max 5 min)
inputParams rejected	Parameter name mismatch	Match param names exactly to Hex project input cells
Rate limit (429)	Too many run triggers	Deduplicate CI triggers and add cooldown between runs

Prerequisites

• CI secret references, a sandbox project/destination, fixtures with no production output, protected branches, and a rollback mechanism.

Instructions

1. Run mocked tests first, including malformed parameter, denied access, quota, cancellation, and output-assertion cases.
2. Run a bounded sandbox integration with idempotency and prohibit production projects/destinations in CI configuration.
3. Emit aggregate counts, opaque IDs, and policy revisions only; fail for unexpected scope, unredacted output, or expanded access.
4. Canary after protected review, verify assertions, and restore the last-known-good revision on failure.

Output

Publish a CI receipt with commit SHA, fixture revision, sandbox project, test totals, policy checks, canary outcome, and rollback reference. Exclude SQL, output, and secrets.

Examples

sha=abc123; fixtures=v5; project=ci-synthetic; tests=18/18; access=least-privilege; assertions=pass; canary=not-promoted is a valid pre-production receipt.

Resources

• Hex API Reference
• GitHub Actions Secrets

Next Steps

For deployment patterns, see hex-deploy-integration.