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

yaml
# .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

typescript
// 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

typescript
// 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 |

Resources

• Hex API Reference
• GitHub Actions Secrets

Next Steps

For deployment patterns, see hex-deploy-integration.