Kafka: 1. Create an access token and store it as a CI secret

This documentation is part of the GitHub Actions & GitLab CI guide. View the full guide here: Spin up a real Kafka service from your GitHub Actions or GitLab CI pipeline, run your tests against it, and tear it down automatically.

👋 Welcome to the Stackhero documentation!

Stackhero gives you a fully managed Kafka cloud environment, ready in minutes. Here is what you can expect:

• No limits on message size or transfer: scale your data without worrying about caps.
• Simple, one-click updates keep your platform current without downtime or manual work.
• Consistent high performance and robust security on your own private, dedicated infrastructure.

If you want to move faster and reduce operational overhead, Stackhero provides Kafka cloud hosting to help you. You can have a production-ready cluster in about 5 minutes.

To enable the CLI to work non-interactively, you will need an access token (format: usr-xxxxxx:tokenId). You only need to create this token once and then add it to your CI pipeline as a secure, encrypted secret.

1. Create the token: In your Stackhero dashboard, click your profile picture at the top right, go to Your account, then Access tokens, and click Create token.
2. For GitHub Actions: In your repository, go to Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions > New repository secret, and enter the token as STACKHERO_TOKEN.
3. For GitLab CI: In your project, go to Settings > CI/CD > Variables > Add variable, set the key to STACKHERO_TOKEN, and check Masked (and Protected if your CI runs only on protected branches).

Do not include your access token directly in your pipeline YAML file. If it is present in YAML, it could be exposed to anyone with repository access and may appear in build logs. Storing it as a CI secret keeps it encrypted and masked, ensuring your token stays secure.