This repository demonstrates how to deploy an R Shinylive app using GitHub Actions and GitHub Pages.
Note
Please note that this guide is not affiliated with Posit, Shiny, or Shinylive project. It is a community-driven tutorial to help you get started using Shinylive with R Shiny Applications.
- Creating an R Shinylive App inside a Quarto Document
- Deploying an R Shinylive App via GitHub Pages through GitHub Actions
- Data Inclusion in a Shinylive App
- Deploying an R Shiny Dashboard App through R Shinylive
- Deploying a Python Shinylive App via GitHub Pages through GitHub Actions
- 03/26/2025
- We've fixed the version of the
shinyliveR package to v0.3.0 and updated the version of GitHub Actions to either v3 or v4 to avoid deprecation warnings.
- We've fixed the version of the
- 03/22/2024
- Initial release of the tutorial.
The initial app source code is from a StackOverflow Question by Faustin Gashakamba
Shinylive apps require around 60 MB or more data due to their dependency on the initial webR base and all {shiny} package dependencies. When moving away from a compute server running Shiny Server to a generic web server, the trade-off lies in the amount of user bandwidth required. So, the users internet and computer is paying for the ability to view the app compared to the old status quo where the host paid a license fee (to Posit), server and maintenance costs.
You can inspect the current list of package dependencies for a basic Shiny app using the following R code:
pkg_db <- tools::CRAN_package_db()
shiny_pkg_dependencies <- tools::package_dependencies(
packages = c("shiny"),
recursive = TRUE,
db = pkg_db
)
shiny_pkg_dependencies
#> $shiny
#> [1] "methods" "utils" "grDevices" "httpuv" "mime"
#> [6] "jsonlite" "xtable" "fontawesome" "htmltools" "R6"
#> [11] "sourcetools" "later" "promises" "tools" "crayon"
#> [16] "rlang" "fastmap" "withr" "commonmark" "glue"
#> [21] "bslib" "cachem" "ellipsis" "lifecycle" "base64enc"
#> [26] "jquerylib" "memoise" "sass" "digest" "Rcpp"
#> [31] "cli" "magrittr" "stats" "graphics" "fs"
#> [36] "rappdirs"Adding more R packages through in-app dependencies will expand this list and increase the download size of each app.
One of the standard approaches when working with web deployment is to use the gh-pages branch deployment technique. However, this approach is problematic for sharing the app on GitHub pages since you can quickly bloat the size of the repository with binary data, which impacts being able to quickly clone the repository and decreases the working efficiency.
Instead, opt for the GitHub Actions approach, which is preferred because it doesn't store artifacts from converting a Shiny App into a Shinylive App inside the repository. Plus, this approach allows for Shinylive apps to be deployed up to the GitHub Pages maximum of about 1 GB.
For this to work, we're advocating for a repository structure of:
.
├── .github
│ └── workflows
│ └── build-and-deploy-shinylive-r-app.yml
├── README.md
├── DESCRIPTION
└── app.RThe source for the R Shiny app can be placed into the app.R file,
the DESCRIPTION file can be used to specify the dependencies of the app,
and, then, use the following GitHub Action in .github/workflows/build-and-deploy-shinylive-r-app.yml to build and deploy the shinylive app every time the repository is updated.
The DESCRIPTION file is used to specify the dependencies of the app. For the example app, the DESCRIPTION file is as follows:
Package: shinyliveconvertdemo
Title: Demo converting an R Shiny application to Shinylive
Version: 0.0.1
Description: List the package dependencies here for the GitHub action to automatically
include the packages on the build. This is required for r-shinylive version >= 0.3.0.
Imports:
shiny,
shinythemes
Encoding: UTF-8
The following workflow contains a single step that encompasses both the build and deploy phases. For more details about customizing the conversion step or the deployment step, please see the two notes that immediately follow from the workflow.
on:
push:
branches: [main, master]
release:
types: [published]
workflow_dispatch: {}
name: demo-r-shinylive-app
jobs:
demo-website:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
# Only restrict concurrency for non-PR jobs
concurrency:
group: r-shinylive-website-${{ github.event_name != 'pull_request' || github.run_id }}
# Describe the permissions for obtain repository contents and
# deploying a GitHub pages website for the repository
permissions:
contents: read
pages: write
id-token: write
steps:
# Obtain the contents of the repository
- name: "Check out repository"
uses: actions/checkout@v4
# Install R on the GitHub Actions worker
- name: "Setup R"
uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r@v2
# Install dependency and pin the shinylive R package dependency
# to the current version on CRAN
- name: "Setup R dependency for Shinylive App export"
uses: r-lib/actions/setup-r-dependencies@v2
with:
## Install required dependencies from the DESCRIPTION file
## Required for shinylive >= 0.3.0
packages: |
cran::shinylive@0.3.0
local::.
# Export the current working directory as the shiny app
# using the pinned version of the Shinylive R package
- name: Create R Shinylive App from working directory files
shell: Rscript {0}
run: |
shinylive::export(".", "_site")
# Upload a tar file that will work with GitHub Pages
# Make sure to set a retention day to avoid running into a cap
# This artifact shouldn't be required after deployment onto pages was a success.
- name: Upload Pages artifact
uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3
with:
retention-days: 1
# Use an Action deploy to push the artifact onto GitHub Pages
# This requires the `Action` tab being structured to allow for deployment
# instead of using `docs/` or the `gh-pages` branch of the repository
- name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
id: deployment
uses: actions/deploy-pages@v4Note
We have pinned the version of shinylive package on CRAN to v0.3.0 to ensure
consistency across deployments. If you want to use the latest version, please
remove the ## Pin version to ensure consistency line from the
Setup R dependency for Shinylive App export step.
Note
GitHub Actions may require the actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3 and
actions/deploy-pages@v4 actions to be updated to the later versions if
you encounter GitHub Action runner deprecation warnings.
When exporting the R Shiny app, we assume:
- The app is located in the working directory, denoted by
.. - The deployment folder or what should be shown on the web is
_site.
If these assumptions don't align with your setup, please modify the conversion step accordingly.
- name: Create R Shinylive App from working directory files
shell: Rscript {0}
run: |
shinylive::export(".", "_site")The output directory _site for the converted Shinylive app is used as it's the default path for the upload-pages-artifact action. You can change this by supplying a path parameter under with in the "Upload Pages artifact" step, e.g.
- name: Upload Pages artifact
uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v3
with:
retention-days: 1
path: "new-path-here"To enable deployment through GitHub Actions to GitHub Pages, please enable it on the repository by:
- Clicking on the repository's Settings page
- Selecting Pages on the left sidebar.
- Picking the GitHub Actions option in the Source drop-down under the Build and Deployment section.
- Ensuring that Enforced HTTPS is checked.
You can view the example shinylive-ified app.R source included in the repository here:
https://tutorials.thecoatlessprofessor.com/convert-shiny-app-r-shinylive
Keep in mind that the exported app size is not mobile-friendly (approximately 66.8 MB).
If you are data constrained, you can see the app in this screenshot:
Moreover, you can view one of the deployments app's commit size here:
Huzzah! You've successfully learned how to deploy an R Shinylive app via GitHub Pages using GitHub Actions. Now, unleash your creativity and start building!