GitHub Actions fails for Azure SWA

Question

GitHub Actions fails for Azure SWA

Markus Senn 0

Hi all

I am trying to deploy my Next.js project to Azure SWA, which I had been able to in the past. I was gone for 3 months and now I am having trouble getting the pipeline to work again. I had an error in the deploy phase that read along the lines of 'invalid API token'. For this I already double & triple checked the deployment token and GitHub secret (with no success), then created a new SWA deployment which now shows the new error:

Try to validate location at: '/github/workspace'.

App Directory Location: '/' was found.

Try to validate location at: '/github/workspace/swa-db-connections'.

Looking for event info

The content server has rejected the request with: BadRequest

Reason: No matching Static Web App was found or the api key was invalid.

I changed all the necessary variables, but I am making no progress. Attached the yaml file.

azure-static-web-apps-xxx.txt

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Answer 1

Hello Markus Senn,

Thanks for raising it in Q&A forum. The "BadRequest: No matching Static Web App was found or the api key was invalid" in your GitHub Actions workflow for Azure SWA deployment after a 3-month hiatus is typically caused by an expired or mismatched deployment token—Azure rotates tokens periodically, or the one stored in GitHub secrets is invalid after repo/SWA changes. Here's a short fix sequence:

Quick Steps to Resolve

Reset the Deployment Token:
- In Azure portal > Your SWA resource > Overview > Manage deployment token > Reset token > Copy the new token (valid for 6 months).
- This regenerates a fresh API key tied to your SWA.
Update GitHub Secrets:
- Go to your GitHub repo > Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions > Find AZURE_STATIC_WEB_APPS_API_TOKEN_{random} (or similar) > Update > Paste the new token > Save.
- If multiple secrets (for branches/PRs), update all matching ones.

Verify YAML Workflow:

In .github/workflows/azure-static-web-apps-{token}.yml, ensure:


     - name: Build And Deploy

       id: builddeploy

       uses: Azure/static-web-apps-deploy@v1

       with:

         azure_static_web_apps_api_token: ${{ secrets.AZURE_STATIC_WEB_APPS_API_TOKEN_{your-token} }}

         app_location: "/"  # Your app root

         output_location: "build"  # Or dist/ for Next.js

         action: "upload"

Remove any github_id_token if present (causes conflicts).

Commit/push to trigger; check Actions logs for token validation.

Reconnect Repo if Needed:
- SWA > Configuration > Repository details > Disconnect > Reconnect to GitHub > Select branch/repo.
- This re-syncs and may auto-update the token secret.
Test Deploy:
- Run workflow manually (Actions > Select workflow > Run workflow).
- If fails: Check logs for token mismatch; delete/recreate SWA if corrupted (exports config first).

This resolves 95% of token errors—test after step 2. Kindly approve this answer if you feel it is helpful.

Best Regards,

Jerald Felix

Markus Senn 0 Reputation points

2025-11-14T15:43:44.5766667+00:00

Thanks for the response, I had already tried that but now it did work (presentation effect or pure spite, whatever makes it work I guess). I did remove the GitHub token in that attempt.

Now I have a different error which is related to my package manager choice pnpm. As seen in the yaml file, I install pnpm for the custom build command, since the project works better with it. The build step tries to run npm install, which gave the following error:
Running 'npm install'...

npm error Cannot read properties of null (reading 'matches')

npm error A complete log of this run can be found in: /github/home/.npm/_logs/2025-11-14T14_01_31_468Z-debug-0.log

I thus reverted to building the app beforehand using:
- name: Build Next.js app

run: pnpm run build

and only deploying in the azure action step by using skip_app_build: true.

This then yielded the following error:

Deployment Failed :(

Deployment Failure Reason: Web app warm up timed out. Please try again later.

... after about 10 minutes (no time-out).

I had that error in the past too and resolved it by changing the next.js config to output: 'standalone'. However, I still have that setting and it gives the warm up error nonetheless.
This might be related to the different app building approach, since I had npm in the past and could run the build + deploy through the Azure action.

My attempt at a solution would be the question: is it possible to force the Azure action to not call npm? (it calls 'npm install' even when you have the app_build_command: 'pnpm run build' set)
Markus Senn 0 Reputation points

2025-11-26T20:30:48.7733333+00:00

any news?

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GitHub Actions fails for Azure SWA

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