Use this template to bootstrap the creation of a JavaScript action. ๐
This template includes compilation support, tests, a validation workflow, publishing, and versioning guidance.
If you are new, there's also a simpler introduction in the Hello world JavaScript action repository.
To create your own action, you can use this repository as a template! Just follow the below instructions:
- Click the Use this template button at the top of the repository
- Select Create a new repository
- Select an owner and name for your new repository
- Click Create repository
- Clone your new repository
After you've cloned the repository to your local machine or codespace, you'll need to perform some initial setup steps before you can develop your action.
Note
You'll need to have a reasonably modern version of
Node.js handy. If you are using a version manager like
nodenv
or
nvm
, you can run nodenv install
in the
root of your repository to install the version specified in
package.json
. Otherwise, 20.x or later should work!
-
๐ ๏ธ Install the dependencies
npm install
-
๐๏ธ Package the JavaScript for distribution
npm run bundle
-
โ Run the tests
$ npm test PASS ./index.test.js โ throws invalid number (3ms) โ wait 500 ms (504ms) โ test runs (95ms) ...
The action.yml
file defines metadata about your action, such as
input(s) and output(s). For details about this file, see
Metadata syntax for GitHub Actions.
When you copy this repository, update action.yml
with the name, description,
inputs, and outputs for your action.
The src/
directory is the heart of your action! This contains the
source code that will be run when your action is invoked. You can replace the
contents of this directory with your own code.
There are a few things to keep in mind when writing your action code:
-
Most GitHub Actions toolkit and CI/CD operations are processed asynchronously. In
main.js
, you will see that the action is run in anasync
function.const core = require('@actions/core') //... async function run() { try { //... } catch (error) { core.setFailed(error.message) } }
For more information about the GitHub Actions toolkit, see the documentation.
So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and start customizing your action!
-
Create a new branch
git checkout -b releases/v1
-
Replace the contents of
src/
with your action code -
Add tests to
__tests__/
for your source code -
Format, test, and build the action
npm run all
[!WARNING]
This step is important! It will run
ncc
to build the final JavaScript action code with all dependencies included. If you do not run this step, your action will not work correctly when it is used in a workflow. This step also includes the--license
option forncc
, which will create a license file for all of the production node modules used in your project. -
Commit your changes
git add . git commit -m "My first action is ready!"
-
Push them to your repository
git push -u origin releases/v1
-
Create a pull request and get feedback on your action
-
Merge the pull request into the
main
branch
Your action is now published! ๐
For information about versioning your action, see Versioning in the GitHub Actions toolkit.
You can now validate the action by referencing it in a workflow file. For
example, ci.yml
demonstrates how to reference an
action in the same repository.
steps:
- name: Checkout
id: checkout
uses: actions/checkout@v3
- name: Test Local Action
id: test-action
uses: ./
with:
milliseconds: 1000
- name: Print Output
id: output
run: echo "${{ steps.test-action.outputs.time }}"
For example workflow runs, check out the Actions tab! ๐
After testing, you can create version tag(s) that developers can use to reference different stable versions of your action. For more information, see Versioning in the GitHub Actions toolkit.
To include the action in a workflow in another repository, you can use the
uses
syntax with the @
symbol to reference a specific branch, tag, or commit
hash.
steps:
- name: Checkout
id: checkout
uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Run my Action
id: run-action
uses: actions/javascript-action@v1 # Commit with the `v1` tag
with:
milliseconds: 1000
- name: Print Output
id: output
run: echo "${{ steps.run-action.outputs.time }}"