About

GitHub Action to manage common files and workflow that you would like to sync to other repos as code by creating pull requests file changes.

This is Action is an alternative to workflow templates which is sometimes too cumbersome.

Usage

YAML configuration

In the repository where you want to sync files from, create the YAML file .github/syncs.yml

syncs:
  - repos:
      - jetersen/file-sync-test
      - jetersen/file-sync-test-destionation
    files:
      - src: workflows/labels.yml
        dest: .github/workflows/labels.yml
      - src: LICENSE

Workflow

In the repository where you want sync files from, create the workflow file .github/workflows/syncs.yml

name: Workflow Sync

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  file-syncs:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Running Workflow Sync
        uses: jetersen/ghaction.file.sync@v1
        with:
          appId: ${{ secrets.APP_ID }}
          privateKey: ${{ secrets.APP_PEM }}

Inputs

Following inputs can be used as step.with keys

Name	Type	Description
appId	String	Your GitHub App's id
privateKey	String	A private key for your GitHub App
githubToken	String	defaults to "" as you usally need a token with permissions to target other repositories
configFile	String	Path to YAML file containing labels definitions. (default .github/syncs.yml)
dryRun	Bool	If enabled, changes will not be applied. (default false)

💡 Either use githubToken or use appId and privateKey by creating a GitHub App for your user/organization

GitHub App Permissions

It is recommended to use a GitHub App as it provides granular repo permissions. The GitHub App needs the following permissions

Name	Permissions	Why?
Pull requests	Read/Write	To create pull request for files being synced
Contents	Read/Write	To create branch and commits for files being synced
Workflows	Read/Write	Permission to update .github/workflows files
Metadata	Read	Mandatory for pull requests and workflows permissions

GitHub Token Permissions

If you choose to use a GitHub Token it would need the workflow and repo permissions if you need to update GitHub Action workflow files. Be careful as this token will have access to all repositories, the recommendation is to use a GitHub App where you can choose which repos the app has access to.

Examples

Works great with other GitHub Actions and GitHub Apps such as Dependabot as they have configuration files you need in each repo.

• .github/dependabot.yml
• crazy-max/ghaction-github-labeler
• release-drafter

An example for syncing github labeler action.

syncs:
  - repos:
      - jetersen/file-sync-test
    files:
      - src: .github/labels.yml
      - src: workflows/labels.yml
        dest: .github/workflows/labels.yml

For working example checkout this repository
For a pull request created by the action