Update Action File

A simple GitHub action for updating a template file with specified values and pushing the changes to a repository.

Inputs

repository

• Description: The repository to push the changes to. Can be obtained from the github.repository context.
• Example: alvelive/update-action
• Required: true

branch

• Description: The branch to push the changes to. Can be obtained from the github.head_ref context.
• Example: main, user/feature-branch
• Required: true

sha

• Description: The commit SHA to be used to construct base_url. Can be obtained from the github.sha context.
• Required: true

template

• Description: The file to read the input from.
• Default: action-template.yml
• Required: true

output

• Description: The file to write the output to.
• Default: action.yml
• Required: true

match

• Description: The string to replace.
• Default: {{base_url}}
• Required: true

replace

• Description: The string to replace with.
• Default: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/${{ repository }}/${{ sha }}/
• Required: false

Usage

This action reads a template file, replaces a specified string with a given value or a generated URL, and writes the result to an output file. It then commits and pushes the changes to the specified repository and branch.

Example Workflow

name: Update Action File

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  update-action-file:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout Repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Update Action File
        uses: ./.github/actions/update-action
        with:
          repository: ${{ github.repository }}
          branch: ${{ github.head_ref }}
          sha: ${{ github.sha }}
          template: 'action-template.yml'
          output: 'action.yml'
          match: '{{base_url}}'
          replace: 'https://example.com/new-url'

Steps

1. Configure Git

   • Sets global Git configuration for user name and email.

2. Pull latest changes

   • Pulls the latest changes from the specified branch with rebase.

3. Update action file

   • Reads the template file.
   • Replaces the specified string (match) with the given or generated value (replace).
   • Writes the result to the output file.
   • Verifies the replacement.

4. Commit and push action

   • Adds the updated output file.
   • Commits the changes with a message.
   • Pushes the changes to the specified branch.

Environment Variables

The action uses the following environment variable to construct the replacement string if replace is not provided:

• replacement: Constructed as https://raw.githubusercontent.com/{repository}/{sha}/

Notes

• Ensure that the template file exists and is accessible.
• The action will fail if the specified match string is not found and replaced in the template file.
• The action uses Bash scripts to perform file operations and Git commands. Ensure that the runner environment supports Bash.

Path: action-template.yml