GitHub Actions Toolkit

The GitHub Actions ToolKit provides a set of packages to make creating actions easier.

Get started with the javascript-action template!

Packages

✔️ @actions/core

Provides functions for inputs, outputs, results, logging, secrets and variables. Read more here

$ npm install @actions/core --save

🏃 @actions/exec

Provides functions to exec cli tools and process output. Read more here

$ npm install @actions/exec --save

✏️ @actions/io

Provides disk i/o functions like cp, mv, rmRF, find etc. Read more here

$ npm install @actions/io --save

🔨 @actions/tool-cache

Provides functions for downloading and caching tools. e.g. setup-* actions. Read more here

$ npm install @actions/tool-cache --save

@actions/github

Provides an Octokit client hydrated with the context that the current action is being run in. Read more here

$ npm install @actions/github --save

Creating an Action with the Toolkit

❓ Choosing an action type

Outlines the differences and why you would want to create a JavaScript or a container based action.

➰ Versioning

Actions are downloaded and run from the GitHub graph of repos. This contains guidance for versioning actions and safe releases.

Hello World JavaScript Action

Illustrates how to create a simple hello world javascript action.

...
  const nameToGreet = core.getInput('who-to-greet');
  console.log(`Hello ${nameToGreet}!`);
...

JavaScript Action Walkthrough

Walkthrough and template for creating a JavaScript Action with tests, linting, workflow, publishing, and versioning.

async function run() {
  try { 
    const ms = core.getInput('milliseconds');
    console.log(`Waiting ${ms} milliseconds ...`)
    ...

PASS ./index.test.js
  ✓ throws invalid number 
  ✓ wait 500 ms 
  ✓ test runs

Test Suites: 1 passed, 1 total    
Tests:       3 passed, 3 total

TypeScript Action Walkthrough

Walkthrough creating a TypeScript Action with compilation, tests, linting, workflow, publishing, and versioning.

import * as core from '@actions/core';

async function run() {
  try {
    const ms = core.getInput('milliseconds');
    console.log(`Waiting ${ms} milliseconds ...`)
    ...

PASS ./index.test.js
  ✓ throws invalid number 
  ✓ wait 500 ms 
  ✓ test runs

Test Suites: 1 passed, 1 total    
Tests:       3 passed, 3 total

Docker Action Walkthrough

Create an action that is delivered as a container and run with docker.

FROM alpine:3.10
COPY LICENSE README.md /
COPY entrypoint.sh /entrypoint.sh
ENTRYPOINT ["/entrypoint.sh"]

Docker Action Walkthrough with Octokit

Create an action that is delivered as a container which uses the toolkit. This example uses the GitHub context to construct an Octokit client.

FROM node:slim
COPY . .
RUN npm install --production
ENTRYPOINT ["node", "/lib/main.js"]

const myInput = core.getInput('myInput');
core.debug(`Hello ${myInput} from inside a container`);

const context = github.context;
console.log(`We can even get context data, like the repo: ${context.repo.repo}`)    

Recommendations on versioning, releases and tagging your action.

Contributing

We welcome contributions. See how to contribute.