Input

README.md

@@ -186,6 +186,8 @@ It will save that information to `~/.actrc`, please refer to [Configuration](#co
       --github-instance string                      GitHub instance to use. Don't use this if you are not using GitHub Enterprise Server. (default "github.com")
   -g, --graph                                       draw workflows
   -h, --help                                        help for act
+      --input stringArray                           action input to make available to actions (e.g. --input myinput=foo)
+      --input-file string                           input file to read and use as action input (default ".input")
       --insecure-secrets                            NOT RECOMMENDED! Doesn't hide secrets while printing logs.
   -j, --job string                                  run job
   -l, --list                                        list workflows
@@ -408,7 +410,7 @@ act pull_request -e pull-request.json
 
 Act will properly provide `github.head_ref` and `github.base_ref` to the action as expected.
 
-## Pass Inputs to Manually Triggered Workflows
+# Pass Inputs to Manually Triggered Workflows
 
 Example workflow file
 
@@ -434,6 +436,14 @@ jobs:
           echo "Hello ${{ github.event.inputs.NAME }} and ${{ github.event.inputs.SOME_VALUE }}!"
 ```
 
+## via input or input-file flag
+
+- `act --input NAME=somevalue` - use `somevalue` as the value for `NAME` input.
+- `act --input-file my.input` - load input values from `my.input` file.
+  - input file format is the same as `.env` format
+
+## via JSON
+
 Example JSON payload file conveniently named `payload.json`
 
 ```json

cmd/input.go

@@ -17,12 +17,14 @@ type Input struct {
 	bindWorkdir                        bool
 	secrets                            []string
 	envs                               []string
+	inputs                             []string
 	platforms                          []string
 	dryrun                             bool
 	forcePull                          bool
 	forceRebuild                       bool
 	noOutput                           bool
 	envfile                            string
+	inputfile                          string
 	secretfile                         string
 	insecureSecrets                    bool
 	defaultBranch                      string
@@ -84,3 +86,8 @@ func (i *Input) WorkflowsPath() string {
 func (i *Input) EventPath() string {
 	return i.resolve(i.eventPath)
 }
+
+// Inputfile returns the path to the input file
+func (i *Input) Inputfile() string {
+	return i.resolve(i.inputfile)
+}

cmd/root.go

@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ func Execute(ctx context.Context, version string) {
 	rootCmd.Flags().StringVar(&input.remoteName, "remote-name", "origin", "git remote name that will be used to retrieve url of git repo")
 	rootCmd.Flags().StringArrayVarP(&input.secrets, "secret", "s", []string{}, "secret to make available to actions with optional value (e.g. -s mysecret=foo or -s mysecret)")
 	rootCmd.Flags().StringArrayVarP(&input.envs, "env", "", []string{}, "env to make available to actions with optional value (e.g. --env myenv=foo or --env myenv)")
+	rootCmd.Flags().StringArrayVarP(&input.inputs, "input", "", []string{}, "action input to make available to actions (e.g. --input myinput=foo)")
 	rootCmd.Flags().StringArrayVarP(&input.platforms, "platform", "P", []string{}, "custom image to use per platform (e.g. -P ubuntu-18.04=nektos/act-environments-ubuntu:18.04)")
 	rootCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&input.reuseContainers, "reuse", "r", false, "don't remove container(s) on successfully completed workflow(s) to maintain state between runs")
 	rootCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&input.bindWorkdir, "bind", "b", false, "bind working directory to container, rather than copy")
@@ -74,6 +75,7 @@ func Execute(ctx context.Context, version string) {
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&input.secretfile, "secret-file", "", ".secrets", "file with list of secrets to read from (e.g. --secret-file .secrets)")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&input.insecureSecrets, "insecure-secrets", "", false, "NOT RECOMMENDED! Doesn't hide secrets while printing logs.")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&input.envfile, "env-file", "", ".env", "environment file to read and use as env in the containers")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&input.inputfile, "input-file", "", ".input", "input file to read and use as action input")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&input.containerArchitecture, "container-architecture", "", "", "Architecture which should be used to run containers, e.g.: linux/amd64. If not specified, will use host default architecture. Requires Docker server API Version 1.41+. Ignored on earlier Docker server platforms.")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&input.containerDaemonSocket, "container-daemon-socket", "", "/var/run/docker.sock", "Path to Docker daemon socket which will be mounted to containers")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&input.containerOptions, "container-options", "", "", "Custom docker container options for the job container without an options property in the job definition")
@@ -249,6 +251,21 @@ func setupLogging(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) {
 	}
 }
 
+func parseEnvs(env []string, envs map[string]string) bool {
+	if env != nil {
+		for _, envVar := range env {
+			e := strings.SplitN(envVar, `=`, 2)
+			if len(e) == 2 {
+				envs[e[0]] = e[1]
+			} else {
+				envs[e[0]] = ""
+			}
+		}
+		return true
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 func readEnvs(path string, envs map[string]string) bool {
 	if _, err := os.Stat(path); err == nil {
 		env, err := godotenv.Read(path)
@@ -285,18 +302,14 @@ func newRunCommand(ctx context.Context, input *Input) func(*cobra.Command, []str
 
 		log.Debugf("Loading environment from %s", input.Envfile())
 		envs := make(map[string]string)
-		if input.envs != nil {
-			for _, envVar := range input.envs {
-				e := strings.SplitN(envVar, `=`, 2)
-				if len(e) == 2 {
-					envs[e[0]] = e[1]
-				} else {
-					envs[e[0]] = ""
-				}
-			}
-		}
+		_ = parseEnvs(input.envs, envs)
 		_ = readEnvs(input.Envfile(), envs)
 
+		log.Debugf("Loading action inputs from %s", input.Inputfile())
+		inputs := make(map[string]string)
+		_ = parseEnvs(input.inputs, inputs)
+		_ = readEnvs(input.Inputfile(), inputs)
+
 		log.Debugf("Loading secrets from %s", input.Secretfile())
 		secrets := newSecrets(input.secrets)
 		_ = readEnvs(input.Secretfile(), secrets)
@@ -444,6 +457,7 @@ func newRunCommand(ctx context.Context, input *Input) func(*cobra.Command, []str
 			JSONLogger:                         input.jsonLogger,
 			Env:                                envs,
 			Secrets:                            secrets,
+			Inputs:                             inputs,
 			Token:                              secrets["GITHUB_TOKEN"],
 			InsecureSecrets:                    input.insecureSecrets,
 			Platforms:                          input.newPlatforms(),

pkg/runner/runner.go

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package runner
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	LogOutput                          bool              // log the output from docker run
 	JSONLogger                         bool              // use json or text logger
 	Env                                map[string]string // env for containers
+	Inputs                             map[string]string // manually passed action inputs
 	Secrets                            map[string]string // list of secrets
 	Token                              string            // GitHub token
 	InsecureSecrets                    bool              // switch hiding output when printing to terminal
@@ -81,6 +83,15 @@ func (runner *runnerImpl) configure() (Runner, error) {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		runner.eventJSON = string(eventJSONBytes)
+	} else if len(runner.config.Inputs) != 0 {
+		eventMap := map[string]map[string]string{
+			"inputs": runner.config.Inputs,
+		}
+		eventJSON, err := json.Marshal(eventMap)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		runner.eventJSON = string(eventJSON)
 	}
 	return runner, nil
 }

pkg/runner/runner_test.go

@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ func (j *TestJobFileInfo) runTest(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T, cfg *Config
 		ReuseContainers:       false,
 		Env:                   cfg.Env,
 		Secrets:               cfg.Secrets,
+		Inputs:                cfg.Inputs,
 		GitHubInstance:        "github.com",
 		ContainerArchitecture: cfg.ContainerArchitecture,
 	}
@@ -419,6 +420,27 @@ func TestRunEventSecrets(t *testing.T) {
 	tjfi.runTest(context.Background(), t, &Config{Secrets: secrets, Env: env})
 }
 
+func TestRunActionInputs(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("skipping integration test")
+	}
+	workflowPath := "input-from-cli"
+
+	tjfi := TestJobFileInfo{
+		workdir:      workdir,
+		workflowPath: workflowPath,
+		eventName:    "workflow_dispatch",
+		errorMessage: "",
+		platforms:    platforms,
+	}
+
+	inputs := map[string]string{
+		"SOME_INPUT": "input",
+	}
+
+	tjfi.runTest(context.Background(), t, &Config{Inputs: inputs})
+}
+
 func TestRunEventPullRequest(t *testing.T) {
 	if testing.Short() {
 		t.Skip("skipping integration test")

pkg/runner/testdata/input-from-cli/input.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+on:
+  workflow_dispatch:
+    inputs:
+      NAME:
+        description: "A random input name for the workflow"
+        type: string
+        required: true
+      SOME_VALUE:
+        description: "Some other input to pass"
+        type: string
+        required: true
+
+jobs:
+  test:
+    name: Test
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Test with inputs
+        run: |
+          [ -z "${{ github.event.inputs.SOME_INPUT }}" ] && exit 1 || exit 0