set-output deprecated

[funes79]

Two days ago the Github Actions announced the deprecation of set-output and workflows started to emit these warnings:

The `set-output` command is deprecated and will be disabled soon. Please upgrade to using Environment Files. For more information see: https://github.blog/changelog/2022-10-11-github-actions-deprecating-save-state-and-set-output-commands/

However there is no clear documentation how to migrate the workflows and how to rewrite to use env vars - whether to use GITHUB_ENV or GITHUB_OUTPUT.

I believe set-output was used widely in many flows, so it deserves a more detailed documentation and migration guide.

[airtower-luna]

The documentation on how to set outputs now is here: https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/workflow-commands-for-github-actions#setting-an-output-parameter You do not need to replace outputs with environment variables, just set the outputs by writing to a file instead of stdout.

One thing that's missing there are multiline outputs, I found by experimenting that you can set multiline outputs using the same format as multiline environment variables.

[codeaphex]

I tried new approach and discovered it does not work on windows runners. Please see corresponding runs on Ubuntu: https://github.com/deitry/test-output/actions/runs/3249439567/jobs/5331843416

and Windows: https://github.com/deitry/test-output/actions/runs/3249439554/jobs/5331843290

    steps:
      - id: step1
        run: echo "test=Hello world" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

      - run: echo "${{ steps.step1.outputs.test }}"

Hey just ran into the same problem until I found the powershell switch on top of the docs:

Correct usage on windows/powershell would be:

run: echo "test=Hello world" >> $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT

[deitry]

OMG, thanks, I totally missed that

[Justin-JHG]

same here, thank you so much

[ptfw]

@codeaphex where are you finding that doc ? I was working off these docs that don't have a PowerShell tab https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-jobs/defining-outputs-for-jobs

[codeaphex]

https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/workflow-commands-for-github-actions?tool=powershell#setting-an-output-parameter

[rgoodwin]

Thank you for the tip. The docs are pretty vague on how this works.

[kcgen]

Automatic conversion one-liner

Changelog:

• 2022-Oct-17: Updated to handle @funes79's complex AWS line below. Thanks for flagging this @funes79!

If you're using echo "::set-output name=key::val" syntax, this GNU sed one liner should get you most of the way:

Bash-based workflows:

sed \
  -i \
  '/set-output/ { 
    s/::set-output name=//;
    s/::/=/;
    s/"$/" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT/;
  }' \
  .github/workflows/bash-workflows.yml

Powershell-based workflows:

sed \
  -i \
  '/set-output/ { 
    s/::set-output name=//;
    s/::/=/;
    s/"$/" >> $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT/;
  }' \
  .github/workflows/powershell-workflows.yml

After running it, inspect the git diff and make any final touches that aren't perfect.

---

Here's an example of what it will convert:

         shell: bash
         run: |
           mkdir -p "${CCACHE_DIR}"
-          echo "::set-output name=dir::$CCACHE_DIR"
-          echo "::set-output name=today::$(date -I)"
-          echo "::set-output name=yesterday::$(date --date=yesterday -I)"
-          echo "::set-output name=name_hash::$(echo '${{ matrix.conf.name }}' | shasum | cut -b-8)"
+          echo "dir=$CCACHE_DIR" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "today=$(date -I)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "yesterday=$(date --date=yesterday -I)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "name_hash=$(echo '${{ matrix.conf.name }}' | shasum | cut -b-8)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

[deitry]

For my knowing new way seems more correct, since in PowerShell you have to use call operator & to run .exe by path.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4639894/executing-an-exe-file-using-a-powershell-script

[funes79]

The automatic conversion does not work if the code has expression
echo "::set-output name=key::$(expression)"
and also in case ## is used:
echo "##[set-output name=branch;]$(echo ${GITHUB_REF#refs/heads/})"

[kcgen]

@funes79 ,

The automatic conversion does not work if the code has expression
echo "::set-output name=key::$(expression)"

It handles that exact expression; can you paste your specific instance?

and also in case ## is used:
echo "##[set-output name=branch;]$(echo ${GITHUB_REF#refs/heads/})"

It also handles that exact expression:

[funes79]

echo "::set-output name=aws_role::$(if [[ "$B" == "main" ]]; then echo 'arn:aws:iam::12345679012:role/github_actions_admin'; else echo 'arn:aws:iam::999999999:role/github_ssm_role'; fi )"

translates to:

echo "aws_role=$(if [[ "$B" == "main" ]]; then echo 'arn:aws:iam=12345679012:role/github_actions_admin'; else echo 'arn:aws:iam=999999999:role/github_ssm_role'; fi )"      

Please note that the double :: in AWS arn was replaced by =

The timezone:

[kcgen]

Thanks for posting your case, @funes79. That's quite an example!
I've updated the original post and mentioned the change.
When you have a chance to try the update, it would be good to know that it now handles it.

[sayhiben]

For what it's worth, this change materially impacts where you can set output from. Perhaps that's a good thing or design intention. Regardless, any scripts or outputs that previously ran in a Docker container will now need to volume-mount the $GITHUB_OUTPUT file (and likely will want to set it as an env var), whereas previous implementations allowed stdout to be intercepted at the top level

[Bykerone]

Enviado desde mi HUAWEI P30 lite-------- Mensaje original --------De: Justin Liu ***@***.***>Fecha: mié., 19 de octubre de 2022 7:33 p. m.Para: community/community ***@***.***>CC: Subscribed ***@***.***>Asunto: Re: [community/community] set-output deprecated (Discussion #35994) same here, thank you so much —Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[funes79]

The port of yaml files by replacing the set-output to an echo redirect to GITHUB_OUTPUT works. But my python code does not log correclty the multiline values:

def encode_chars(value):
    return value.replace('%', '%25').replace('\n', '%0A').replace('\r', '%0D')

def set_output(name, value):
    if isinstance(value, str):
        value = encode_chars(value)
    if 'GITHUB_OUTPUT' in os.environ:
        with open(os.environ['GITHUB_OUTPUT'], "a") as ff:
            ff.write(f'{name}<<EEOOFF\n')
            ff.write(f'{value}')
            ff.write('\nEEOOFF\n')
    else:
        print(f'::set-output name={name}::{value}')

Resulting in a non replaced new line characters in Issues :

So it looks like that the special encoding is not needed:

def set_output(name, value):
    if 'GITHUB_OUTPUT' in os.environ:
        with open(os.environ['GITHUB_OUTPUT'], "a") as ff:
            ff.write(f'{name}<<EEOOFF\n')
            ff.write(f'{value}')
            ff.write('\nEEOOFF\n')
    else:
        if isinstance(value, str):
            value = encode_chars(value)
        print(f'::set-output name={name}::{value}')

[airtower-luna]

Exactly. 🙂

Also it's strongly recommended (red warning box) to randomly generate the delimiter, to prevent anyone from injecting a predictable one (EOF and EEOOFF are equally predictable). I simply use secrets.token_hex() for that. How critical it is depends on what kind of data goes into your outputs.

[ma-caylent]

same issue as @funes79 faced regarding non-replaced new line characters. any fix for this? 🙏

[airtower-luna]

You need to use the same format as for multiline environment variables, obviously writing to the outputs file instead. Mind that you should generate a random delimiter during each run.

[bstordrup]

All examples on how to use the recommended show code in either yaml or in PowerShell.

What about GitHub actions written in .NET? The previous attempt (as demonstrated by the GitHub Action in .NET sample) made use of a Console.WriteLine like this:

    Console.WriteLine($"::set-output name=updated-metrics::{updatedMetrics}");
    Console.WriteLine($"::set-output name=summary-title::{title}");
    Console.WriteLine($"::set-output name=summary-details::{summary}");

What would the correct way be to do the same with $env.GITHUB_OUTPUT

[bstordrup]

Figured it out. The way to do it is:

    var githubOutputFile = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("GITHUB_OUTPUT", EnvironmentVariableTarget.Process);
    if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(githubOutputFile))
    {
        using (var textWriter = new StreamWriter(githubOutputFile!, true, Encoding.UTF8))
        {
            textWriter.WriteLine($"updated-metrics={updatedMetrics}");
            textWriter.WriteLine($"summary-title={title}");
            textWriter.WriteLine($"summary-details={summary}");
        }
    }
    else
    {
        Console.WriteLine($"::set-output name=updated-metrics::{updatedMetrics}");
        Console.WriteLine($"::set-output name=summary-title::{title}");
        Console.WriteLine($"::set-output name=summary-details::{summary}");
    }

[johnrhunt]

Why doesn't github just intelligently translate this on the fly?

[M97Chahboun]

Here Alternative way for use terminal or any programming language output on workflow