The best practices to follow when creating Actions in GitHub

The best practices to follow when creating Actions in GitHub

Creating GitHub Actions that are efficient, reusable, and well-maintained involves adhering to best practices.

Here’s a detailed look at how to create effective GitHub Actions.

1. Create Chainable Actions

Chainable Actions are actions that can be combined or used as steps within other actions. They simplify workflows by reusing existing actions.

Best Practices:

• Design actions with a clear set of inputs and outputs to make them reusable in various contexts.

• Use outputs to pass data between actions.

• Ensure actions return exit codes to signal success or failure.

Example: Chainable Action

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name: Example Chainable Action
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inputs:
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  message:
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    description: The message to print
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    required: true
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outputs:
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  result:
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    description: The result of printing the message
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steps:
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   - run: echo ${{ inputs.message }}
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    id: print-message
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   - id: save-output
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    result: ${{ steps.print-message.outputs.result }}

2. Version Your Actions

Versioning ensures that you can manage changes and maintain backward compatibility.

Best Practices:

• Use semantic versioning (e.g., 1.0.0, 1.1.0, etc.).

• Update the version in action.yml and tag releases accordingly.

• Increment versions for significant changes (breaking changes), patches, or improvements.

Example: Versioning Action

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name: My Action
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version: 1.2.3
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inputs:
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  name:
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    description: Name of the user
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    required: true

3. Provide a Latest Label

Latest Label allows users to easily identify and use the most recent version of your action.

Best Practices:

• Use the latest label for your most stable or actively maintained version.

• Ensure latest is always up-to-date with the current, most functional version.

Example: Setting Latest Version

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name: My Action
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version: 1.2.3

4. Add Appropriate Documentation

Documentation is critical for the usability and adoption of your GitHub Actions.

Best Practices:

• Include a README file with an overview, usage instructions, examples, and explanations.

• Ensure inputs and outputs are well-documented with required fields and types.

• Add examples of how to use the action in workflows.

Example: Action Documentation

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name: Deploy Action
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description: Deploys a project to a specified environment.
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inputs:
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  environment:
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    description: The environment to deploy to
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    required: true
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  app:
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    description: The application name
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    required: true
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outputs:
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  status:
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    description: Deployment status

5. Add Detailed action.yml Metadata

The action.yml metadata helps users understand what your action does and how it works.

Best Practices:

• Include essential metadata like description, inputs, outputs, and usage examples.

• Clearly define requirements and compatibility, e.g., supported operating systems, runtime environments, etc.

Example: Detailed Metadata

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name: My Action
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description: A simple action for testing
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inputs:
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  test_type:
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    description: Type of test to run
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    required: true
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outputs:
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  result:
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    description: The result of the test

6. Consider Contributing to GitHub Marketplace

GitHub Marketplace provides a central location for users to discover, share, and install GitHub Actions.

Best Practices:

• Optimize your action for visibility by using keywords and a descriptive README.

• Ensure security, reliability, and performance of your action to meet marketplace standards.

• Encourage contributions and collaborations by making your action public and open for feedback.

Example: Publishing to Marketplace

• Create your GitHub Action in a public repository.

• Configure action.yml with all necessary metadata and versions.

• Publish to the Marketplace via the GitHub interface or API.

7. Consider Error Handling and Debugging

• Error Handling: Provide meaningful error messages and allow retry mechanisms where applicable.

• Debugging: Include options to run in a debug mode to troubleshoot issues more effectively.

Summary

By following these best practices, you can create GitHub Actions that are robust, reusable, and widely used by the community.