[CI/CD](EN) Usage of running a separate file in GitHub Actions actions/github-script

Usage of running a separate file in GitHub Actions actions/github-script

Environment and Prerequisite

• GitHub Actions
• JavaScript

Background

• I encountered an issue where code was being wrapped in double quotes (“”) when dynamically modifying workflow YAML files in GitHub Actions using yq or code so I extracted the code files and called that instead.
• I once applied actions/github-script and since I think I’ll be using it often in the future. So I decided to write it.

Usage

• The official document provides the instructions.
• It is similar to the usual way of using JavaScript.

Example

Code

github-script-file-return-test.yml

name: Separate JavaScript File Return Workflow
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
jobs:
  print-javascript-return-value-job:
    name: print javascript process return value
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Run javascript code
        id: workflow_result
        uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          script: |
            const exportedModule = require('.github/workflows/scripts/github-script-file-test.js');
            return exportedModule.processValue(github, context);
      - name: Print javascript return value
        run: |
          echo "${{ fromJSON(steps.workflow_result.outputs.result).data }}"

github-script-file-test.js

function processValue(github, context) {
  console.log(JSON.stringify(context));
  return {"data": context.workflow};
};

module.exports = {
    processValue
};

Result

Run echo "Separate JavaScript File Return Workflow"
  echo "Separate JavaScript File Return Workflow"
  shell: /usr/bin/bash -e {0}
Separate JavaScript File Return Workflow

Others

• The document introduces pre-built objects that you can use.
  • github: A pre-authenticated octokit/rest.js client with pagination plugins
  • context: An object containing the context of the workflow run
  • core: A reference to the @actions/core package
  • glob: A reference to the @actions/glob package
  • io: A reference to the @actions/io package
  • exec: A reference to the @actions/exec package
  • require: A proxy wrapper around the normal Node.js require to enable requiring relative paths (relative to the - - current working directory) and requiring npm packages installed in the current working directory. If for some reason you need the non-wrapped require, there is an escape hatch available: original_require is the original value of require without our wrapping applied.
• When using actions/github-script, I separated the code into an external file because if the code gets too long, it becomes difficult to format and manage.
• It is actually the same as using regular JavaScript.

Reference

• https://github.com/actions/github-script