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The GitHub Action for committing files for the 80% use case.

A GitHub Action to detect changed files during a Workflow run and to commit and push them back to the GitHub repository.By default, the commit is made in the name of "GitHub Actions" and co-authored by the user that made the last commit.

If you want to learn more how this Action works under the hood, check outthis article by Michael Heap.

Adding git-auto-commit to your Workflow only takes a couple lines of code.

1. Set thecontents-permission of the default GITHUB_TOKEN totrue. (Required to push new commits to the repository)
2. Add the following step at the end of your job, after other steps that might add or change files.

-uses:stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7

Your Workflow should look similar to this example.

name:Formaton:pushjobs:format-code:runs-on:ubuntu-latestpermissions:# Give the default GITHUB_TOKEN write permission to commit and push the# added or changed files to the repository.contents:writesteps:      -uses:actions/checkout@v5with:ref:${{ github.head_ref }}# Other steps that change files in the repository go here# …# Commit all changed files back to the repository      -uses:stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7

The following is an extended example with all available options.

-uses:stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7with:# Optional. Commit message for the created commit.# Defaults to "Apply automatic changes"commit_message:Automated Change# Optional. Remote branch name where commit is going to be pushed to.# Defaults to the current branch.branch:feature-123# Optional. Options used by `git-commit`.# See https://git-scm.com/docs/git-commit#_optionscommit_options:'--no-verify --signoff'# Optional glob pattern of files which should be added to the commit# Defaults to all (.)# See the `pathspec`-documentation for git# - https://git-scm.com/docs/git-add#Documentation/git-add.txt-ltpathspecgt82308203# - https://git-scm.com/docs/gitglossary#Documentation/gitglossary.txt-aiddefpathspecapathspecfile_pattern:'*.php src/*.js tests/*.js'# Optional. Local file path to the repository.# Defaults to the root of the repository.repository:.# Optional commit user and author settingscommit_user_name:My GitHub Actions Bot# defaults to "github-actions[bot]"commit_user_email:my-github-actions-bot@example.org# defaults to "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"commit_author:Author <actions@github.com># defaults to "username <numeric_id+username@users.noreply.github.com>", where "numeric_id" and "username" belong to the author of the commit that triggered the run# Optional. Tag name to be created in the local repository and# pushed to the remote repository on the defined branch.# If only one of `tag_name` or `tagging_message` is provided, the value of the provided field will be used for both tag name and message.tag_name:'v1.0.0'# Optional. Message to annotate the created tag with.# If only one of `tag_name` or `tagging_message` is provided, the value of the provided field will be used for both tag name and message.tagging_message:'Codename "Sunshine"'# Optional. Option used by `git-status` to determine if the repository is# dirty. See https://git-scm.com/docs/git-status#_optionsstatus_options:'--untracked-files=no'# Optional. Options used by `git-add`.# See https://git-scm.com/docs/git-add#_optionsadd_options:'-u'# Optional. Options used by `git-push`.# See https://git-scm.com/docs/git-push#_optionspush_options:'--force'# Optional. Disable dirty check and always try to create a commit and pushskip_dirty_check:true# Optional. Skip internal call to `git fetch`skip_fetch:true# Optional. Skip internal call to `git checkout`skip_checkout:true# Optional. Prevents the shell from expanding filenames.# Details: https://www.gnu.org/software/bash/manual/html_node/Filename-Expansion.htmldisable_globbing:true# Optional. Create given branch name in local and remote repository.create_branch:true# Optional. Creates a new tag and pushes it to remote without creating a commit.# Skips dirty check and changed files. Must be used in combination with `tag` and `tagging_message`.create_git_tag_only:false

Please note that the Action depends onbash. If you're using the Action in a job in combination with a custom Docker container, make sure thatbash is installed.

In this example, we're runningphp-cs-fixer in a PHP project to fix the codestyle automatically, then commit possible changed files back to the repository.

Note that we explicitly specify${{ github.head_ref }} in the checkout Action.This is required in order to work with thepull_request event (or any other non-push event).

name:php-cs-fixeron:pull_request:push:branches:      -mainjobs:php-cs-fixer:runs-on:ubuntu-latestpermissions:# Give the default GITHUB_TOKEN write permission to commit and push the changed files back to the repository.contents:writesteps:    -uses:actions/checkout@v5with:ref:${{ github.head_ref }}    -name:Run php-cs-fixeruses:docker://oskarstark/php-cs-fixer-ga    -uses:stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7with:commit_message:Apply php-cs-fixer changes

Checkoutaction.yml for a full list of supported inputs.

You can use these outputs to trigger other Actions in your Workflow run based on the result ofgit-auto-commit-action.

• changes_detected: Returns either "true" or "false" if the repository was dirty and files have changed.
• commit_hash: Returns the full hash of the commit if one was created.
• create_git_tag_only: Returns either "true" or "false" if a tag was created, whencreate_git_tag_only was used.

⚠️ When using outputs, the step needs to be given an id. See example below.

  -uses:stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7id:auto-commit-action#mandatory for the output to show up in ${{ steps }}with:commit_message:Apply php-cs-fixer changes  -name:"Run if changes have been detected"if:steps.auto-commit-action.outputs.changes_detected == 'true'run:echo "Changes!"  -name:"Run if no changes have been detected"if:steps.auto-commit-action.outputs.changes_detected == 'false'run:echo "No Changes!"

The goal of this Action is to be "the Action for committing files for the 80% use case". Therefore, you might run into issues if your Workflow falls into the not supported 20% portion.

The following is a list of edge cases the Action knowingly does not support:

Nogit pull when the repository is out of date with remote. The Action will not do agit pull before doing thegit push.You are responsible for keeping the repository up to date in your Workflow runs.

No support for running the Action in build matrices. If your Workflow is using build matrices, and you want that each job commits and pushes files to the remote, you will run into the issue, that the repository in the workflow will become out of date. As the Action will not do agit pull for you, you have to do that yourself.

No support forgit rebase orgit merge. There are many strategies on how to integrate remote upstream changes to a local repository.git-auto-commit does not want to be responsible for doing that.

No support for detecting line break changes between CR (Carriage Return) and LF (Line Feed). This is a low level issue, you have to resolve differently in your project. Sorry.

If this Action doesn't work for your workflow, check outEndBug/add-and-commit.

You must useaction/checkout@v2 or later versions to check out the repository.In non-push events, such aspull_request, make sure to specify theref to check out:

-uses:actions/checkout@v5with:ref:${{ github.head_ref }}

Do this to avoid checking out the repository in a detached state.

The resulting commitwill not trigger another GitHub Actions Workflow run.This is due tolimitations set by GitHub.

When you use the repository's GITHUB_TOKEN to perform tasks on behalf of the GitHub Actions app, events triggered by the GITHUB_TOKEN will not create a new workflow run. This prevents you from accidentally creating recursive workflow runs.

You can change this by creating a newPersonal Access Token (PAT),storing the token as a secret in your repository and then passing the new token to theactions/checkout Action step.

-uses:actions/checkout@v5with:token:${{ secrets.PAT }}

If you create a personal access token (classic), apply therepo andworkflow scopes.If you create a fine-grained personal access token, apply theContents-permissions.

If you work in an organization and don't want to create a PAT from your personal account, we recommend using arobot account for the token.

If you're using a Personal Access Token (PAT) to push commits to GitHub repository, the resulting commit or push can trigger other GitHub Actions workflows. This can result in an infinite loop.

If you would like to prevent this, you can addskip-checks:true to the commit message. SeeSkipping workflow runs for details.

Does your workflow change a file, but "git-auto-commit" does not detect the change? Check the.gitignore that applies to the respective file. You might have accidentally marked the file to be ignored by git.

If your commit message should span multiple lines, you have to create a separate step to generate the string.

The example below can be used as a starting point to generate a multiline commit meesage. Learn more how multiline strings in GitHub Actions work in theGitHub documentation.

# Building a multiline commit message# Adjust to your liking    -run:echo "Commit Message 1" >> commitmessage.txt    -run:echo "Commit Message 2" >> commitmessage.txt    -run:echo "Commit Message 3" >> commitmessage.txt# Create a multiline string to be used by the git-auto-commit Action    -name:Set commit messageid:commit_message_steprun:|        echo 'commit_message<<EOF' >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT        cat commitmessage.txt >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT        echo 'EOF' >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT# Quick and dirty step to get rid of the temporary file holding the commit message    -run:rm -rf commitmessage.txt    -uses:stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7id:commitwith:commit_message:${{ steps.commit_message_step.outputs.commit_message }}

If you would like to sign your commits using a GPG key, you will need to use an additional action.You can use thecrazy-max/ghaction-import-gpg action and follow its setup instructions.

As git-auto-commit by default does not useyour username and email when creating a commit, you have to override these values in your workflow.

-name:"Import GPG key"id:import-gpguses:crazy-max/ghaction-import-gpg@v6with:gpg_private_key:${{ secrets.GPG_PRIVATE_KEY }}passphrase:${{ secrets.GPG_PASSPHRASE }}git_user_signingkey:truegit_commit_gpgsign:true-name:"Commit and push changes"uses:stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7with:commit_author:"${{ steps.import-gpg.outputs.name }} <${{ steps.import-gpg.outputs.email }}>"commit_user_name:${{ steps.import-gpg.outputs.name }}commit_user_email:${{ steps.import-gpg.outputs.email }}

See discussion#334 for details.

By default, GitHub Actions doesn't run Workflows on forks fromprivate repositories. To enable Actions forprivate repositories enable "Run workflows from pull requests" in your repository settings.

Seethis announcement from GitHub or theGitHub docs for details.

By default, this Action will not run on Pull Requests which have been opened by forks. (This is a limitation by GitHub, not by us.)
However, there are a couple of ways to use this Actions in Workflows that should be triggered by forked repositories.

The workflow below runs whenever a commit is pushed to themain-branch or when activity on a pull request happens, by listening to thepull_request_target event.

If the workflow is triggered by thepull_request_target-event, the workflow will run in the context of the base of the pull request, rather than in the context of the merge commit, as thepull_request event does.In other words, this will allow your workflow to be run in the repository where the pull request is opened to and will push changes back to the fork.

Check out the discussion in#211 for more information on this.

name:Format PHPon:push:branches:      -mainpull_request_target:jobs:php-cs-fixer:runs-on:ubuntu-latestpermissions:contents:writesteps:    -uses:actions/checkout@v5with:# Checkout the fork/head-repository and push changes to the fork.# If you skip this, the base repository will be checked out and changes# will be committed to the base repository!repository:${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}# Checkout the branch made in the fork. Will automatically push changes# back to this branch.ref:${{ github.head_ref }}    -name:Run php-cs-fixeruses:docker://oskarstark/php-cs-fixer-ga    -uses:stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7

For more information about running Actions on forks, seethis announcement from GitHub.

If you would like to use this Action to create a commit using--amend and--no-edit you need to make some adjustments.

First, you need to extract the previous commit message by usinggit log -1 --pretty=%s.Then you need to provide this last commit message to the Action through thecommit_message input option.

By default, the commit author is changed tousername <username@users.noreply.github.com>, whereusername is the name of the user who triggered the workflow (Thegithub.actor context is used here). If you want to preserve the name and email of the original author, you must extract them from the last commit and provide them to the Action through thecommit_author input option.

Finally, you have to usepush_options: '--force' to overwrite the git history on the GitHub remote repository. (git-auto-commit will not do agit-rebase for you!)

The steps in your workflow might look like this:

-uses:actions/checkout@4with:# Fetch the last 2 commits instead of just 1. (Fetching just 1 commit would overwrite the whole history)fetch-depth:2# Other steps in your workflow to trigger a changed file-name:Get last commit messageid:last-commitrun:|    echo "message=$(git log -1 --pretty=%s)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT    echo "author=$(git log -1 --pretty=\"%an <%ae>\")" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT- uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7  with:    commit_author: ${{ steps.last-commit.outputs.author }}    commit_message: ${{ steps.last-commit.outputs.message }}    commit_options: '--amend --no-edit'    push_options: '--force'    skip_fetch: true

See discussion in#159 for details.

Make sure tocheckout the correct branch.

If your Workflow can't push the commit to the repository because of authentication issues,please update your Workflow configuration and usage ofactions/checkout.

Updating thetoken value with a Personal Access Token should fix your issues.

The defaultGITHUB_TOKEN issued by GitHub Action does not have permission to make changes to workflow files located in.github/workflows/.To fix this, please create a personal access token (PAT) and pass the token to theactions/checkout-step in your workflow. (Similar tohow to push to protected branches).

If a PAT does not work for you, you could also create a new GitHub app and use it's token in your workflows. Seethis comment in #87 for details.

See#322 for details and discussions around this topic.

If your repository usesprotected branches you have to make some changes to your Workflow for the Action to work properly: You need a Personal Access Token and you either have to allow force pushes or the Personal Access Token needs to belong to an Administrator.

First, you have to create a newPersonal Access Token (PAT),store the token as a secret in your repository and pass the new token to theactions/checkout Action step.

If you create a personal access token (classic), apply therepo andworkflow scopes.If you create a fine-grained personal access token, apply theContents-permissions.

-uses:actions/checkout@v5with:# We pass the "PAT" secret to the checkout action; if no PAT secret is available to the workflow runner (eg. Dependabot) we fall back to the default "GITHUB_TOKEN".token:${{ secrets.PAT || secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

You can learn more about Personal Access Token in theGitHub documentation.

If you go the "force pushes" route, you have to enable force pushes to a protected branch (seedocumentation) and update your Workflow to use force push like this.

    -uses:stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7with:commit_message:Apply php-cs-fixer changespush_options:--force

This is due to limitations set up by GitHub,commits made by this Action do not trigger new Workflow runs.

If you're using the Action with a customfile_pattern and the Action throws a fatal error with the message "Pathspec 'file-pattern' did not match any files", the problem is probably that no file for the patternexists in the repository.

file_pattern is used both forgit-status andgit-add in this Action.git-add will throw a fatal error, if for example, you use a file pattern like*.js *.ts but no*.ts files exist in your projects' repository.

SeeIssue #227 for details.

If you're using a customfile_pattern and the Action does not detect the changes made in your worfklow, you're probably running into a globbing issue.

Let's imagine you usefile_pattern: '*.md' to detect and commit changes to all Markdown files in your repository.If your Workflow now only updates.md-files in a subdirectory, but you have an untouched.md-file in the root of the repository, the git-auto-commit Action will display "Working tree clean. Nothing to commit." in the Workflow log.

This is due to the fact, that the*.md-glob is expanded before sending it togit-status.git-status will receive the filename of your untouched.md-file in the root of the repository and won't detect any changes; and therefore the Action does nothing.

To fix this adddisable_globbing: true to your Workflow.

-uses:stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7with:file_pattern:'*.md'disable_globbing:true

SeeIssue #239 for details.

The Action has tests written inbats. Before you can run the test suite locally, you have to install the dependencies withnpm oryarn.

npm installyarn

You can run the test suite withnpm oryarn.

npm runtestyarntest

We useSemVer for versioning. For the versions available, see thetags on this repository.

We also provide major version tags to make it easier to always use the latest release of a major version. For example, you can usestefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7 to always use the latest release of the current major version.(More information about thishere.)

• Stefan Zweifel
• All Contributors

This Action has been inspired and adapted from theauto-commit-Action of the Canadian Digital Service and thiscommit-Action by Eric Johnson.

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see theLICENSE file for details.