update-generated-files-action

This is an action for auto-fixing generated files. It is equivalent to git commit && git push origin command.

You can use this action for the following use cases:

• Format code such as Prettier, dprint or gofmt
• Update a lock file such as package-lock.json, yarn.lock or go.sum
• ESLint with --fix
• OpenAPI Generator
• GraphQL Code Generator

Getting Started

Here is an example workflow to update the generated files.

name: graphql-codegen

on:
  pull_request:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  generate:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write # Required to push a commit
      pull-requests: write # Required to create a pull request
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      # Something to generate files
      - run: yarn graphql-codegen

      # If the generated files are updated, this action pushes a commit.
      - uses: int128/update-generated-files-action@v2

How it works on pull_request event

If yarn graphql-codegen updated your code, this action pushes a new commit.

This action intentionally exits with the error to prevent Renovate or Dependabot from auto-merging the pull request.

If the working directory has no change, this action does nothing.

You can customize the commit as follows:

jobs:
  generate:
    steps:
      - uses: int128/update-generated-files-action@v2
        with:
          # Set a custom message to the new commit (optional)
          commit-message: 'Fix: yarn graphql-codegen'

How it works on push or other events

When the workflow is run on other events such as push or schedule, this action tries to apply the current change by the following order:

1. Push the current change into the branch by fast-forward
2. Create a pull request for the branch

If the working directory has no change, this action does nothing.

For example, if yarn graphql-codegen updated your code, this action pushes a new commit to main branch.

If this action could not push it due to the branch rule, it creates a new pull request.

This action requests a review to the current actor by default. If reviewers input is set, it requests a review to the specified users or teams.

You can customize the pull request as follows:

jobs:
  generate:
    steps:
      - uses: int128/update-generated-files-action@v2
        with:
          # Set a custom title or body to the pull request (optional)
          title: Regenerate graphql code
          body: Updated by `yarn graphql-codegen`
          # Request reviewers for the pull request (optional)
          reviewers: |
            username
            org/team
          # Create a draft pull request (optional)
          # This is useful to prevent CODEOWNERS from receiving a review request.
          draft: true
          # Add labels to the pull request (optional)
          labels: |
            updated-graphql-codegen
          # Set a custom message to the new commit (optional)
          commit-message: 'Fix: yarn graphql-codegen'

Best practices

Trigger GitHub Actions on the new commit

This action uses the default token by default, but it does not trigger a workflow on the new commit. You need to reopen a pull request to trigger a workflow.

To trigger a workflow on the new commit, you need to set a personal access token or GitHub App token.

jobs:
  generate:
    steps:
      - uses: actions/create-github-app-token@v1
        id: ci-token
        with:
          app-id: ${{ secrets.YOUR_CI_GITHUB_APP_ID }}
          private-key: ${{ secrets.YOUR_CI_GITHUB_APP_PRIVATE_KEY }}
      - uses: int128/update-generated-files-action@v2
        with:
          token: ${{ steps.ci-token.outputs.token }}

Maintain code by owners

It is recommended to set CODEOWNERS to receive a review request when this action creates a pull request. Alternatively, you can set the reviewers, for example,

jobs:
  generate:
    steps:
      - uses: int128/update-generated-files-action@v2
        with:
          reviewers: |
            your-organization/frontend-devs

Work with Renovate or Dependabot

You can update both dependencies and generated files as follows:

1. Renovate creates a pull request to update a dependency
2. GitHub Actions triggers a workflow
3. This action pushes a change if it exists
4. GitHub Actions triggers a workflow against the new commit

If the generated files are inconsistent, automerge will be stopped due to the failure of this action.

Specification

If the last 5 commits are added by this action, it exits with an error to prevent the infinite loop.

By default, actions/checkout checks out the merge branch. This action works on both merge branch or head branch.

Inputs

Name	Default	Description
commit-message	action.yaml	Commit message
commit-message-footer	action.yaml	Footer of commit message
title	action.yaml	Title of the pull request
body	action.yaml	Body of the pull request
draft	false	If true, create a draft pull request
reviewers	(optional)	Request reviewers for the pull request (multiline)
labels	(optional)	Add labels to the pull request (multiline)
token	github.token	GitHub token

Outputs

Name	Description
pull-request-number	Number of pull request *1
pull-request-url	URL of pull request *1

^*1: Available only when this action created a pull request.

Exit status

If the working directory does not have git-diff, this action exits successfully.

If the working directory has git-diff, this action exits with the following status:

• When triggered on push event, it exits with the error. It indicates that the branch is inconsistent state.
• When triggered on opened type of pull_request event, it exits with the error. It prevents Renovate or Dependabot from auto-merging.
• When triggered on synchronize type of pull_request event, it exits with the error. It prevents Renovate or Dependabot from auto-merging.
• Otherwise, it exits successfully.

If you need to refer the outputs after this action, you can specify always() in the consequent step. For example,

- uses: int128/update-generated-files-action
  id: update-generated-files

# Something to manipulate the created pull request
- if: always() && steps.update-generated-files.outputs.pull-request-number != ''
  run: gh pr ${{ steps.update-generated-files.outputs.pull-request-number }}