getting-started.md

Getting started

Follow this guide to get started with a working /example command.

Command processing setup

1. Create a new repository called, for example, slash-command-processor. This will be the repository that commands are dispatched to for processing.

2. In your new repository, create the following workflow at .github/workflows/example-command.yml.

   name: example-command
   on:
     repository_dispatch:
       types: [example-command]
   jobs:
     example:
       runs-on: ubuntu-latest
       steps:
         - name: Add reaction
           uses: peter-evans/create-or-update-comment@v4
           with:
             token: ${{ secrets.PAT }}
             repository: ${{ github.event.client_payload.github.payload.repository.full_name }}
             comment-id: ${{ github.event.client_payload.github.payload.comment.id }}
             reactions: hooray

3. Create a repo scoped Personal Access Token (PAT) by following this guide.

4. Go to your repository Settings -> Secrets and variables -> Actions and New repository secret.

   Name: PAT

   Value: (The PAT created in step 3)

Command processing setup is complete! Now we need to setup command dispatch for our /example command.

Command dispatch setup

1. Choose a repository or create a new repository to dispatch commands from. This will be the repository where issue and pull request comments will be monitored for slash commands.

   In the repository, create the following workflow at .github/workflows/slash-command-dispatch.yml.

   Note: Change your-github-username/slash-command-processor to reference your command processor repository created in the previous section.

   name: Slash Command Dispatch
   on:
     issue_comment:
       types: [created]
   jobs:
     slashCommandDispatch:
       runs-on: ubuntu-latest
       steps:
         - name: Slash Command Dispatch
           uses: peter-evans/slash-command-dispatch@v4
           with:
             token: ${{ secrets.PAT }}
             commands: example
             repository: your-github-username/slash-command-processor

2. Create a new repo scoped PAT, OR, use the one created at step 3 of the previous section.

3. Go to your repository Settings -> Secrets and Add a new secret.

   Name: PAT

   Value: (The PAT created in step 2)

Command dispatch setup is complete! Now let's test our /example command.

Testing the command

1. Create a new GitHub Issue in the repository you chose to dispatch commands from.

2. Add a new comment with the text /example.

Once the command completes you should see all three reactions on your comment.

Now you can start to tweak the command and make it do something useful!