sync-action-status

A GitHub Action to follow repository_dispatch runs in your local repo...

This Github Action currently only works with repos that you own. If you are calling a repo that is in the same org or owned by the same Github User, this Action will sync the Workflow Status of a repository_dispatch.

Please see Repository Dispatch if you'd like to read up on what a repository dispatch is, and what it does.

Need some back story? See back story.

How this works

stateDiagram-v2
Commit --> Github_Action
Github_Action --> Dispatch
Dispatch --> Receiver : event_type
Receiver --> Github_Action : sync-action-status

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Usage

To begin installing, see Sync-Action-Status-Install

To use this Action, there are multiple parts to setup within your Github Action. The process can seem somewhat difficult, as there are multiple repos involved and calling another repo to run an action can be somewhat confusing. The reason for this action is mainly for SRE/Platform/DevOps Engineers. There are times when we want to keep Actions in one place - for a number of reasons:

1. Security (are there any reasons why you would want to keep the functionality of the action secret, this can help)
2. SRE can engage with Dev teams with minimal interuptions
   • Let's face it, development is tough, and developers are busy. Putting all of the Actions in a Repo allows the SRE team to iterate, build, augment Actions without interupting developers with constant PRs and extra code bloat in their repo_(s)_.
3. My personal favorite, it allows us to remain in Github -
   • In some cases, there are needs for other services like CircleCI, Buildkite, etc. but if we can remain in Github, this is always a plus. It's less cost (why pay for another service if you already have a service deployed that can do the same thing?), and less context switching - These days, Platform Engineers end up working tirelessly just gluing together the plethora of services utilized by their development teams.

Prerequisites

In order to accomplish this, you will need to create a new repo that will house your dispatch_receivers. These are the Github Actions that are triggered from other repos by using event_types. When an event type is sent to the repo, the receiver is triggered, and the Action is deployed.

• GITHUB_TOKEN - It is imperative that you setup a Github Token (PAT) for making the calls in between repos, etc.
  • NOTE: Make sure to add this token to the Action Secrets. You will call the GH_TOKEN using ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}.

Sync-Action-Status Install

Dispatch Repository (Dispatch)

In running a repository_dispatch, essentially, you're running an action in another repo. In order to accomplish this, you will need to setup the receiver action, using an event_type:

on:
  repository_dispatch:
    types: [<your_event_name>]

In the dispatch action (the action sending the request to the receiver), you can either set a variable and use it in the rest of the manifest (I find it easier to change in one place, and have it propagated throughout) or just use the event_type wherever needed.

env:
  EVENT_TYPE: <your_event_name>

Target Repository (Receiver)

Add the following as a job step:

- name: Set Target Dispatch Repository
    id: target
    run: |
      echo "target=${{ github.repository_owner }}/<your-repository-dispatch-repo>"
      echo "target=${{ github.repository_owner }}/<your-repository-dispatch-repo>" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

Sending the API Call

Add the following as a job step:

# The target step sets the repo that you're calling that houses the Repository Dispatch Receiver
- name: Send a Dispatch to the Test Receiver
  run: |
    ### NOTE: The EVENT_TYPE is set in the above step ###
    curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: token ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}" -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.everest-preview+json" -d "{\"event_type\": \"${EVENT_TYPE}\"}" "https://api.github.com/repos/${{ steps.target.outputs.target }}/dispatches"

See Dispatch Repository (Dispatch) above.

Tail the Repository Dispatch in your Calling Repo

- uses: philipdelorenzo/sync-action-status@<version>
    with:
    gh_token: ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }} # Add this token to your Github Action Secrets
    event_type: <repository-dispatch-event-type>
    current_repo: ${{ github.repository }}
    # You must use this action ONLY with repositories that you own
    target_repo: "${{ steps.target.outputs.target }}"
    debug: ${{ github.event.inputs.debug }} # See below step for setting up debug mode

The above snippet is what follows the Github Action that is running in the repository dispatch receiver.

Setup Action with Debug Mode

The action uses icecream for running in debug mode.

To set this up in your Github Action Workflow, you can add a boolean input:

on: 
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      debug:
        description: 'Run the workflow in debug mode'
        required: false
        type: boolean
        default: false