Workflow commands for GitHub Actions

About workflow commands

Actions can communicate with the runner machine to set environment variables, output values used by other actions, add debug messages to the output logs, and other tasks.

Workflow commands use the echo command in a specific format.

echo "::workflow-command parameter1={data},parameter2={data}::{command value}"

Using workflow commands to access toolkit functions

The actions/toolkit includes a number of functions that can be executed as workflow commands. Use the :: syntax to run the workflow commands within your YAML file; these commands are then sent to the runner over stdout. For example, instead of using code to set an output, as below:

core.setOutput('SELECTED_COLOR', 'green');

You can use the set-output command in your workflow to set the same value:

      - name: Set selected color
        run: echo '::set-output name=SELECTED_COLOR::green'
        id: random-color-generator
      - name: Get color
        run: echo "The selected color is ${{ steps.random-color-generator.outputs.SELECTED_COLOR }}"

The following table shows which toolkit functions are available within a workflow:

Toolkit function	Equivalent workflow command
core.addPath	add-path
core.debug	debug
core.error	error
core.endGroup	endgroup
core.exportVariable	set-env
core.getInput	Accessible using environment variable INPUT_{NAME}
core.getState	Accessible using environment variable STATE_{NAME}
core.isDebug	Accessible using environment variable RUNNER_DEBUG
core.saveState	save-state
core.setFailed	Used as a shortcut for ::error and exit 1
core.setOutput	set-output
core.setSecret	add-mask
core.startGroup	group
core.warning	warning

Setting an environment variable

::set-env name={name}::{value}

Creates or updates an environment variable for any steps running next in a job. The step that creates or updates the environment variable does not have access to the new value, but all subsequent steps in a job will have access. Environment variables are case-sensitive and you can include punctuation.

Example

echo "::set-env name=action_state::yellow"

Setting an output parameter

::set-output name={name}::{value}

Sets an action's output parameter.

Optionally, you can also declare output parameters in an action's metadata file. For more information, see "Metadata syntax for GitHub Actions."

Example

echo "::set-output name=action_fruit::strawberry"

Adding a system path

::add-path::{path}

Prepends a directory to the system PATH variable for all subsequent actions in the current job. The currently running action cannot access the new path variable.

Example

echo "::add-path::/path/to/dir"

Setting a debug message

::debug::{message}

Prints a debug message to the log. You must create a secret named ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG with the value true to see the debug messages set by this command in the log. For more information, see "Enabling debug logging."

Example

echo "::debug::Set the Octocat variable"

Setting a warning message

::warning file={name},line={line},endLine={endLine},title={title}::{message}

Creates a warning message and prints the message to the log. This message will create an annotation, which can associate the message with a particular file in your repository. Optionally, your message can specify a position within the file.

Parameter	Value
file	Filename
col	Column number, starting at 1
line	Line number, starting at 1

Example

echo "::warning file=app.js,line=1,col=5,endColumn=7::Missing semicolon"

Setting an error message

::error file={name},line={line},endLine={endLine},title={title}::{message}

Creates an error message and prints the message to the log. This message will create an annotation, which can associate the message with a particular file in your repository. Optionally, your message can specify a position within the file.

Parameter	Value
file	Filename
col	Column number, starting at 1
line	Line number, starting at 1

Example

echo "::error file=app.js,line=1,col=5,endColumn=7::Missing semicolon"

Grouping log lines

::group::{title}
::endgroup::

Creates an expandable group in the log. To create a group, use the group command and specify a title. Anything you print to the log between the group and endgroup commands is nested inside an expandable entry in the log.

Example

echo "::group::My title"
echo "Inside group"
echo "::endgroup::"

Masking a value in log

::add-mask::{value}

Masking a value prevents a string or variable from being printed in the log. Each masked word separated by whitespace is replaced with the * character. You can use an environment variable or string for the mask's value.

Example masking a string

When you print "Mona The Octocat" in the log, you'll see "***".

echo "::add-mask::Mona The Octocat"

Example masking an environment variable

When you print the variable MY_NAME or the value "Mona The Octocat" in the log, you'll see "***" instead of "Mona The Octocat".

MY_NAME="Mona The Octocat"
echo "::add-mask::$MY_NAME"

Stopping and starting workflow commands

::stop-commands::{endtoken}

Stops processing any workflow commands. This special command allows you to log anything without accidentally running a workflow command. For example, you could stop logging to output an entire script that has comments.

To stop the processing of workflow commands, pass a unique token to stop-commands. To resume processing workflow commands, pass the same token that you used to stop workflow commands.

::{endtoken}::

Example stopping and starting workflow commands

jobs:
  workflow-command-job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: disable workflow commands
        run: |
          echo '::warning:: this is a warning'
          echo "::stop-commands::`echo -n ${{ github.token }} | sha256sum | head -c 64`"
          echo '::warning:: this will NOT be a warning'
          echo "::`echo -n ${{ github.token }} | sha256sum | head -c 64`::"
          echo '::warning:: this is a warning again'

Sending values to the pre and post actions

You can use the save-state command to create environment variables for sharing with your workflow's pre: or post: actions. For example, you can create a file with the pre: action, pass the file location to the main: action, and then use the post: action to delete the file. Alternatively, you could create a file with the main: action, pass the file location to the post: action, and also use the post: action to delete the file.

If you have multiple pre: or post: actions, you can only access the saved value in the action where save-state was used. For more information on the post: action, see "Metadata syntax for GitHub Actions."

The save-state command can only be run within an action, and is not available to YAML files. The saved value is stored as an environment value with the STATE_ prefix.

This example uses JavaScript to run the save-state command. The resulting environment variable is named STATE_processID with the value of 12345:

console.log('::save-state name=processID::12345')

The STATE_processID variable is then exclusively available to the cleanup script running under the main action. This example runs in main and uses JavaScript to display the value assigned to the STATE_processID environment variable:

console.log("The running PID from the main action is: " +  process.env.STATE_processID);