release-typescript-action

This is an action to automate the release of an action written in TypeScript.

Problem to solve

Typically we need to commit the generated files (e.g. dist/index.js) into main branch, because GitHub Actions runs it on Node.js.

It causes the following problems:

Release workflow is complex
Diff would be large because it contains the generated files
Commit history would be growth

Idea

It would be nice to commit the generated files into a release tag only.

This action creates a release tag with the generated files. For example,

graph TB
  subgraph branch [main Branch]
    Z[Initial Commit] --> A[Commit A] --> B[Commit B] --> C[Commit C] --> D[...]
  end
  A --> RA[Tag v1.0.0]
  B --> RB[Tag v1.1.0]
  C --> RC[Tag v1.2.0]

main branch (i.e. Commit A, B and C) does not contain the generated files. Only a release tag contains it.

Caveat

We cannot specify a branch in a workflow. Only tag is available, such as uses: org/action@v1.

Continuous release workflow

This workflow continuously creates a new release from main branch.

name: release

on:
  pull_request:
    paths:
      - .github/workflows/release.yaml
  push:
    branches:
      - main
    tags:
      - v*

jobs:
  tag:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: 16
          cache: yarn
      - run: yarn
      - run: yarn build
      - run: yarn package
      - uses: int128/release-typescript-action@v1

When you merge a pull request into main branch, this action will create a new release of new minor version. For example, if the latest tag v1.5.0 exists, this action will create a tag v1.6.0. It will also update the major tag v1 to track the latest tag.

Daily release workflow

This workflow everyday creates a new release from main branch.

name: release

on:
  pull_request:
    paths:
      - .github/workflows/release.yaml
  push:
    tags:
      - v*
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 0 * * *"

jobs:
  tag:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: 16
          cache: yarn
      - run: yarn
      - run: yarn build
      - run: yarn package
      - uses: int128/release-typescript-action@v1

When a schedule is triggered, this action will create a new minor release. It will also update the major tag v1 to track the latest tag.

You can create a new release instead of the daily release. When you push a tag, this action will add a commit with dist directory to the tag.

This action ignores any pull request event.

Specification

This action assumes the following repository layout:

For polyrepo
- .gitignore contains /dist
- Generated files are under dist
- Action definition is at action.yaml
For monorepo
- .gitignore contains dist/
- Generated files are under */dist
- Action definitions are at */action.yaml

It creates a new release only if the generated file(s) or action definition is changed.

It ignores any pull request event.

Inputs

Name	Default	Description
`major-version`	`1`	Major version to create a tag
`token`	`github.token`	GitHub token

If you want to create a new major release, set major-version to 2 or greater.

fieldnation/fnaction-release-typescript-action