# git-auto-commit Action > The GitHub Action for committing files for the 80% use case. This GitHub Action automatically commits files which have been changed during a Workflow run and pushes the commit back to GitHub. The default committer is "GitHub Actions ", and the default author of the commit is "Your GitHub Username ". This Action has been inspired and adapted from the [auto-commit](https://github.com/cds-snc/github-actions/tree/master/auto-commit )-Action of the Canadian Digital Service and this [commit](https://github.com/elstudio/actions-js-build/blob/41d604d6e73d632e22eac40df8cc69b5added04b/commit/entrypoint.sh)-Action by Eric Johnson. ## Usage Add the following step at the end of your job, after other steps that might add or change files. ```yaml - uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v4.2.0 with: # Required commit_message: Apply automatic changes # Optional branch to push to, defaults to the current branch branch: feature-123 # Optional options appended to `git-commit` commit_options: '--no-verify --signoff' # Optional glob pattern of files which should be added to the commit file_pattern: src/*.js tests/*.js # Optional local file path to the repository repository: . # Optional commit user and author settings commit_user_name: My GitHub Actions Bot commit_user_email: my-github-actions-bot@example.org commit_author: Author # Optional tag message # Action will create and push a new tag to the remote repository and the defined branch tagging_message: 'v1.0.0' # Optional options appended to `git-push` push_options: '--force' ``` ## Example In this example, we're running `php-cs-fixer` in a PHP project to fix the codestyle automatically, then commit possible changed files back to the repository. Note that we explicitly specify `${{ github.head_ref }}` in the checkout Action. This is required in order to work with the `pull_request` event (or any other non-`push` event). ```yaml name: php-cs-fixer on: pull_request: push: branches: - "master" jobs: php-cs-fixer: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v2 with: ref: ${{ github.head_ref }} - name: Run php-cs-fixer uses: docker://oskarstark/php-cs-fixer-ga - uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v4.2.0 with: commit_message: Apply php-cs-fixer changes ``` ## Limitations & Gotchas ### Checkout the correct branch You must use `action/checkout@v2` or later versions to checkout the repository. In non-`push` events, such as `pull_request`, make sure to specify the `ref` to checkout: ```yaml - uses: actions/checkout@v2 with: ref: ${{ github.head_ref }} ``` You have to do this do avoid that the `checkout`-Action clones your repository in a detached state. ### Commits of this Action do not trigger new Workflow runs The resulting commit **will not trigger** another GitHub Actions Workflow run. This is due to [limititations set by GitHub](https://help.github.com/en/actions/reference/events-that-trigger-workflows#triggering-new-workflows-using-a-personal-access-token). > When you use the repository's GITHUB_TOKEN to perform tasks on behalf of the GitHub Actions app, events triggered by the GITHUB_TOKEN will not create a new workflow run. This prevents you from accidentally creating recursive workflow runs. You can change this by creating a new [Personal Access Token (PAT)](https://github.com/settings/tokens/new), storing the token as a secret in your repository and then passing the new token to the [`actions/checkout`](https://github.com/actions/checkout#usage) Action. ```yaml - uses: actions/checkout@v2 with: token: ${{ secrets.PAT_TOKEN }} ``` ### Unable to commit into PRs from forks GitHub currently prohibits Actions to push commits to forks, even when they created a PR and allow edits. See [issue #25](https://github.com/stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action/issues/25) for more information. ## Inputs Checkout [`action.yml`](https://github.com/stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action/blob/master/action.yml) for a full list of supported inputs. ## Outputs You can use these outputs to trigger other Actions in your Workflow run based on the result of `git-auto-commit-action`. - `changes_detected`: Returns either "true" or "false" if the repository was dirty and files have changed. ## Troubleshooting ### Action does not push commit to repository Make sure to [checkout the correct branch](#checkout-the-correct-branch). ### Action does not push commit to repository: Authentication Issue If your Workflow can't push the commit to the repository because of authentication issues, please update your Workflow configuration and usage of [`actions/checkout`](https://github.com/actions/checkout#usage). Updating the `token` value with a Personal Access Token should fix your issues. ## Action does not push to protected branch If your repository uses [protected branches](https://help.github.com/en/github/administering-a-repository/configuring-protected-branches) this Action will not be able to push to your repository. You have to enable force pushes to a protected branch (See [documentation](https://help.github.com/en/github/administering-a-repository/enabling-force-pushes-to-a-protected-branch)) and update your Workflow to use force push like so. ```yaml - uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v4.2.0 with: commit_message: Apply php-cs-fixer changes push_options: --force ``` ### No new workflows are triggered by the commit of this action This is due to limitations set up by GitHub, [commits of this Action do not trigger new Workflow runs](#commits-of-this-action-do-not-trigger-new-workflow-runs). ## Versioning We use [SemVer](http://semver.org/) for versioning. For the versions available, see the [tags on this repository](https://github.com/stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action/tags). ## License This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the [LICENSE](https://github.com/stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action/blob/master/LICENSE) file for details.