Retrieve all changed files and directories relative to a target branch, preceeding commit or the last remote commit returning relative paths from the project root.
- Features
- Usage
- Useful Acronyms
- Outputs
- Inputs
- Versioning
- Examples
- Real world usage
- Known Limitation
- Migration guide
- Credits
- Report Bugs
- Contributors ✨
- Fast execution (0-10 seconds on average).
- Easy to debug.
- Scales to large repositories.
- Supports Git submodules.
- Escaped JSON output which can be used to run matrix jobs based on changed files.
- List changed directories.
- Limit the matching changed directories to a maximum depth.
- Optionally exclude the current directory
- Write outputs to a
.txt
or.json
file at a specified location for further processing. - Monorepos (Fetches a fixed number of commits).
- Supports all platforms (Linux, MacOS, Windows).
- GitHub-hosted runners support
- GitHub Enterprise Server support.
- self-hosted runners support.
- List all files and directories that have changed:
- Between the current pull request branch and the last commit on the target branch.
- Between the last commit and the current pushed change.
- Between the last remote branch commit and the current HEAD.
- Restrict change detection to a subset of files and directories:
- Boolean output indicating that certain files have been changed.
- Using Glob pattern matching.
- Globstar.
- Brace expansion.
Warning:
- IMPORTANT: For
push
events when configuringactions/checkout
thefetch-depth
should be set to eitherfetch-depth: 0
ORfetch-depth: 2
depending on your use case.- For monorepos where pulling all the branch history might not be desired, you can omit
actions/checkout
-fetch-depth
forpull_request
events.- All multiline inputs should not use double or single quotes since the value is already a string seperated by a newline character. See Examples for more information.
- Ensure that
persist-credentials
is set totrue
when configuringactions/checkout
iffetch-depth
isn't set to0
.
name: CI
on:
push:
branches:
- main
pull_request:
branches:
- main
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Event `push`: Compare the preceeding commit -> to the current commit of the main branch.
# Event `pull_request`: Compare the last commit of main -> to the current commit of a Pull Request branch.
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest # windows-latest | macos-latest
name: Test changed-files
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
with:
fetch-depth: 0 # OR "2" -> To retrieve the preceding commit.
# Example 1
- name: Get changed files
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
# To compare changes between the current commit and the last pushed remote commit set `since_last_remote_commit: true`. e.g
# with:
# since_last_remote_commit: true
- name: List all changed files
run: |
for file in ${{ steps.changed-files.outputs.all_changed_files }}; do
echo "$file was changed"
done
# Example 2
- name: Get changed files in the docs folder
id: changed-files-specific
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
files: docs/*.{js,html} # Alternatively using: `docs/**` or `docs`
- name: Run step if any file(s) in the docs folder change
if: steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.any_changed == 'true'
run: |
echo "One or more files in the docs folder has changed."
echo "List all the files that have changed: ${{ steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.all_changed_files }}"
# Example 3
- name: Get all changed .js file(s) or any file in the static folder excluding the docs folder
id: changed-files-excluded
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
files: |
**.js
static
files_ignore: docs
- name: Run step if any .js file(s) or any file in the static folder change
if: steps.changed-files-excluded.outputs.any_changed == 'true'
run: |
echo "One or more .js file(s) or any file in the static folder but not in the doc folder has changed."
echo "List all the files that have changed: ${{ steps.changed-files-excluded.outputs.all_changed_files }}"
To access more examples, navigate to the Examples section.
If you feel generous and want to show some extra appreciation:
Support this project with a ⭐
Acronym | Meaning |
---|---|
A | Added |
C | Copied |
M | Modified |
D | Deleted |
R | Renamed |
T | Type changed |
U | Unmerged |
X | Unknown |
OUTPUT | TYPE | DESCRIPTION |
---|---|---|
added_files | string | Returns only files that are Added (A). |
all_changed_and_modified_files | string | Returns all changed and modified files i.e. a combination of (ACMRDTUX) |
all_changed_files | string | Returns all changed files i.e. a combination of all added, copied, modified and renamed files (ACMR) |
all_modified_files | string | Returns all changed files i.e. a combination of all added, copied, modified, renamed and deleted files (ACMRD). |
all_old_new_renamed_files | string | Returns only files that are Renamed and list their old and new names. NOTE: This requires setting include_all_old_new_renamed_files to true (R) |
any_changed | string | Returns true when any of the filenames provided using the files input has changed. i.e. using a combination of all added, copied, modified and renamed files (ACMR). |
any_deleted | string | Returns true when any of the filenames provided using the files input has been deleted. (D) |
any_modified | string | Returns true when any of the filenames provided using the files input has been modified. i.e. using a combination of all added, copied, modified, renamed, and deleted files (ACMRD). |
copied_files | string | Returns only files that are Copied (C). |
deleted_files | string | Returns only files that are Deleted (D). |
modified_files | string | Returns only files that are Modified (M). |
only_changed | string | Returns true when only files provided using the files input has changed. i.e. using a combination of all added, copied, modified and renamed files (ACMR). |
only_deleted | string | Returns true when only files provided using the files input has been deleted. (D) |
only_modified | string | Returns true when only files provided using the files input has been modified. (ACMRD). |
other_changed_files | string | Returns all other changed files not listed in the files input i.e. using a combination of all added, copied, modified and renamed files (ACMR). |
other_deleted_files | string | Returns all other deleted files not listed in the files input i.e. a combination of all deleted files (D) |
other_modified_files | string | Returns all other modified files not listed in the files input i.e. a combination of all added, copied, modified, and deleted files (ACMRD) |
renamed_files | string | Returns only files that are Renamed (R). |
type_changed_files | string | Returns only files that have their file type changed (T). |
unknown_files | string | Returns only files that are Unknown (X). |
unmerged_files | string | Returns only files that are Unmerged (U). |
INPUT | TYPE | REQUIRED | DEFAULT | DESCRIPTION |
---|---|---|---|---|
base_sha | string | false | Specify a different base commit SHA used for comparing changes |
|
diff_relative | string | false | "true" |
Exclude changes outside the current directory and show path names relative to it. NOTE: This requires you to specify the top level directory via the path input. |
dir_names | string | false | "false" |
Output unique changed directories instead of filenames. NOTE: This returns . for changed files located in the current working directory which defaults to $GITHUB_WORKSPACE . |
dir_names_exclude_current_dir | string | false | "false" |
Exclude the current directory represented by . from the output when dir_names is set to true . |
Use dir_names_exclude_current_dir instead. |
string | false | "false" |
Deprecated: Exclude the root directory represented by . from the output when dir_names is set to true . |
dir_names_max_depth | string | false | Limit the directory output to a maximum depth e.g test/test1/test2 with max depth of 2 returns test/test1 . |
|
escape_json | string | false | "true" |
Escape JSON output. |
fetch_depth | string | false | "50" |
Depth of additional branch history fetched. NOTE: This can be adjusted to resolve errors with insufficient history. |
files | string | false | File and directory patterns to detect changes using only these list of file(s) (Defaults to the entire repo) NOTE: Multiline file/directory patterns should not include quotes. |
|
files_from_source_file | string | false | Source file(s) used to populate the files input. |
|
files_from_source_file_separator | string | false | "\n" |
Separator used to split the files_from_source_file input |
files_ignore | string | false | Ignore changes to these file(s) NOTE: Multiline file/directory patterns should not include quotes. |
|
files_ignore_from_source_file | string | false | Source file(s) used to populate the files_ignore input |
|
files_ignore_from_source_file_separator | string | false | "\n" |
Separator used to split the files_ignore_from_source_file input |
files_ignore_separator | string | false | "\n" |
Separator used to split the files_ignore input |
files_separator | string | false | "\n" |
Separator used to split the files input |
include_all_old_new_renamed_files | string | false | "false" |
Include all_old_new_renamed_files output. Note this can generate a large output See: #501. |
json | string | false | "false" |
Output list of changed files in a JSON formatted string which can be used for matrix jobs. |
old_new_files_separator | string | false | " " |
Split character for old and new renamed filename pairs. |
old_new_separator | string | false | "," |
Split character for old and new filename pairs. |
output_dir | string | false | ".github/outputs" |
Directory to store output files. |
path | string | false | "." |
Specify a relative path under $GITHUB_WORKSPACE to locate the repository. |
quotepath | string | false | "true" |
Use non ascii characters to match files and output the filenames completely verbatim by setting this to false |
separator | string | false | " " |
Split character for output strings |
sha | string | false | Specify a different commit SHA used for comparing changes |
|
since | string | false | Get changed files for commits whose timestamp is older than the given time. |
|
since_last_remote_commit | string | false | "false" |
Use the last commit on the remote branch as the base_sha . Defaults to the last non merge commit on the target branch for pull request events and the previous remote commit of the current branch for push events. |
until | string | false | Get changed files for commits whose timestamp is earlier than the given time. |
|
write_output_files | string | false | "false" |
Write outputs to files in the .github/outputs folder by default. |
This GitHub Action follows the principles of Semantic Versioning for versioning releases.
The format of the version string is as follows:
major: is a major release number that indicates significant changes or new features that may not be backward compatible.
minor: is a minor release number that indicates minor changes or new features that are backward compatible.
patch : is a patch release number that indicates bug fixes or other small changes that are backward compatible.
Get all changed files in the current branch
...
- name: Get changed files
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
...
Get all changed files and using a comma separator
...
- name: Get all changed files and use a comma separator in the output
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
separator: ","
...
See inputs for more information.
Get all changed files and list all added files
...
- name: Get changed files
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
- name: List all added files
run: |
for file in ${{ steps.changed-files.outputs.added_files }}; do
echo "$file was added"
done
...
See outputs for a list of all available outputs.
Get all changed files and optionally run a step if a file was modified
...
- name: Get changed files
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
- name: Run a step if my-file.txt was modified
if: contains(steps.changed-files.outputs.modified_files, 'my-file.txt')
run: |
echo "my-file.txt file has been modified."
...
See outputs for a list of all available outputs.
Get all changed files and write the outputs to a txt file
...
- name: Get changed files and write the outputs to a txt file
id: changed-files-write-output-files-txt
uses: ./
with:
write_output_files: true
- name: Verify the contents of the .github/outputs/added_files.txt file
run: |
cat .github/outputs/added_files.txt
...
Get all changed files and write the outputs to a json file
...
- name: Get changed files and write the outputs to a json file
id: changed-files-write-output-files-json
uses: ./
with:
json: true
write_output_files: true
- name: Verify the contents of the .github/outputs/added_files.json file
run: |
cat .github/outputs/added_files.json
...
Get all changed files using a list of files
...
- name: Get changed files
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
files: |
my-file.txt
*.sh
*.png
!*.md
test_directory
**/*.sql
...
See inputs for more information.
Get all changed files using a list of files and take action based on the changes
...
- name: Get changed files
id: changed-files-specific
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
files: |
my-file.txt
*.sh
*.png
!*.md
test_directory
**/*.sql
- name: Run step if any of the listed files above change
if: steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.any_changed == 'true'
run: |
echo "One or more files listed above has changed."
- name: Run step if only the files listed above change
if: steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.only_changed == 'true'
run: |
echo "Only files listed above have changed."
- name: Run step if any of the listed files above is deleted
if: steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.any_deleted == 'true'
run: |
for file in ${{ steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.deleted_files }}; do
echo "$file was deleted"
done
- name: Run step if all listed files above have been deleted
if: steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.only_deleted == 'true'
run: |
for file in ${{ steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.deleted_files }}; do
echo "$file was deleted"
done
...
See outputs for a list of all available outputs.
Get all changed files using a source file or list of file(s) to populate to files input
...
- name: Get changed files using a source file or list of file(s) to populate to files input.
id: changed-files-specific-source-file
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
files_from_source_file: test/changed-files-list.txt
...
See inputs for more information.
Get changed files using a source file or list of file(s) to populate to files input and optionally specify more files
...
- name: Get changed files using a source file or list of file(s) to populate to files input and optionally specify more files.
id: changed-files-specific-source-file-and-specify-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
files_from_source_file: |
test/changed-files-list.txt
files: |
test.txt
...
See inputs for more information.
Get all changed files using a different SHA
...
- name: Get changed files using a different SHA
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
sha: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
...
See inputs for more information.
Get all changed files using a different base SHA
...
- name: Get changed files using a different base SHA
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
base_sha: ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}
...
See inputs for more information.
Get all changed files between the previous tag and the current tag
...
on:
push:
tags:
- 'v*'
jobs:
release:
name: Release
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Checkout
uses: actions/checkout@v3
with:
fetch-depth: 0
- name: Get changed files
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
- name: Get changed files in the .github folder
id: changed-files-specific
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
base_sha: ${{ steps.get-base-sha.outputs.base_sha }}
files: .github/**
- name: Run step if any file(s) in the .github folder change
if: steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.any_changed == 'true'
run: |
echo "One or more files in the .github folder has changed."
echo "List all the files that have changed: ${{ steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.all_changed_files }}"
...
See inputs for more information.
Get all changed files for a repository located in a different path
...
- name: Checkout into dir1
uses: actions/checkout@v3
with:
fetch-depth: 0
path: dir1
- name: Run changed-files with defaults in dir1
id: changed-files-for-dir1
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
path: dir1
- name: List all added files in dir1
run: |
for file in ${{ steps.changed-files-for-dir1.outputs.added_files }}; do
echo "$file was added"
done
...
See inputs for more information.
Get all changed files with non äšćįí characters i.e (Filename in other languages)
...
- name: Run changed-files with quotepath disabled
id: changed-files-quotepath
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
quotepath: "false"
- name: Run changed-files with quotepath disabled for a specified list of file(s)
id: changed-files-quotepath-specific
uses: ./
with:
files: test/test-è.txt
quotepath: "false"
...
See inputs for more information.
Get all changed files using the last successful commit of the base branch
-
Push event
... - name: Get branch name id: branch-name uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v6 - uses: nrwl/nx-set-shas@v3 id: last_successful_commit_push with: main-branch-name: ${{ steps.branch-name.outputs.current_branch }} # Get the last successful commit for the current branch. workflow-id: 'test.yml' - name: Run changed-files with the commit of the last successful test workflow run id: changed-files-base-sha-push uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36 with: base_sha: ${{ steps.last_successful_commit_push.outputs.base }} ...
-
Pull request events
... - name: Get branch name id: branch-name uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v5 - uses: nrwl/nx-set-shas@v3 id: last_successful_commit_pull_request with: main-branch-name: ${{ steps.branch-name.outputs.base_ref_branch }} # Get the last successful commit on master or main branch workflow_id: 'test.yml' - name: Run changed-files with the commit of the last successful test workflow run on main id: changed-files-base-sha-pull-request uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36 with: base_sha: ${{ steps.last_successful_commit_pull_request.outputs.base }} ...
Warning: This setting overrides the commit sha used by setting
since_last_remote_commit
to true. It is recommended to use either solution that works for your use case.
See inputs for more information.
Get all changed files but only return the directory names
...
- name: Run changed-files with dir_names
id: changed-files-dir-names
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
dir_names: "true"
...
See inputs for more information.
Get all changed files and return JSON formatted outputs
...
- name: Run changed-files with json output
id: changed-files-json
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
json: "true"
...
See inputs for more information.
Get all changed files by commits pushed in the past
...
- name: Get changed-files since 2022-08-19
id: changed-files-since
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
since: "2022-08-19"
- name: Get changed-files until 2022-08-20
id: changed-files-until
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
until: "2022-08-20"
...
See inputs for more information.
-
vitejs/vite: uses tj-actions/changed-files to automate testing
-
qgis/QGIS: uses tj-actions/changed-files to automate spell checking
-
tldr-pages/tldr: uses tj-actions/changed-files to automate detecting spelling errors
-
nodejs/docker-node: uses tj-actions/changed-files to generate matrix jobs based on changes detected
-
refined-github: uses tj-actions/changed-files to automate test URL validation in added/edited files
-
aws-doc-sdk-examples: uses tj-actions/changed-files to automate testing
And many more...
Warning:
Spaces in file names can introduce bugs when using bash loops. See: #216 However, this action will handle spaces in file names, with a recommendation of using a separator to prevent hidden issues.
With the switch from using grep's Extended regex to match files to the natively supported workflow glob pattern matching syntax introduced in v13 you'll need to modify patterns used to match files
.
...
- name: Get specific changed files
id: changed-files-specific
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v24
with:
files: |
- \.sh$
- .(sql|py)$
- ^(dir1|dir2)
+ *.{sh,sql,py}
+ dir1
+ dir2
- Free software: MIT license
This package was created with cookiecutter-action.
- tj-actions/auto-doc
- tj-actions/verify-changed-files
- tj-actions/demo
- tj-actions/demo2
- tj-actions/demo3
- tj-actions/release-tagger
Report bugs at https://github.com/tj-actions/changed-files/issues.
If you are reporting a bug, please include:
- Your operating system name and version.
- Any details about your workflow that might be helpful in troubleshooting. (NOTE: Ensure that you include full log outputs with debugging enabled)
- Detailed steps to reproduce the bug.
Thanks goes to these wonderful people (emoji key):
This project follows the all-contributors specification. Contributions of any kind welcome!