Quick Fix: Utilize the checkout action to specify the repo, branch, path, submodule, and fetch-depth as required. This action clones the files to $GITHUB_WORKSPACE, allowing your workflow to access the repository’s code.
The Solutions:
Solution 1: Use actions/checkout@v3 for explicit checkout control
By default, the actions/checkout@v3 action checks out the repository to the SHA associated with the workflow’s event (e.g., push or pull_request). If no event is specified, it uses the default branch (typically main or master).
Using the actions/checkout@v3 action provides several advantages:
Explicit checkout control: You can specify the exact repository, branch, path, submodule, and fetch depth to use for the checkout. This gives you more control over the checkout process and ensures that your workflow has access to the necessary code.
Cloning to $GITHUB_WORKSPACE: The action clones the repository files to the $GITHUB_WORKSPACE directory, which is a dedicated workspace for your workflow. This ensures that your workflow has access to the repository’s code and can perform operations on it.
Integration with other actions: The actions/checkout@v3 action is well-integrated with other GitHub Actions. For example, you can use it in conjunction with the actions/setup-node action to set up a Node.js environment for your workflow.
Therefore, it is recommended to use the actions/checkout@v3 action any time your workflow will use your repository’s code.
Solution 2: GitHub Checkout Action
The purpose of using the `actions/checkout@v3` action in GitHub Actions is to ensure that the repository is properly cloned and checked out within the job’s workspace. Without this action, GitHub will not automatically clone the repository, resulting in an empty folder as the job’s working directory.
To illustrate this, consider a basic GitHub Actions workflow with the following YAML configuration:
name: My Workflow
on: push
jobs:
myjob:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: just a simple ls command
runs: ls -la
When this workflow is executed, it will fail with an error message indicating that the directory is empty. This is because GitHub does not automatically clone the repository for the job, and the `ls -la` command is trying to list the contents of an empty directory.
To resolve this issue and ensure that the repository is properly checked out, you need to add the `actions/checkout@v3` action to your workflow. This action will clone the repository and check it out into the job’s workspace, making it available for subsequent steps in the workflow. Here’s an updated workflow configuration:
name: My Workflow
on: push
jobs:
myjob:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Checkout the repository
uses: actions/checkout@v3
- name: just a simple ls command
runs: ls -la
With this configuration, the workflow will successfully clone the repository, check it out into the job’s workspace, and then execute the `ls -la` command, which will list the contents of the repository.
Q&A
What’s the primary purpose of actions/checkout@v3?
—
Explicitly check out and fetch the repository’s code for use in a workflow.
Why is it required, since the repository is already checked out?
—
To ensure the correct ref, branch, or path is checked out for the workflow.
What happens if the checkout action is omitted?
—
The workflow will attempt to run on an empty directory, resulting in errors.
Video Explanation:
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