How to run scripts belonging to the reusable workflow repo?

[dkirrane]

Select Topic Area

Question

Body

I think this is a limitation of reusable workflows but doesn't seem to be called out in the docs ??

My reusable workflow throws No such file or directory when trying to run a script in it's repo:

What is the recommended way to do this? Do I need to change the path to the script? Is there some location to where the reusable workflow is cloned to?

I have this reusable workflow in a remote repo:
test.sh exists in reusable workflow repo.

on:
  workflow_call:

jobs:

  reusable_workflow_job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:

      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Run script file
        run: |
           chmod +x ./test.sh
           ./test.sh
        shell: bash

This is the caller workflow calling reusable workflow above:

on:
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:

  Call:
    uses: company/my-repo/.github/workflows/test.yml@main
    secrets: inherit

[dkirrane]

Looks like its a Reusable workflow limitation. This should really be called out clearly in the docs.

I need to switch to using a Composite action instead
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/72133102/how-to-execute-a-a-remote-script-in-a-reusable-github-workflow

[yogesh-mishra-pagero]

Have been searching the same, seems like embedding the scripts in the yaml with the run task is the way to go ! Any other suggestions ?

[brianjmurrell]

That's a horrible requirement. The main reason for putting scripts into their own files is so that they can be used in more than one place AND they are lintable. Big scripts in run: tasks are a nightmare to maintain.

[marco-merola-ef]

You have to define your composite action and then call it from your reusable workflow.
Embedding the script within the reusable workflow may work but only if the script is few lines.

https://docs.github.com/en/actions/creating-actions/creating-a-composite-action

[grandmas-favorite]

Nice one @marco-merola-ef!

That's what I would have suggested as well!