Embedded Action

The embedded action runs a job file as a single step, which lets shared setup or checks live in their own file and be reused from several workflows.

The file is a job, not a workflow: it holds name, steps and optionally defaults - there is no jobs key in it.

Basic Syntax

auth.yml:


name: Authentication
steps:
  - name: Get token
    id: get_token
    uses: shell
    with:
      cmd: echo "0123456789"
    test: res.code == 0
    outputs:
      mytoken: replace(res.stdout, '\n', '')

workflow.yml:


jobs:
- name: Main
  steps:
    - name: Authenticate
      id: auth
      uses: embedded
      with:
        path: "./auth.yml"
        vars:
          environment: "{{vars.environment}}"
      test: res.code == 0
      outputs:
        token: res.outputs.mytoken
 
    - name: Call the API
      uses: http
      with:
        method: GET
        url: "{{vars.api_url}}/me"
        headers:
          authorization: "Bearer {{outputs.auth.token}}"
      test: res.code == 200

Parameters

An embedded step names the job file to run and the variables to hand it.

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
`path`	String	Yes	-	Path to the job file. Resolved against the current working directory, not the workflow file
`vars`	Object	No	`{}`	Variables passed to the embedded job, read there as `vars.<name>`

Inside the job file, a local external action such as uses: ./greet is found relative to the job file itself, the way one in a workflow is found relative to the workflow file.

Response Object

After the embedded job finishes, res carries its result and its outputs.

Field	Type	Description
`res.code`	Integer	`0` when every step of the embedded job passed
`res.outputs`	Object	The outputs published by the embedded job’s steps, keyed by output name
`res.report`	String	The embedded job’s report, which is also nested into the parent report
`res.error`	String	Error message, when the embedded job failed
`res.dump`	Boolean	Always `false`
`status`	Integer	Same as `res.code`
`rt`	Object	Time spent running the embedded job

res.outputs is keyed by output name, so a value published as mytoken is read as res.outputs.mytoken. The same value is also under the id of the step that published it, as res.outputs.get_token.mytoken. When two steps publish the same name, res.outputs.<name> holds the value of the step that published it first, and the step-keyed form holds each one.