👋 Introduction

With repo-file-sync-action you can sync files, like workflow .yml files, configuration files or whole directories between repositories or branches. It works by running a GitHub Action in your main repository everytime you push something to that repo. The action will use a sync.yml config file to figure out which files it should sync where. If it finds a file which is out of sync it will open a pull request in the target repository with the changes.

🚀 Features

• Keep GitHub Actions workflow files in sync across all your repositories
• Sync any file or a whole directory to as many repositories as you want
• Easy configuration for any use case
• Create a pull request in the target repo so you have the last say on what gets merged
• Automatically label pull requests to integrate with other actions like automerge-action
• Assign users to the pull request
• Render Jinja-style templates as use variables thanks to Nunjucks

📚 Usage

Workflow

Create a .yml file in your .github/workflows folder (you can find more info about the structure in the GitHub Docs):

.github/workflows/sync.yml

name: Sync Files
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master
  workflow_dispatch:
jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout Repository
        uses: actions/checkout@master
      - name: Run GitHub File Sync
        uses: BetaHuhn/repo-file-sync-action@v1
        with:
          GH_PAT: ${{ secrets.GH_PAT }}

Token

In order for the Action to access your repositories you have to specify a Personal Access token as the value for GH_PAT (GITHUB_TOKEN will not work). The PAT needs the full repo scope (#31).

It is recommended to set the token as a Repository Secret.

Alternatively, you can provide the token of a GitHub App Installation via the GH_INSTALLATION_TOKEN input. You can obtain such token for example via this action. Tokens from apps have the advantage that they provide more granular access control.

The app needs to be configured for each repo you want to sync to, and have the Contents read & write and Metadata read-only permission. If you want to use PRs (default setting) you additionally need Pull requests read & write access, and to sync workflow files you need Workflows read & write access.

If using an installation token you are required to provide the GIT_EMAIL and GIT_USERNAME input.

Sync configuration

The last step is to create a .yml file in the .github folder of your repository and specify what file(s) to sync to which repositories:

.github/sync.yml

user/repository:
  - .github/workflows/test.yml
  - .github/workflows/lint.yml

user/repository2:
  - source: workflows/stale.yml
    dest: .github/workflows/stale.yml

More info on how to specify what files to sync where below.

Versioning

To always use the latest version of the action add the latest tag to the action name like this:

uses: BetaHuhn/repo-file-sync-action@latest

If you want to make sure that your workflow doesn't suddenly break when a new major version is released, use the v1 tag instead (recommended usage):

uses: BetaHuhn/repo-file-sync-action@v1

With the v1 tag you will always get the latest non-breaking version which will include potential bug fixes in the future. If you use a specific version, make sure to regularly check if a new version is available, or enable Dependabot.

⚙️ Action Inputs

Here are all the inputs repo-file-sync-action takes:

Outputs

The action sets the pull_request_urls output to the URLs of any created Pull Requests. It will be an array of URLs to each PR, e.g. '["https://github.com/username/repository/pull/number", "..."]'.

🛠️ Sync Configuration

In order to tell repo-file-sync-action what files to sync where, you have to create a sync.yml file in the .github directory of your main repository (see action-inputs on how to change the location).

The top-level key should be used to specify the target repository in the format username/repository-name@branch, after that you can list all the files you want to sync to that individual repository:

user/repo:
  - path/to/file.txt
user/repo2@develop:
  - path/to/file2.txt

There are multiple ways to specify which files to sync to each individual repository.

List individual file(s)

The easiest way to sync files is the list them on a new line for each repository:

user/repo:
  - .github/workflows/build.yml
  - LICENSE
  - .gitignore

Different destination path/filename(s)

Using the dest option you can specify a destination path in the target repo and/or change the filename for each source file:

user/repo:
  - source: workflows/build.yml
    dest: .github/workflows/build.yml
  - source: LICENSE.md
    dest: LICENSE

Sync entire directories

You can also specify entire directories to sync:

user/repo:
  - source: workflows/
    dest: .github/workflows/

Exclude certain files when syncing directories

Using the exclude key you can specify files you want to exclude when syncing entire directories (#26).

user/repo:
  - source: workflows/
    dest: .github/workflows/
    exclude: |
      node.yml
      lint.yml

Note: the exclude file path is relative to the source path

Don't replace existing file(s)

By default if a file already exists in the target repository, it will be replaced. You can change this behaviour by setting the replace option to false:

user/repo:
  - source: .github/workflows/lint.yml
    replace: false

Using templates

You can render templates before syncing by using the Jinja-style template syntax. It will be compiled using Nunjucks and the output written to the specific file(s) or folder(s).

Nunjucks supports variables and blocks among other things. To enable, set the template field to a context dictionary, or in case of no variables, true:

user/repo:
  - source: src/README.md
    template:
      user:
        name: 'Maxi'
        handle: '@BetaHuhn'

In the source file you can then use these variables like this:

# README.md

Created by {{ user.name }} ({{ user.handle }})

Result:

# README.md

Created by Maxi (@BetaHuhn)

You can also use extends with a relative path to inherit other templates. Take a look at Nunjucks template syntax for more info.

user/repo:
  - source: .github/workflows/child.yml
    template: true

# child.yml
{% extends './parent.yml' %}

{% block some_block %}
This is some content
{% endblock %}

Delete orphaned files

With the deleteOrphaned option you can choose to delete files in the target repository if they are deleted in the source repository. The option defaults to false and only works when syncing entire directories:

user/repo:
  - source: workflows/
    dest: .github/workflows/
    deleteOrphaned: true

It only takes effect on that specific directory.

Sync the same files to multiple repositories

Instead of repeating yourself listing the same files for multiple repositories, you can create a group:

group:
  repos: |
    user/repo
    user/repo1
  files: 
    - source: workflows/build.yml
      dest: .github/workflows/build.yml
    - source: LICENSE.md
      dest: LICENSE

You can create multiple groups like this:

group:
  # first group
  - files:
      - source: workflows/build.yml
        dest: .github/workflows/build.yml
      - source: LICENSE.md
        dest: LICENSE
    repos: |
      user/repo1
      user/repo2

  # second group
  - files: 
      - source: configs/dependabot.yml
        dest: .github/dependabot.yml
    repos: |
      user/repo3
      user/repo4

Syncing branches

You can also sync different branches from the same or different repositories (#51). For example, a repository named foo/bar with branch main, and sync.yml contents:

group:
  repos: |
    foo/bar@de
    foo/bar@es
    foo/bar@fr
  files:
    - source: .github/workflows/
      dest: .github/workflows/

Here all files in .github/workflows/ will be synced from the main branch to the branches de/es/fr.

📖 Examples

Here are a few examples to help you get started!

Basic Example

.github/sync.yml

user/repository:
  - LICENSE
  - .gitignore

Sync all workflow files

This example will keep all your .github/workflows files in sync across multiple repositories:

.github/sync.yml

group:
  repos: |
    user/repo1
    user/repo2
  files:
    - source: .github/workflows/
      dest: .github/workflows/

Custom labels

By default repo-file-sync-action will add the sync label to every PR it creates. You can turn this off by setting PR_LABELS to false, or specify your own labels:

.github/workflows/sync.yml

- name: Run GitHub File Sync
  uses: BetaHuhn/repo-file-sync-action@v1
  with:
    GH_PAT: ${{ secrets.GH_PAT }}
    PR_LABELS: |
      file-sync
      automerge

Assign a user to the PR

You can tell repo-file-sync-action to assign users to the PR with ASSIGNEES:

.github/workflows/sync.yml

- name: Run GitHub File Sync
  uses: BetaHuhn/repo-file-sync-action@v1
  with:
    GH_PAT: ${{ secrets.GH_PAT }}
    ASSIGNEES: BetaHuhn

Request a PR review

You can tell repo-file-sync-action to request a review of the PR from users with REVIEWERS and from teams with TEAM_REVIEWERS:

.github/workflows/sync.yml

- name: Run GitHub File Sync
  uses: BetaHuhn/repo-file-sync-action@v1
  with:
    GH_PAT: ${{ secrets.GH_PAT }}
    REVIEWERS: |
      BetaHuhn
      BetaHuhnBot
    TEAM_REVIEWERS: engineering

Custom GitHub Enterprise Host

If your target repository is hosted on a GitHub Enterprise Server you can specify a custom host name like this:

.github/workflows/sync.yml

https://custom.host/user/repo:
  - path/to/file.txt

# or in a group

group:
  - files:
      - source: path/to/file.txt
        dest: path/to/file.txt
    repos: |
      https://custom.host/user/repo

Note: The key has to start with http to indicate that you want to use a custom host.

Different branch prefix

By default all new branches created in the target repo will be in the this format: repo-sync/SOURCE_REPO_NAME/SOURCE_BRANCH_NAME, with the SOURCE_REPO_NAME being replaced with the name of the source repo and SOURCE_BRANCH_NAME with the name of the source branch.

If your repo name contains invalid characters, like a dot (#32), you can specify a different prefix for the branch (the text before /SOURCE_BRANCH_NAME):

.github/workflows/sync.yml

uses: BetaHuhn/repo-file-sync-action@v1
with:
    GH_PAT: ${{ secrets.GH_PAT }}
    BRANCH_PREFIX: custom-branch

The new branch will then be custom-branch/SOURCE_BRANCH_NAME.

You can use SOURCE_REPO_NAME in your custom branch prefix as well and it will be replaced with the actual repo name

Custom commit body

You can specify a custom commit body. This will be appended to the commit message, separated by two new lines. For example:

.github/workflows/sync.yml

- name: Run GitHub File Sync
  uses: BetaHuhn/repo-file-sync-action@v1
  with:
    GH_PAT: ${{ secrets.GH_PAT }}
    COMMIT_BODY: "Change-type: patch"

The above example would result in a commit message that looks something like this:

🔄 synced local '<filename>' with remote '<filename>'

Change-type: patch

Add content to the PR body

You can add more content to the PR body with the PR_BODY option. For example:

.github/workflows/sync.yml

- name: Run GitHub File Sync
  uses: BetaHuhn/repo-file-sync-action@v1
  with:
    GH_PAT: ${{ secrets.GH_PAT }}
    PR_BODY: This is your custom PR Body

It will be added below the first line of the body and above the list of changed files. The above example would result in a PR body that looks something like this:

synced local file(s) with GITHUB_REPOSITORY.

This is your custom PR Body

▶ Changed files

---

This PR was created automatically by the repo-file-sync-action workflow run xxx.

Fork and pull request workflow

If you do not wish to grant this action write access to target repositories, you can specify a bot/user Github acccount that you do have access to with the FORK parameter.

A fork of each target repository will be created on this account, and all changes will be pushed to a branch on the fork, instead of upstream. Pull requests will be opened from the forks to target repositories.

Note: while you can open pull requests to target repositories without write access, some features, like applying labels, are not possible.

uses: BetaHuhn/repo-file-sync-action@v1
with:
    GH_PAT: ${{ secrets.GH_PAT }}
    FORK: file-sync-bot

Advanced sync config

Here's how I keep common files in sync across my repositories. The main repository github-files contains all the files I want to sync and the repo-file-sync-action Action which runs on every push.

Using groups I can specify which file(s) should be synced to which repositories:

.github/sync.yml

group:
  # dependabot files
  - files:
      - source: configs/dependabot.yml
        dest: .github/dependabot.yml
      - source: workflows/dependencies/dependabot.yml
        dest: .github/workflows/dependabot.yml
    repos: |
      BetaHuhn/do-spaces-action
      BetaHuhn/running-at
      BetaHuhn/spaces-cli
      BetaHuhn/metadata-scraper
      BetaHuhn/ejs-serve
      BetaHuhn/feedback-js
      BetaHuhn/drkmd.js

  # GitHub Sponsors config
  - files:
      - source: configs/FUNDING.yml
        dest: .github/FUNDING.yml
    repos: |
      BetaHuhn/do-spaces-action
      BetaHuhn/running-at
      BetaHuhn/spaces-cli
      BetaHuhn/qrgen
      BetaHuhn/metadata-scraper
      BetaHuhn/ejs-serve
      BetaHuhn/feedback-js
      BetaHuhn/drkmd.js

  # Semantic release
  - files:
      - source: workflows/versioning/release-scheduler.yml
        dest: .github/workflows/release-scheduler.yml
      - source: workflows/versioning/release.yml
        dest: .github/workflows/release.yml
      - source: configs/release.config.js
        dest: release.config.js
    repos: |
      BetaHuhn/do-spaces-action
      BetaHuhn/metadata-scraper
      BetaHuhn/feedback-js
      BetaHuhn/drkmd.js

  # Stale issues workflow
  - files:
      - source: workflows/issues/stale.yml
        dest: .github/workflows/stale.yml
    repos: |
      BetaHuhn/do-spaces-action
      BetaHuhn/running-at
      BetaHuhn/spaces-cli
      BetaHuhn/qrgen
      BetaHuhn/metadata-scraper
      BetaHuhn/ejs-serve
      BetaHuhn/feedback-js
      BetaHuhn/drkmd.js

  # Lint CI workflow
  - files:
      - source: workflows/node/lint.yml
        dest: .github/workflows/lint.yml
    repos: |
      BetaHuhn/do-spaces-action
      BetaHuhn/running-at
      BetaHuhn/spaces-cli
      BetaHuhn/metadata-scraper
      BetaHuhn/ejs-serve
      BetaHuhn/feedback-js
      BetaHuhn/drkmd.js

  # MIT License
  - files:
      - source: LICENSE
        dest: LICENSE
    repos: |
      BetaHuhn/do-spaces-action
      BetaHuhn/running-at
      BetaHuhn/spaces-cli
      BetaHuhn/qrgen
      BetaHuhn/metadata-scraper
      BetaHuhn/ejs-serve
      BetaHuhn/feedback-js
      BetaHuhn/drkmd.js

💻 Development

Issues and PRs are very welcome!

The actual source code of this library is in the src folder.

• run yarn lint or npm run lint to run eslint.
• run yarn start or npm run start to run the Action locally.
• run yarn build or npm run build to produce a production version of repo-file-sync-action in the dist folder.

❔ About

This project was developed by me (@betahuhn) in my free time. If you want to support me:

Credits

This Action was inspired by:

• action-github-workflow-sync
• files-sync-action

📄 License

Copyright 2021 Maximilian Schiller

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.