act

Project Overview: Act

Act is a powerful tool that allows developers to run GitHub Actions locally on their machines. This capability is beneficial for several reasons, especially for developers looking for fast feedback and a reliable local task runner. Here, we will explore how Act works, its advantages, and how users can leverage it to optimize their workflows.

What is Act?

Act is designed to allow developers to execute GitHub Actions defined in their .github/workflows/ files without needing to push changes to GitHub. By running actions locally, developers can experience a much quicker development and testing cycle. It mimics the GitHub Actions environment by configuring the right environment variables and filesystem paths similar to those on GitHub-hosted runners.

Advantages of Using Act

Fast Feedback

One of the primary benefits of Act is its provision of fast feedback. Developers can test changes locally without constantly committing and pushing changes to their GitHub repository. This efficiency means they can identify issues quicker and iterate on their code with fewer delays.

Local Task Runner

Beyond just running GitHub Actions, Act can serve as a local task runner. It can replace tools like Make, allowing users to define repetitive tasks in their workflows and execute them conveniently. This feature reduces repetition and integrates seamlessly into the development process using Docker to simulate the actions environment.

How Does It Work?

When a developer uses Act, it reads the actions configured in the .github/workflows/ directory of a project. It leverages the Docker API to either pull pre-defined images or build new ones as specified in these workflow files. Act establishes the execution path based on dependency definitions. Once the execution path is determined, Act uses Docker to run containers for each action with configurations that match GitHub's setup.

For a demonstration, users can refer to a sample repository showcasing Act in action.

Getting Started with Act

To start using Act, developers can refer to the comprehensive Act User Guide for detailed documentation and resources.

Community and Support

Those needing assistance with Act can join the community on Gitter for support. The platform allows users to interact with other developers and contributors to troubleshoot issues, share tips, and collaborate on feature improvements.

Contributing to Act

Contributions to Act are welcome and encouraged. Interested contributors should refer to the contributing guidelines to understand how they can get involved and make impactful contributions to the project.

Building Act from Source

For those interested in manually building Act from source, here are the steps:

1. Install Go tools version 1.20 or later, following the instructions here.
2. Clone the Act repository from GitHub using git clone [email protected]:nektos/act.git.
3. Run unit tests with make test to ensure everything is set up properly.
4. Build and install Act using make install.

By following these steps, developers can have a working local version of Act to experiment with or contribute further to the project.