---
title: "Review of the git-auto-commit-action"
description: "It's a really cool GitHub action that will automatically commit files changed during the action. I was using this to render a new readme based on a template."
date: 2020-08-03
published: true
tags:
- actions
template: blog-post
---
It's a really cool GitHub action that will automatically commit files changed
during the action. I was using this to render a new readme based on a template.
Check out the repo for [git-auto-commit-action](https://github.com/stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action).
It's a really cool GitHub action that will automatically commit files changed during the action. I was using this to render a new readme based on a template.
This has been by far the easiest way to commit back to a repo that I have seen. Other patterns often require fully setting up the git user and everything. While it's not all that hard, this action already has all of that covered.
You must give it a commit message and thats it. Optionally you can configure a number of things. Its possible to configure the `commit_user_name`, `commit_user_email`, and `commit_author`. I often also scope the `file_pattern` to a certain subset of files.
---
> If you're new to actions check out this article on using actions.
> If you're new to actions check out this article on using actions.
---
You do need to be careful to checkout the repo just a bit different than normal.
## Limitations & Gotchas
_directly from the repo_
### Checkout the correct branch
You must use `action/checkout@v2` or later versions to checkout the repository. In non-push events, such as pull_request, make sure to specify the ref to checkout:
``` yaml
- uses: actions/checkout@v2
with:
ref: ${{ github.head_ref }}
```
You have to do this do avoid that the `checkout`-Action clones your repository in a detached state.
## Usage
_from the repo_
``` yaml
- uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v4
with:
# Required
commit_message: Apply automatic changes
# Optional branch to push to, defaults to the current branch
branch: feature-123
# Optional options appended to `git-commit`
# See https://git-scm.com/docs/git-commit for a list of available options
commit_options: '--no-verify --signoff'
# Optional glob pattern of files which should be added to the commit
# See the `pathspec`-documentation for git
# - https://git-scm.com/docs/git-add#Documentation/git-add.txt-ltpathspecgt82308203
# - https://git-scm.com/docs/gitglossary#Documentation/gitglossary.txt-aiddefpathspecapathspec
file_pattern: src/*.js tests/*.js
# Optional local file path to the repository
repository: .
# Optional commit user and author settings
commit_user_name: My GitHub Actions Bot
commit_user_email: my-github-actions-bot@example.org
commit_author: Author
# Optional tag message
# Action will create and push a new tag to the remote repository and the defined branch
tagging_message: 'v1.0.0'
# Optional options appended to `git-push`
push_options: '--force'
# Optional: Disable dirty check and always try to create a commit and push
skip_dirty_check: true
```
## More Actions
If you're new to actions check out these articles on using actions.
