Use subworkflow from a relative path in the same repository

[gustaff-weldon]

Is there a way to use sub-workflow which lives in the same repository and reference it via a relative path?

We want to use the version which lives in the commit that triggered the build (as it could have been modified in the very same commit...)

We can use composite actions like this:

    steps:
      - name: Log in to Amazon ECR
        uses: ./.github/actions/amazon-ecr-login

We want the same with workflows:

jobs:
  api-docs:
    uses: ./.github/workflows/api-docs.yml

Docs do not mention it https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#jobsjob_iduses, and, unsurprisingly, the above does not work.

An attempt to force version to current sha, did not work either ({{ github.sha }} was not interpolated):

jobs:
  api-docs:
    uses: myorg/myrepo/.github/workflows/api-docs.yml@${{ github.sha }}

Any ideas? We were very excited about the ability to split our humongous monorepo CI yaml into subworkflow files, but that inability to just use the file that lives next to the main workflow looks like a dealbreaker...

[jenschelkopf]

Hi @gustaff-weldon, I'm the product manager for reusable workflows. Thanks for trying out the feature and letting us know your thoughts so far.

You mentioned that this is a dealbreaker for you. Can you expand on that? Why does it stop you from breaking up your humongous monorepo?

[gustaff-weldon]

hi @jenschelkopf, thanks for getting back. Let me give you more background on what we are trying to achieve.

Current state

We are running a private monorepo with GH actions setup for CI. Our main workflow file, ci.yml is over 2400 lines long. That is way too much.

.github
├── CODEOWNERS
├── actions
│   ├── amazon-ecr-login
│   │   ├── README.md
│   │   └── action.yml
...
└── workflows
    └── ci.yml

Reuse composite actions

With the recent upgrade of composite actions we were able to extract repeated steps into those.

We reference our composite actions using relative path (as shown in https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#example-using-an-action-in-the-same-repository-as-the-workflow):

   steps:
      - name: Log in to Amazon ECR
        uses: ./.github/actions/amazon-ecr-login

This works great.

Expected workflow usage

We want the same to be possible with subworkflows. We would like to be able to reference our sub workflows using relative path:

└── workflows
    ├── ci.yml
    ├── frontend.yml
    └── api-docs.yml

and in ci.yml:

jobs:
  api-docs:
    uses: ./.github/workflows/api-docs.yml

This would allow us to update the workflow file and see the outcome of changes in the build of that PR.

Why current approach with {owner}/{repo}/{path}/{filename}@{ref} is cumbersome for our use case

Our main goal is to split our main ci.yml into subworkflows. We might reuse some of them, but that goes second.

When we update our CI, we want to be able to test changes immediately in the PR with the changes.
Referencing by version forces usage of SHA, which would introduce an awkward procedure:

• make changes to subworkflow
• commit, take note of sha
• update reference to the workflow in main ci.yml with the above sha
• push to branch

This will break, if, eg. you rebase your branch. It's very fragile and prone to errors, thus we would not like to go for it, hence a dealbreaker.

[jenschelkopf]

Okay, got it. Thanks for the feedback

[gustaff-weldon]

You are welcome. Out of curiosity (not really, cause I would really like to see this implemented ;)): given that relative paths already work for composite actions, I wonder how applicable will be their solution in workflows? Do you see a chance for this to be added in a foreseeable future?

[AllanOricil]

Is this released?

[asvetlov]

Have the same issue (splitting ci.yml into subworklows): aio-libs/aiohttp#6264

Would be nice to have relative workflow path support!

[AllanOricil]

seems weird that they did not think about that

[hubol]

Would love this! Have similar motivations as the author.

[solarmosaic-kflorence]

See https://github.community/t/ref-head-in-reusable-workflows/203690

[chehsunliu]

For those people who uses GitHub Enterprise, this feature (or bug fix?) is released in v3.5.0: https://docs.github.com/en/[email protected]/admin/release-notes#3.5.0.rc1.

[hubol]

Hey! This seems to work now: https://github.blog/changelog/2022-01-25-github-actions-reusable-workflows-can-be-referenced-locally/

jobs:
  call-workflow-in-local-repo:
    uses: ./.github/workflows/workflow-2.yml

For me, I had to use the ./ at the beginning instead of my organization name.

[gustaff-weldon]

@hubol yes, Github released this feature: github/roadmap#98 and https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/reusing-workflows