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Skyhook Git Sync and Commit

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Safely sync, commit, and push changes with automatic rebase and retry logic
v1.3.0
Latest
By skyhook-io
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 (2)
continuous-integrationutilities

Git Sync and Commit Action

Release

A GitHub Action that safely syncs, commits, and pushes changes with automatic rebase and retry logic to handle concurrent modifications.

Why This Action?

  1. Race condition handling: Automatically retries push operations when concurrent changes occur
  2. Rebase-first workflow: Always rebases before pushing to maintain linear history
  3. Safe stashing: Preserves uncommitted changes during sync operations
  4. Smart commit detection: Only commits when there are actual changes to push
  5. Configurable retry logic: Handles concurrent GitOps workflows gracefully
  6. Clear outputs: Returns commit status and SHA for downstream steps

Use Cases

  • GitOps deployments: Automatically commit manifest updates and handle concurrent deployments
  • Automated updates: Commit dependency updates, generated files, or version bumps
  • Configuration management: Sync configuration changes across environments
  • Release automation: Update version files and changelogs during releases

Usage

Basic Example

- uses: skyhook-io/git-sync-commit@v1
  with:
    commit_message: 'Update deployment manifests [skip ci]'
    file_pattern: 'manifests/**/*'

GitOps Deployment Example

- name: Update kustomize manifests
  uses: skyhook-io/kustomize-edit@v1
  with:
    overlay_dir: overlays/production
    image: myapp
    tag: v1.2.3

- name: Commit and push changes
  uses: skyhook-io/git-sync-commit@v1
  with:
    commit_message: |
      Deploy myapp v1.2.3 to production [skip ci]

      Automated deployment triggered by ${{ github.actor }}
    file_pattern: 'overlays/production/*'
    max_retries: 5

Using Commit SHA in Downstream Steps

- id: commit
  uses: skyhook-io/git-sync-commit@v1
  with:
    commit_message: 'Update version to ${{ github.ref_name }}'
    file_pattern: 'VERSION package.json'

- name: Create deployment
  if: steps.commit.outputs.committed == 'true'
  run: |
    echo "Deploying commit ${{ steps.commit.outputs.commit_sha }}"
    kubectl set image deployment/app app=myapp:${{ steps.commit.outputs.commit_sha }}

Conditional Commit Based on Changes

- name: Generate documentation
  run: npm run docs:generate

- id: commit
  uses: skyhook-io/git-sync-commit@v1
  with:
    commit_message: 'Update generated documentation [skip ci]'
    file_pattern: 'docs/**/*'

- name: Notify on changes
  if: steps.commit.outputs.committed == 'true'
  run: |
    echo "Documentation updated in commit ${{ steps.commit.outputs.commit_sha }}"

Inputs

Input Description Required Default
commit_message Commit message Yes -
file_pattern Files to stage for commit (e.g., ".", ".yml", "path/to/files/") No .
path Working directory for git operations No .
commit_user_name Git committer name No github-actions[bot]
commit_user_email Git committer email No 41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com
max_retries Maximum number of push retry attempts (handles concurrent pushes) No 12

Outputs

Output Description
committed Whether a commit was created (true/false)
commit_sha SHA of the created commit (empty if no commit)

How It Works

The action follows this workflow:

  1. Validate inputs - Ensures working directory exists and inputs are valid
  2. Stash changes - Safely stashes any uncommitted changes (including untracked files)
  3. Sync with upstream - Pulls latest changes using rebase to maintain linear history
  4. Restore changes - Pops the stash to restore your changes
    • Automatic conflict resolution: If conflicts occur between stashed changes and pulled changes, the action automatically resolves them by accepting your stashed changes (the newer modifications from this workflow)
    • This ensures concurrent workflow changes are properly merged without leaving conflict markers
  5. Stage files - Adds files matching the specified pattern
  6. Safety check - Verifies no conflict markers are present in staged files (additional safeguard)
  7. Commit - Creates a commit if there are staged changes
  8. Push with retry - Attempts to push with automatic retry on failure:
    • On push failure, rebases again and retries
    • Continues up to max_retries attempts
    • Handles race conditions from concurrent workflows

Examples

Multi-Environment GitOps

name: Deploy to Environments

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        environment: [dev, staging, production]

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Update manifests
        uses: skyhook-io/kustomize-edit@v1
        with:
          overlay_dir: overlays/${{ matrix.environment }}
          image: myapp
          tag: ${{ github.ref_name }}

      - name: Commit changes
        uses: skyhook-io/git-sync-commit@v1
        with:
          commit_message: Deploy ${{ github.ref_name }} to ${{ matrix.environment }} [skip ci]
          file_pattern: overlays/${{ matrix.environment }}/*
          max_retries: 10  # Higher retries for parallel deployments

Automated Dependency Updates

name: Update Dependencies

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 2 * * 1'  # Weekly on Monday

jobs:
  update:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Update dependencies
        run: npm update

      - id: commit
        uses: skyhook-io/git-sync-commit@v1
        with:
          commit_message: |
            chore: update npm dependencies [skip ci]

            Automated weekly dependency update
          file_pattern: 'package.json package-lock.json'

      - name: Create PR
        if: steps.commit.outputs.committed == 'true'
        run: |
          gh pr create \
            --title "Weekly dependency update" \
            --body "Automated dependency update from commit ${{ steps.commit.outputs.commit_sha }}"

Custom Working Directory

- name: Clone deployment repo
  uses: actions/checkout@v4
  with:
    repository: my-org/deployment-configs
    path: deployment

- name: Update configs
  run: |
    cd deployment
    ./scripts/update-config.sh ${{ github.ref_name }}

- uses: skyhook-io/git-sync-commit@v1
  with:
    path: deployment
    commit_message: Update configuration for ${{ github.ref_name }}
    file_pattern: 'configs/**/*.yaml'

Skip CI in Commit Message

To prevent infinite loops in CI/CD pipelines, add [skip ci] to your commit message:

- uses: skyhook-io/git-sync-commit@v1
  with:
    commit_message: |
      Deploy version ${{ github.ref_name }} [skip ci]

      This prevents the push from triggering the workflow again
    file_pattern: 'deployment/*'

Migration from hisco/safe-rebase-commit

This action is a direct replacement for hisco/safe-rebase-commit with enhanced features and Skyhook standards.

Key Improvements

  1. Composite action: Embedded logic (no external script dependencies)
  2. Better validation: Input validation before operations
  3. Enhanced outputs: Returns commit status and SHA
  4. GitHub summaries: Visual summaries in Actions UI
  5. Skyhook branding: Consistent with other Skyhook actions
  6. Better error handling: Clear error messages and validation

Migration Guide

Simply update your action reference:

# Before (hisco/safe-rebase-commit)
- uses: hisco/safe-rebase-commit@v1.0.1
  with:
    path: deployment
    commit_message: Update env 'production' to version 'v1.2.3' [skip ci]
    file_pattern: overlays/production/*

# After (skyhook-io/git-sync-commit)
- uses: skyhook-io/git-sync-commit@v1
  with:
    path: deployment
    commit_message: Update env 'production' to version 'v1.2.3' [skip ci]
    file_pattern: overlays/production/*

All inputs are compatible, no changes needed!

Notes

  • Authentication: Ensure your workflow has write permissions to the repository 
    permissions:
  contents: write
  • Branch protection: The action respects branch protection rules
  • Concurrent workflows: Use higher max_retries values when multiple workflows may push simultaneously
  • Linear history: Uses rebase instead of merge to maintain clean history
  • Stash safety: Uncommitted changes are preserved during sync operations
  • No changes = no commit: The action skips commit creation when there are no staged changes

Permissions

This action requires the following permissions:

permissions:
  contents: write  # Required to push commits

Troubleshooting

Push fails with "non-fast-forward" error

This usually means concurrent changes occurred. The action automatically handles this with retries. If you see this repeatedly, increase max_retries:

- uses: skyhook-io/git-sync-commit@v1
  with:
    commit_message: My commit
    max_retries: 10  # Increase for high-concurrency scenarios

Conflict markers in committed files

The action now includes automatic conflict resolution and a safety check to prevent committing conflict markers (<<<<<<<, =======, >>>>>>>). If you see the error "Conflict markers detected in staged files!", this means:

  1. A merge conflict occurred that couldn't be auto-resolved
  2. The action prevented committing corrupted files
  3. Review the workflow logs to understand the conflict
  4. This is a safety feature to protect your repository from corrupted files

No commit created but expected changes

Check that:

  1. Your file_pattern matches the changed files
  2. The files are actually modified
  3. The action has the right path if using a subdirectory

"Permission denied" errors

Ensure your workflow has write permissions:

permissions:
  contents: write

For organization repositories, also check:

  • Repository settings allow GitHub Actions to create and approve pull requests
  • Branch protection rules allow the github-actions bot to push

Contributors (1)

@hisco

Resources

Skyhook Git Sync and Commit is not certified by GitHub. It is provided by a third-party and is governed by separate terms of service, privacy policy, and support documentation.

About

Safely sync, commit, and push changes with automatic rebase and retry logic
v1.3.0
Latest
By skyhook-io

Tags

 (2)
continuous-integrationutilities

Contributors (1)

@hisco

Resources

Skyhook Git Sync and Commit is not certified by GitHub. It is provided by a third-party and is governed by separate terms of service, privacy policy, and support documentation.