https://github.com/azat-io/actions-up
🌊 Interactive CLI tool to update GitHub Actions to latest versions with SHA pinning
https://github.com/azat-io/actions-up
actions cli dependencies github-actions security workflow
Last synced: about 19 hours ago
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🌊 Interactive CLI tool to update GitHub Actions to latest versions with SHA pinning
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/azat-io/actions-up
- Owner: azat-io
- License: mit
- Created: 2025-08-26T21:52:22.000Z (about 1 month ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2025-09-20T09:37:34.000Z (18 days ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-09-20T11:16:07.612Z (17 days ago)
- Topics: actions, cli, dependencies, github-actions, security, workflow
- Language: TypeScript
- Homepage:
- Size: 771 KB
- Stars: 271
- Watchers: 4
- Forks: 10
- Open Issues: 1
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: readme.md
- Changelog: changelog.config.json
- Contributing: contributing.md
- License: license.md
- Code of conduct: .github/code_of_conduct.md
- Security: .github/security.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# Actions Up!
[](https://npmjs.com/package/actions-up)
[](https://codecov.io/gh/azat-io/actions-up)
[](https://github.com/azat-io/actions-up/blob/main/license.md)
Actions Up scans your workflows and composite actions to discover every referenced GitHub Action, then checks for newer releases.
Interactively upgrade and pin actions to exact commit SHAs for secure, reproducible CI and low-friction maintenance.
## Features
- **Auto-discovery**: Scans all workflows (`.github/workflows/*.yml`) and composite actions (`.github/actions/*/action.yml`)
- **SHA pinning**: Updates actions to use commit SHA instead of tags for better security
- **Batch Updates**: Update multiple actions at once
- **Interactive Selection**: Choose which actions to update
- **Breaking Changes Detection**: Warns about major version updates
- **Fast & Efficient**: Optimized API usage with deduped lookups
- **CI/CD Integration**: Use in GitHub Actions workflows for automated PR checks
###
## Why
### The Problem
Keeping GitHub Actions updated is a critical but tedious task:
- **Security Risk**: Using outdated actions with known vulnerabilities
- **Manual Hell**: Checking dozens of actions across multiple workflows by hand
- **Version Tags Are Mutable**: v1 or v2 tags can change without notice, breaking reproducibility
- **Time Sink**: Hours spent on maintenance that could be used for actual development
### The Solution
Actions Up transforms a painful manual process into a delightful experience:
| Without Actions Up | With Actions Up |
| :----------------------------- | :------------------------------- |
| Check each action manually | Scan all workflows in seconds |
| Risk using vulnerable versions | SHA pinning for maximum security |
| 30+ minutes per repository | Under 1 minute total |
## Installation
Quick use (no installation)
```bash
npx actions-up
```
Global installation
```bash
npm install -g actions-up
```
Per-project
```bash
npm install --save-dev actions-up
```
## Usage
### Interactive Mode (Default)
Run in your repository root:
```bash
npx actions-up
```
This will:
1. Scan all `.github/workflows/*.yml` and `.github/actions/*/action.yml` files
2. Check for available updates
3. Show an interactive list to select updates
4. Apply selected updates with SHA pinning
### Auto-Update Mode
Skip all prompts and update everything:
```bash
npx actions-up --yes
# or
npx actions-up -y
```
### Dry Run Mode
Check for updates without making any changes:
```bash
npx actions-up --dry-run
```
## GitHub Actions Integration
### Automated PR Checks
You can integrate Actions Up into your CI/CD pipeline to automatically check for outdated actions on every pull request. This helps maintain security and ensures your team stays aware of available updates.
Create .github/workflows/check-actions-updates.yml.
````yaml
name: Check for outdated GitHub Actions
on:
pull_request:
types: [edited, opened, synchronize, reopened]
jobs:
check-actions:
name: Check for GHA updates
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Checkout repository
uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Setup Node.js
uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: '20'
- name: Install actions-up
run: npm install -g actions-up
- name: Run actions-up check
id: actions-check
run: |
echo "## GitHub Actions Update Check" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
echo "" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
# Initialize variables
HAS_UPDATES=false
UPDATE_COUNT=0
# Run actions-up and capture output
echo "Running actions-up to check for updates..."
actions-up --dry-run > actions-up-raw.txt 2>&1 || true
# Parse the output to detect updates
if grep -q "→" actions-up-raw.txt; then
HAS_UPDATES=true
# Count the number of updates (lines with arrows)
UPDATE_COUNT=$(grep -c "→" actions-up-raw.txt || echo "0")
fi
# Create formatted output
if [ "$HAS_UPDATES" = true ]; then
echo "Found $UPDATE_COUNT GitHub Actions with available updates" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
echo "" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
echo "" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
echo "Click to see details" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
echo "" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
echo '```' >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
cat actions-up-raw.txt >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
echo '```' >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
echo "" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
# Create detailed markdown report with better formatting
{
echo "## GitHub Actions Update Report"
echo ""
echo "### Summary"
echo "- **Updates available:** $UPDATE_COUNT"
echo ""
# See the raw output above for details.
echo "### How to Update"
echo ""
echo "You have several options to update these actions:"
echo ""
echo "#### Option 1: Automatic Update (Recommended)"
echo '```bash'
echo "# Run this command locally in your repository"
echo "npx actions-up"
echo '```'
echo ""
echo "#### Option 2: Manual Update"
echo "1. Review each update in the table above"
echo "2. For breaking changes, click the Release Notes link to review changes"
echo "3. Edit the workflows and update the version numbers"
echo "4. Test the changes in your CI/CD pipeline"
echo ""
echo "---"
echo ""
echo ""
echo "Raw actions-up output"
echo ""
echo '```'
cat actions-up-raw.txt
echo '```'
echo ""
} > actions-up-report.md
echo "has-updates=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
echo "update-count=$UPDATE_COUNT" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
else
echo "All GitHub Actions are up to date!" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
{
echo "## GitHub Actions Update Report"
echo ""
echo "### All GitHub Actions in this repository are up to date!"
echo ""
echo "No action required. Your workflows are using the latest versions of all GitHub Actions."
} > actions-up-report.md
echo "has-updates=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
echo "update-count=0" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
fi
- name: Comment PR with updates
if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
uses: actions/github-script@v7
with:
script: |
const fs = require('fs');
const report = fs.readFileSync('actions-up-report.md', 'utf8');
const hasUpdates = '${{ steps.actions-check.outputs.has-updates }}' === 'true';
const updateCount = '${{ steps.actions-check.outputs.update-count }}';
// Check if we already commented
const comments = await github.rest.issues.listComments({
owner: context.repo.owner,
repo: context.repo.repo,
issue_number: context.issue.number
});
const botComment = comments.data.find(comment =>
comment.user.type === 'Bot' &&
comment.body.includes('GitHub Actions Update Report')
);
const commentBody = `${report}
---
*Generated by [actions-up](https://github.com/azat-io/actions-up) | Last check: ${new Date().toISOString()}*`;
// Only comment if there are updates or if we previously commented
if (hasUpdates || botComment) {
if (botComment) {
// Update existing comment
await github.rest.issues.updateComment({
owner: context.repo.owner,
repo: context.repo.repo,
comment_id: botComment.id,
body: commentBody
});
console.log('Updated existing comment');
} else {
// Create new comment only if there are updates
await github.rest.issues.createComment({
owner: context.repo.owner,
repo: context.repo.repo,
issue_number: context.issue.number,
body: commentBody
});
console.log('Created new comment');
}
} else {
console.log('No updates found and no previous comment exists - skipping comment');
}
// Add or update PR labels based on status
const labels = await github.rest.issues.listLabelsOnIssue({
owner: context.repo.owner,
repo: context.repo.repo,
issue_number: context.issue.number
});
const hasOutdatedLabel = labels.data.some(label => label.name === 'outdated-actions');
if (hasUpdates && !hasOutdatedLabel) {
// Add label if updates are found
try {
await github.rest.issues.addLabels({
owner: context.repo.owner,
repo: context.repo.repo,
issue_number: context.issue.number,
labels: ['outdated-actions']
});
console.log('Added outdated-actions label');
} catch (error) {
console.log('Could not add label (might not exist in repo):', error.message);
}
} else if (!hasUpdates && hasOutdatedLabel) {
// Remove label if no updates
try {
await github.rest.issues.removeLabel({
owner: context.repo.owner,
repo: context.repo.repo,
issue_number: context.issue.number,
name: 'outdated-actions'
});
console.log('Removed outdated-actions label');
} catch (error) {
console.log('Could not remove label:', error.message);
}
}
- name: Fail if outdated actions found
if: steps.actions-check.outputs.has-updates == 'true'
run: |
echo "::error:: Found ${{ steps.actions-check.outputs.update-count }} outdated GitHub Actions. Please update them before merging."
echo ""
echo "You can update them by running: npx actions-up"
echo "Or manually update the versions in your workflows."
exit 1
````
### Scheduled Checks
You can also set up scheduled checks to stay informed about updates:
```yaml
name: Weekly Actions Update Check
on:
schedule:
- cron: '0 9 * * 1' # Every Monday at 9 AM
workflow_dispatch: # Allow manual triggers
jobs:
check-updates:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
- uses: actions/setup-node@v4
with:
node-version: '20'
- run: npm install -g actions-up
- run: |
if actions-up --dry-run | grep -q "→"; then
echo "Updates available! Run 'npx actions-up' to update."
exit 1
fi
```
## Example
```yaml
# Before
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
- uses: actions/setup-node@v3
# After running actions-up
- uses: actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8 # v5.0.0
- uses: actions/setup-node@49933ea5288caeca8642d1e84afbd3f7d6820020 # v4.4.0
```
## Advanced Usage
### Using GitHub Token for Higher Rate Limits
While Actions Up works without authentication, providing a GitHub token increases API rate limits from 60 to 5000 requests per hour, useful for large projects:
[Create a GitHub Personal Access Token](https://github.com/settings/tokens/new?scopes=public_repo&description=actions-up).
- For public repositories: Select `public_repo` scope
- For private repositories: Select `repo` scope
Set the token as an environment variable:
```bash
export GITHUB_TOKEN=your_token_here
npx actions-up
```
Or in GitHub Actions:
```yaml
- name: Check for updates
env:
GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
run: npx actions-up --dry-run
```
### Skipping Updates
Skip updates using CLI excludes and YAML ignore comments. Excludes run first, then ignore comments.
#### CLI Excludes
Skip actions by name using regular expressions. Patterns are matched against the full action name (`owner/repo[/path]`).
- Repeatable flag: `--exclude ` (can be used multiple times)
- Comma-separated list is supported inside a single flag
- Forms:
- Plain string compiled as case-insensitive regex: `my-org/.*`
- Literal with flags: `/^actions\/internal-.+$/i`
Examples:
```bash
npx actions-up --exclude "my-org/.*"
npx actions-up --exclude ".*/internal-.*" --exclude "/^acme\/.+$/i"
# or
npx actions-up --exclude "my-org/.*, .*/internal-.*"
```
#### Ignore Comments
You can skip specific actions or files using YAML comments. Ignored items are hidden in dry-run and interactive modes and are not updated with `--yes`.
- Ignore whole file: `# actions-up-ignore-file`
- Block ignore: `# actions-up-ignore-start` … `# actions-up-ignore-end`
- Next line: `# actions-up-ignore-next-line`
- Inline on the same line: append `# actions-up-ignore`
Example:
```yaml
# actions-up-ignore-file
# actions-up-ignore-next-line
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
- uses: actions/setup-node@v3 # actions-up-ignore
# actions-up-ignore-start
- uses: actions/cache@v3
# actions-up-ignore-end
```
## Security
Actions Up promotes security best practices:
- **SHA pinning**: Uses commit SHA instead of mutable tags
- **Version comment**: Adds the released version next to the pinned SHA for readability
- **No Auto-Updates**: Full control over what gets updated
- **Breaking Change Warnings**: Alerts you to major version updates that may require configuration changes
## CI/CD Best Practices
When using Actions Up in your CI/CD pipeline:
1. **Start with warnings**: Begin by running checks without failing builds to gauge the update frequency
2. **Regular updates**: Schedule weekly or monthly update PRs rather than blocking every PR
3. **Team education**: Ensure your team understands the security benefits of keeping actions updated
4. **Gradual adoption**: Roll out to a few repositories first before organization-wide deployment
## Contributing
See [Contributing Guide](https://github.com/azat-io/actions-up/blob/main/contributing.md).
## License
MIT © [Azat S.](https://azat.io)