Hey @jpadfield, you can most definitely have an action that edits internal files (except those in the “.github” folder. 

I do the following in one of my repo’s which calls a python script that parses all my source code and updates a todo.txt file and then commits it to the repo. 

jobs:
  build:
runs-on: macos-latest

steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v1
- name: Run a one-line script
  run: python ./.github/workflows/todo_List.py
- name: switching from HTTPS to SSH
  run: git remote set-url origin ${{ secrets.ssh }}
- name: check for changes
  run: git status
- name: stage changed files
  run: git add .
- name: commit changed files
  run: git commit -m "Auto updating TODO.txt"
- name: fetch from master
  run: git fetch origin master
- name: push code to master
  run: git push origin HEAD:master

Let me know if you have more questions I can help with! 

Thank you :slight_smile:

So basically it was working, but because no updates where required it returned an error.

Ok no to find an if the files are different then commit them.

Joe

Thank you all the Action is now working :slight_smile:

Joe

Just for reference here is the working file:

# This is a basic workflow to help you get started with Actions
name: Build GH Pages
Controls when the action will run. Triggers the workflow on push or pull request
events but only for the master branch
on:

push:

branches: ['master']

paths: 'build/*.json'
A workflow run is made up of one or more jobs that can run sequentially or in parallel
jobs:
This workflow contains a single job called "build"
build:

# The type of runner that the job will run on

runs-on: ubuntu-latest
# Steps represent a sequence of tasks that will be executed as part of the job
steps:
# Checks-out your repository under $GITHUB_WORKSPACE, so your job can access it
- uses: actions/checkout@v2

# Runs commands using the runners shell
- name: Run the build php script
  run: |
    cd build
    php build.php # This file reads a few json files and then creates a set of html files in the doc folder
    cd ../
- name: Commit files # transfer the new html files back into the repository
  run: |
    git config --local user.name "jpadfield"
    git add ./docs
    git commit -m "Updating the repository GitHub html pages in the docs folder"
- name: Push changes # push the output folder to your repo
  uses: ad-m/github-push-action@master
  with:
    github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    force: true

So basically it was working, but because no updates where required it returned an error.
Indeed 

Great, happy to help! 

For future reference: by clicking on the action (in the left menu) you could see more of the logs than e.g. the following.

.github#L1
Process completed with exit code 1.

Hi @jpadfield I am trying to append file through python and run the workflow through self hosted runner. I get the following error with the below code. Could you please help me with it?

Run git config user.name github-actions
git config user.name github-actions
git config user.email github-actions@github.com
git add .
git commit -m "generated"
git push

shell: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.EXE -command ". '{0}'"

pythonLocation: C:\actions-runner\_work\_tool\Python\3.11.1\x64
PKG_CONFIG_PATH: C:\actions-runner\_work\_tool\Python\3.11.1\x64/lib/pkgconfig
Python_ROOT_DIR: C:\actions-runner\_work\_tool\Python\3.11.1\x64
Python2_ROOT_DIR: C:\actions-runner\_work\_tool\Python\3.11.1\x64
Python3_ROOT_DIR: C:\actions-runner\_work\_tool\Python\3.11.1\x64

git : The term 'git' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the
spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At C:\actions-runner_work_temp\dc1bbb01-6c36-4b4e-be47-649c715a826e.ps1:2 char:1

• git config user.name github-actions

•   + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (git:String) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException
  
  

Error: Process completed with exit code 1.