Added output only mode, fixes: #51

README.md

@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ This workflow has additional options that you can use to customize it for your u
 | `commit_message` | `Updated with the latest blog posts` | Allows you to customize the commit message | No |
 | `committer_username` | `blog-post-bot` | Allows you to customize the committer username | No |
 | `committer_email` | `[email protected]` | Allows you to customize the committer email | No |
+| `output_only` | `false` | Sets the generated array as `results` [output variable](https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/actions/reference/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#jobsjob_idoutputs) so that it can be consumed in other actions and parsed via utilities like jq. This will also prevent committing to readme. | No |
 
 ### Advanced usage examples
 #### StackOverflow example

action.yml

@@ -77,6 +77,13 @@ inputs:
     description: "Email id used while committing to the repo"
     default: "[email protected]"
     required: false
+  output_only:
+    description: "Prevent updating the readme, instead sets the output to the output variable named `results`"
+    default: "false"
+    required: false
+outputs:
+  results:
+    description: "JSON stringified array of posts"
 
 runs:
   using: node12

blog-post-workflow.js

@@ -353,8 +353,17 @@ Promise.allSettled(promiseArray).then((results) => {
       if (newReadme !== readmeData) {
         core.info('Writing to ' + README_FILE_PATH);
         fs.writeFileSync(README_FILE_PATH, newReadme);
+        const outputOnly = core.getInput('output_only') !== 'false';
+
         if (!process.env.TEST_MODE) {
-          await commitReadme();
+          if (!outputOnly) {
+            // Commit to readme
+            await commitReadme();
+          } else {
+            // Sets output as output as `results` variable in github action
+            core.info('outputOnly mode: set `results` variable. Readme not updated.');
+            core.setOutput('results', postsArray);
+          }
         }
       } else {
         core.info('No change detected, skipping');

local-run.js

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ fs.writeFile(path.join(__dirname, 'test', 'Readme.md'), template, () => {
   process.env.INPUT_TITLE_MAX_LENGTH = '';
   process.env.INPUT_DESCRIPTION_MAX_LENGTH = '';
   process.env.INPUT_ITEM_EXEC = '';
+  process.env.INPUT_OUTPUT_ONLY = 'false';
   const testFile = process.env.DIST ? './dist/blog-post-workflow' :'./blog-post-workflow';
   console.log('Testing: ', testFile);
   require(testFile);

test.js

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ const DEFAULT_TEST_ENV = {
   INPUT_TITLE_MAX_LENGTH: '',
   INPUT_DESCRIPTION_MAX_LENGTH: '',
   INPUT_ITEM_EXEC: '',
+  INPUT_OUTPUT_ONLY: 'false',
   TEST_MODE: 'true'
 };