Workflow Dispatch Plus

Trigger other workflows, display a link, and optionally wait for the result.

Examples

See Usage for full documentation.

Same repository

upstream.yml

job:
  example:
    steps:
      - use: pauldraper/[email protected]
        with:
          inputs: '{"color": "blue"}'
          workflow: downstream.yml

downstream.yml

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      color:

Different repository, and wait for finish

upstream.yml

job:
  example:
    steps:
      - use: pauldraper/[email protected]
        with:
          ref: refs/head/main
          repo: example/example
          token: ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}
          wait: "true"
          workflow: downstream.yml

downstream.yml

on: [workflow_dispatch]

Marker Step

upstream.yml

job:
  example:
    steps:
      - use: pauldraper/[email protected]
        with:
          marker-input: upstream-url
          workflow: downstream.yml

downstream.yml

jobs:
  example:
    steps:
      - if: ${{ inputs.upstream-url }}
        name: ${{ inputs.upstream-url }}
        run:
          echo 'Started by [${{ inputs.upstream-url }}](${{ inputs.upstream-url
          }})' >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      upstream-url:
        description: URL of upstream run

Usage

Inputs

Name	Description	Required	Default
inputs	JSON object of inputs	No	{}
marker-input	Name of the downstream's input for upstream URL.	No	``
owner	Repsitory owner name	No	${{ github.repository_owner }}
ref	Git reference	No	${{ github.ref }}
repo	Repository name	No	${{ github.repository }}
token	Personal access token	No	${{ github.token }}
wait	Whether to wait for conclusion	No	false
workflow	Workflow path in .github/workflows (e.g. main.yml)	Yes	``

Outputs

Name	Description
conclusion	Workflow conclusion, if wait is true
run_id	Workflow run ID

Marker step

The Github API does not provide a direct association between a workflow dispatch and the subsequent workflow run. For greater robustness in determining the relationship, the upstream URL can be used as an input. The downstream workflow must use that value as the name of a step, so that the action can find it. (See example.)

Token

GITHUB_TOKEN must have read/write actions permissions. See Permissions for the GITHUB_TOKEN.

When starting workflows in other repos, you must create a personal access token and provide it as the token input. See Creating a personal access token and Encrypted Secrets.