Copier Update
Run copier update and open or update a template-sync PR.
Usage
jobs:
template-update:
uses: athackst/ci/.github/workflows/copier_update.yml@main
with:
answers-file: .copier-answers.docs.yml
managed-paths: |
docs
mkdocs.yml
pr-branch: ci/update-docs-template
pr-title: "chore: update docs template"
commit-message: "chore: apply docs template update"
secrets:
token: $
| Name |
Description |
Default |
create-pr |
(optional) Create or update a PR with template changes. |
true |
pr-branch |
(optional) Branch name used for template updates. |
copier/update-template |
pr-title |
(optional) Pull request title. |
chore: update Copier template |
pr-labels |
(optional) Comma-separated list of labels to apply to the PR. |
"" |
commit-message |
(optional) Commit message for template updates. |
chore: apply Copier template update |
checkout-ref |
(optional) Git ref to check out before applying template updates. |
"" |
template-ref |
(optional) Copier template ref to update from. Defaults to checkout-ref, then HEAD. |
"" |
answers-file |
(optional) Copier answers file to use for the update. |
.copier-answers.yml |
managed-paths |
(optional) Newline-delimited paths managed by the template, excluding the answers file. Use . to include all files. |
. |
Secrets
| Name |
Description |
Required |
token |
(optional) Token used for checkout, push, PR operations, failure issue maintenance, and label setup. |
No |
Outputs
| Name |
Description |
changed |
Whether template changes were produced by Copier. |
changed-files |
Newline-delimited list of Copier-managed files changed by the update. |
branch |
Branch name used for the update, whether a PR was created or changes were pushed directly. |
pr-url |
URL for the updater PR, if one was created or updated. |
Permissions
- Requires
contents: write, pull-requests: write, issues: write, and actions: write.
actions: write is needed when template updates modify .github/workflows/*.
Advanced
- Skips the Copier update entirely when the configured answers file is missing.
- Only changes under the configured managed paths and answers file count toward the
changed output, so other files do not open an update PR.
- Logs the managed-file status, diffstat, and diff from the
Detect changes step and includes the changed file list in successful update summaries.
- Fails before PR creation or branch push when Copier leaves merge conflicts in managed files, lists the conflicted files in the workflow summary, and prints index entries plus the managed diff in the log.
- Creates or updates one open failure issue with updater context and a local repro command if the workflow fails, then comments on and closes the issue after a later successful run.
- Writes a final workflow summary for both the PR and direct-push paths.
Examples
Disable PR creation and just validate the update path:
jobs:
template-update:
uses: athackst/ci/.github/workflows/copier_update.yml@main
with:
create-pr: false
answers-file: .copier-answers.docs.yml
managed-paths: docs
secrets:
token: $
