How to combine two action.yml files in one repo?

In GitHub Actions, it is common to combine multiple action.yml files, which typically means you need to integrate multiple independently defined actions into a single workflow.

First, we need to understand that action.yml files are actually configuration files used to define individual actions. If you want to use multiple actions in a repository, you typically reference them in a workflow file, such as .github/workflows/main.yml.

Steps to Follow:

1. Define Actions: Each action should have its own directory and action.yml file. For example:

   • action-a/action.yml
   • action-b/action.yml

2. Create a Workflow: Create a workflow file in the .github/workflows directory, such as main.yml.

3. Reference Actions in the Workflow: In the workflow file main.yml, you can reference actions in the repository using the uses keyword. For example:

yaml
name: Example Workflow
on: [push]
jobs:
  job1:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Run Action A
        uses: ./action-a
      - name: Run Action B
        uses: ./action-b

Here, uses: ./action-a and uses: ./action-b point to the two different actions defined in the repository.

Example:

Suppose you have two actions: one for setting up the environment (e.g., configuring Node.js) and another for running tests. You can structure your repository as follows:

• .github/actions/setup-node/action.yml: This file defines the action for setting up the Node.js environment.
• .github/actions/run-tests/action.yml: This file defines the action for running tests.

Then, your workflow file .github/workflows/main.yml might look like this:

yaml
name: CI Workflow
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
  build-and-test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-node

      - name: Run Tests
        uses: ./.github/actions/run-tests

In this example, each action is organized in a separate directory and is called individually through the uses field in the workflow. This allows you to combine and reuse actions flexibly across different workflows.