Working with Steps

1. Defining Steps

Steps are the individual tasks that run in a job. Each step runs in its own process and can execute commands or actions.

Property	Description	Values
uses	Runs a reusable action from a repository	`actions/checkout@v4`
run	Runs shell commands in the runner environment	`npm install`
name	Human-readable name for the step	`Setup Node.js`
env	Environment variables for the step	`{ NODE_ENV: 'production' }`

2. Naming Steps

Each step can be given a descriptive name to improve readability and debugging.

Example: Naming Steps

steps:
  - name: "Checkout code"
    uses: actions/checkout@v4
  - name: "Setup Node.js"
    uses: actions/setup-node@v4

3. Running Shell Commands

The run keyword executes commands in the runner environment.

Example: Running Shell Commands

steps:
  - name: "Install dependencies"
    run: npm install

4. Using Actions

Actions are reusable units of code that can be shared and used in workflows.

Property	Description	Values
uses	Specifies the action to use	`actions/checkout@v4`
with	Input parameters for the action	`{ token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} }`
env	Environment variables for the action	`{ GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} }`

5. Setting Step Conditions

Conditions control whether a step runs based on the outcome of previous steps.

Property	Description	Values
if	Expression that determines whether to run the step	`success()`, `failure()`, `always()`
continue-on-error	Allows a step to fail without stopping the job	`true`, `false`

6. Setting Step Timeout

Timeouts prevent steps from running indefinitely.

Example: Setting Step Timeout

steps:
  - name: "Run long task"
    run: sleep 300
    timeout-minutes: 5

7. Setting Step Shell

Specify the shell to use for running commands.

Property	Description	Values
shell	Shell to use for commands	`bash`, `sh`, `powershell`

8. Setting Working Directory

Change the working directory for a step.

Example: Setting Working Directory

steps:
  - name: "Run in subdirectory"
    run: npm test
    working-directory: ./frontend

9. Configuring Step Environment Variables

Environment variables can be set per step to control behavior.

Example: Setting Environment Variables

steps:
  - name: "Build with env"
    run: npm run build
    env:
      NODE_ENV: production
      CI: true

10. Handling Step Failures

Steps can be configured to continue on failure or stop the job.

Property	Description	Values
continue-on-error	Allows a step to fail without stopping the job	`true`, `false`
if	Expression that determines whether to run the step	`success()`, `failure()`, `always()`

11. Using Step Outputs

Outputs from one step can be used in subsequent steps.

Example: Using Step Outputs

steps:
  - name: "Get version"
    id: version
    run: echo "version=1.0.0" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
  - name: "Use version"
    run: echo "Version is ${{ steps.version.outputs.version }}"

12. Running Steps in Containers

Steps can run inside Docker containers for isolated environments.

Example: Running Steps in Containers

steps:
  - name: "Run in container"
    uses: docker://node:18
    with:
      entrypoint: /bin/bash
      args: -c "npm install"