docs/content/actions/examples/using-scripts-to-test-your-code-on-a-runner.md

title, shortTitle, intro, versions, type, topics

title	shortTitle	intro	versions	type	topics
Using scripts to test your code on a runner	Use scripts to test your code on a runner	How to use essential {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} features for continuous integration (CI).	fpt ghes ghae ghec * > 3.1 * *	how_to	Workflows

{% data reusables.actions.enterprise-github-hosted-runners %}

Example overview

{% data reusables.actions.example-workflow-intro-ci %} When this workflow is triggered, it automatically runs a script that checks whether the {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} Docs site has any broken links.

{% data reusables.actions.example-diagram-intro %}

Features used in this example

{% data reusables.actions.example-table-intro %}

Feature	Implementation
{% data reusables.actions.push-table-entry %}
{% data reusables.actions.pull-request-table-entry %}
{% data reusables.actions.workflow-dispatch-table-entry %}
{% data reusables.actions.permissions-table-entry %}
{% data reusables.actions.concurrency-table-entry %}
Running the job on different runners, depending on the repository	runs-on
{% data reusables.actions.checkout-action-table-entry %}
{% data reusables.actions.setup-node-table-entry %}
Using a third-party action	trilom/file-changes-action
Running a script on the runner	Using ./script/rendered-content-link-checker.mjs

Example workflow

{% data reusables.actions.example-docs-engineering-intro %} check-broken-links-github-github.yml.

{% data reusables.actions.note-understanding-example %}

name: 'Link Checker: All English'

# **What it does**: Renders the content of every page and check all internal links.
# **Why we have it**: To make sure all links connect correctly.
# **Who does it impact**: Docs content.

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  pull_request:

permissions:
  contents: read
  # Needed for the 'trilom/file-changes-action' action
  pull-requests: read

# This allows a subsequently queued workflow run to interrupt previous runs
concurrency:
  group: {% raw %}'${{ github.workflow }} @ ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.label || github.head_ref || github.ref }}'{% endraw %}
  cancel-in-progress: true

jobs:
  check-links:
    runs-on: {% raw %}${{ fromJSON('["ubuntu-latest", "self-hosted"]')[github.repository == 'github/docs-internal'] }}{% endraw %}
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}

      - name: Setup node
        uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %}
        with:
          node-version: 16.13.x
          cache: npm

      - name: Install
        run: npm ci

      # Creates file "${{ env.HOME }}/files.json", among others
      - name: Gather files changed
        uses: trilom/file-changes-action@a6ca26c14274c33b15e6499323aac178af06ad4b
        with:
          fileOutput: 'json'

      # For verification
      - name: Show files changed
        run: cat $HOME/files.json

      - name: Link check (warnings, changed files)
        run: |
          ./script/rendered-content-link-checker.mjs \
            --language en \
            --max 100 \
            --check-anchors \
            --check-images \
            --verbose \
            --list $HOME/files.json

      - name: Link check (critical, all files)
        run: |
          ./script/rendered-content-link-checker.mjs \
            --language en \
            --exit \
            --verbose \
            --check-images \
            --level critical

Understanding the example

{% data reusables.actions.example-explanation-table-intro %}

Code	Explanation
name: 'Link Checker: All English'	{% data reusables.actions.explanation-name-key %}
on:	The on keyword lets you define the events that trigger when the workflow is run. You can define multiple events here. For more information, see "AUTOTITLE."
workflow_dispatch:	Add the workflow_dispatch event if you want to be able to manually run this workflow from the UI. For more information, see workflow_dispatch.
push: branches: - main	Add the push event, so that the workflow runs automatically every time a commit is pushed to a branch called main. For more information, see push.
pull_request:	Add the pull_request event, so that the workflow runs automatically every time a pull request is created or updated. For more information, see pull_request.
permissions: contents: read pull-requests: read	Modifies the default permissions granted to GITHUB_TOKEN. This will vary depending on the needs of your workflow. For more information, see "AUTOTITLE."
{% raw %} concurrency: group: '${{ github.workflow }} @ ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.label || github.head_ref || github.ref }}' {% endraw %}	Creates a concurrency group for specific events, and uses the || operator to define fallback values. For more information, see "AUTOTITLE."
cancel-in-progress: true	Cancels any currently running job or workflow in the same concurrency group.
jobs:	Groups together all the jobs that run in the workflow file.
check-links:	Defines a job with the ID check-links that is stored within the jobs key.
{% raw %} runs-on: ${{ fromJSON('["ubuntu-latest", "self-hosted"]')[github.repository == 'github/docs-internal'] }} {% endraw %}	Configures the job to run on a {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}-hosted runner or a self-hosted runner, depending on the repository running the workflow. In this example, the job will run on a self-hosted runner if the repository is named docs-internal and is within the github organization. If the repository doesn't match this path, then it will run on an ubuntu-latest runner hosted by {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %}. For more information on these options see "AUTOTITLE."
steps:	Groups together all the steps that will run as part of the check-links job. Each job in a workflow has its own steps section.
- name: Checkout uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-checkout %}	The uses keyword tells the job to retrieve the action named actions/checkout. This is an action that checks out your repository and downloads it to the runner, allowing you to run actions against your code (such as testing tools). You must use the checkout action any time your workflow will run against the repository's code or you are using an action defined in the repository.
- name: Setup node uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-setup-node %} with: node-version: 16.13.x cache: npm	This step uses the actions/setup-node action to install the specified version of the Node.js software package on the runner, which gives you access to the npm command.
- name: Install run: npm ci	The run keyword tells the job to execute a command on the runner. In this case, npm ci is used to install the npm software packages for the project.
- name: Gather files changed uses: trilom/file-changes-action@a6ca26c14274c33b15e6499323aac178af06ad4b with: fileOutput: 'json'	Uses the trilom/file-changes-action action to gather all the changed files. This example is pinned to a specific version of the action, using the a6ca26c14274c33b15e6499323aac178af06ad4b SHA.
- name: Show files changed run: cat $HOME/files.json	Lists the contents of files.json. This will be visible in the workflow run's log, and can be useful for debugging.
- name: Link check (warnings, changed files) run: | ./script/rendered-content-link-checker.mjs \ --language en \ --max 100 \ --check-anchors \ --check-images \ --verbose \ --list $HOME/files.json	This step uses run command to execute a script that is stored in the repository at script/rendered-content-link-checker.mjs and passes all the parameters it needs to run.
- name: Link check (critical, all files) run: | ./script/rendered-content-link-checker.mjs \ --language en \ --exit \ --verbose \ --check-images \ --level critical	This step also uses run command to execute a script that is stored in the repository at script/rendered-content-link-checker.mjs and passes a different set of parameters.

Next steps

{% data reusables.actions.learning-actions %}