Pull Request Commenter

Configuration

# .github/commenter.yml

Backend:
  where:
    path:
      matches: "backend/**/*"
  body: |
    :wave: You've changed Backend code, please:

    - [ ] Do this
    - [ ] And this
    - [ ] And that

Frontend:
  where:
    path:
      matches: "frontend/**/*"
  body: |
    :wave: You've changed Frontend code, please:

    - [ ] Do this
    - [ ] And this
    - [ ] And that

The keys are ignored, and for your own organizational use. We will find the first stanza where the PR's changed files matches any of the given paths and add a comment with the given body.

Usage

- uses: freckle/commenter-action@v1
  with:
    repo-token:
    # The `GITHUB_TOKEN` secret
    #
    # Required: false
    # Default: ${{ github.token }}

    configuration-path:
    # The path for the comment configurations
    #
    # Required: false
    # Default: .github/commenter.yml

    body-file-prefix:
    # The path for finding body markdown files
    #
    # Required: false
    # Default: .github/commenter/

Inputs

name	description	required	default
repo-token	The GITHUB_TOKEN secret	false	${{ github.token }}
configuration-path	The path for the comment configurations	false	.github/commenter.yml
body-file-prefix	The path for finding body markdown files	false	.github/commenter/

Permissions

Running this action requires the following permissions:

permissions:
  contents: read
  pull-requests: write

These are required to be explicitly set for repositories with restricted default access for workflows or to allow a workflow run triggered by Dependabot pull requests, which are run as if they are from a forked repository and use a read-only GITHUB_TOKEN.

Additional Options

You can also match based on specific file changes by supplying the diff where-clause configuration key.

For example, if you wanted to comment on any changes that contain the word "unsafe" you could supply a YAML configuration like the following

UnsafeMentionedInCode:
  where:
    path:
      matches: "backend/**/*.hs"
    diff:
      contains:
        - unsafe
  body: |
    :wave: Hi, I see a mention of "unsafe" in Haskell code. If you removed it,
    good going! If you added it, please consider finding a safer alternative!

diff.adds and diff.removes are also supported, to match on specifically additions or removals of certain text.

Use where.author.any to only comment on PRs that authored by specific users, and where.labels.any to only comment when specific labels are present. Keep in mind that all where conditions must be satisfied for a comment to be made:

CommentOnAutomatedUpdate:
  where:
    path:
      matches: "*/**/yarn.lock"
    author:
      any:
        - dependabot[bot]
    labels:
      any:
        - Frontend
  body: |
    This is an automated update to the frontend lockfile. Please verify the
    integrity of the packages being updated.

Reading the Comment Body from a File

If body is omitted, a file named .github/commenter/{name}.md is read from the default branch for the comment contents. The .github/commenter/ prefix can be changed via inputs.body-file-prefix. The complete path, or just the name part, can be specified via the body-file and body-file-name attributes of the configuration, respectively.

Development

• Package manager: pnpm (Node version pinned in .nvmrc)
• pnpm build — tsc then ncc, bundles to dist/index.js
• pnpm test — Vitest
• pnpm coverage — Vitest with coverage, gated at the levels in vitest.config.js (main.ts excluded: thin wiring, covered by the integration CI job instead)
• pnpm typecheck — tsc --noEmit, includes test files
• pnpm lint — ESLint
• pnpm format / pnpm format-check — Prettier
• pnpm knip — unused files/dependencies/exports
• CI runs all of the above on every PR, then runs the built action end to end in the integration job

Versioning

Versioned tags will exist, such as v1.0.0 and v2.1.1. Tags will also exist for each major version, such as v1 or v2 and point to the newest version in that series.

Release

To trigger a release (and update the @v{major} tag), merge a commit to main that follows Conventional Commits. In short,

• fix: to trigger a patch release,
• feat: to trigger minor, or
• <type>!: or add a BREAKING CHANGE: trailer to trigger major

We don't enforce conventional commits generally (though you are free do so), it's only required if you want to trigger release.

Acknowledgements

This action was highly inspired by (and began as a copy of) @actions/labeler.

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LICENSE