Workflow commands for GitHub Actions

About workflow commands

Actions can communicate with the runner machine to set environment variables, output values used by other actions, add debug messages to the output logs, and other tasks.

Most workflow commands use the echo command in a specific format, while others are invoked by writing to a file. For more information, see "Environment files."

Example

echo "::workflow-command parameter1={data},parameter2={data}::{command value}"

Write-Output "::workflow-command parameter1={data},parameter2={data}::{command value}"

Using workflow commands to access toolkit functions

The actions/toolkit includes a number of functions that can be executed as workflow commands. Use the :: syntax to run the workflow commands within your YAML file; these commands are then sent to the runner over stdout. For example, instead of using code to set an output, as below:

core.setOutput('SELECTED_COLOR', 'green');

Example: Setting a value

You can use the set-output command in your workflow to set the same value:

      - name: Set selected color
        run: echo '::set-output name=SELECTED_COLOR::green'
        id: random-color-generator
      - name: Get color
        run: echo "The selected color is ${{ steps.random-color-generator.outputs.SELECTED_COLOR }}"

      - name: Set selected color
        run: Write-Output "::set-output name=SELECTED_COLOR::green"
        id: random-color-generator
      - name: Get color
        run: Write-Output "The selected color is ${{ steps.random-color-generator.outputs.SELECTED_COLOR }}"

The following table shows which toolkit functions are available within a workflow: