echo "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" > path/to/dir-1/file1.txt
echo "Hello world from file#2" > path/to/dir-2/file2.txt
echo "This is a going to be a test for a large enough file that should get compressed with GZip. The @actions/artifact package uses GZip to upload files. This text should have a compression ratio greater than 100% so it should get uploaded using GZip" > path/to/dir-3/gzip.txt
# Upload a single file artifact
- name:'Upload artifact #1'
uses:./
with:
name:'Artifact-A'
name:'Artifact-A-${{ matrix.runs-on }}'
path:path/to/dir-1/file1.txt
# Upload using a wildcard pattern, name should default to 'artifact' if not provided
# Upload using a wildcard pattern
- name:'Upload artifact #2'
uses:./
with:
name:'Artifact-Wildcard-${{ matrix.runs-on }}'
path:path/**/dir*/
# Upload a directory that contains a file that will be uploaded with GZip
# Upload a multi-path artifact
- name:'Upload artifact #3'
uses:./
with:
name:'GZip-Artifact'
path:path/to/dir-3/
# Upload a directory that contains a file that will be uploaded with GZip
- name:'Upload artifact #4'
uses:./
with:
name:'Multi-Path-Artifact'
name:'Multi-Path-Artifact-${{ matrix.runs-on }}'
path:|
path/to/dir-1/*
path/to/dir-[23]/*
@ -88,9 +81,9 @@ jobs:
# Download Artifact #1 and verify the correctness of the content
- name:'Download artifact #1'
uses:actions/download-artifact@v3
uses:actions/download-artifact@v4-beta
with:
name:'Artifact-A'
name:'Artifact-A-${{ matrix.runs-on }}'
path:some/new/path
- name:'Verify Artifact #1'
@ -108,9 +101,9 @@ jobs:
# Download Artifact #2 and verify the correctness of the content
- name:'Download artifact #2'
uses:actions/download-artifact@v3
uses:actions/download-artifact@v4-beta
with:
name:'artifact'
name:'Artifact-Wildcard-${{ matrix.runs-on }}'
path:some/other/path
- name:'Verify Artifact #2'
@ -127,31 +120,11 @@ jobs:
}
shell:pwsh
# Download Artifact #3 and verify the correctness of the content
- name:'Download artifact #3'
uses:actions/download-artifact@v3
with:
name:'GZip-Artifact'
path:gzip/artifact/path
# Because a directory was used as input during the upload the parent directories, path/to/dir-3/, should not be included in the uploaded artifact
- name:'Verify Artifact #3'
run:|
$gzipFile = "gzip/artifact/path/gzip.txt"
if(!(Test-Path -path $gzipFile))
{
Write-Error "Expected file do not exist"
}
if(!((Get-Content $gzipFile) -ceq "This is a going to be a test for a large enough file that should get compressed with GZip. The @actions/artifact package uses GZip to upload files. This text should have a compression ratio greater than 100% so it should get uploaded using GZip"))
{
Write-Error "File contents of downloaded artifact is incorrect"
}
shell:pwsh
# Download Artifact #4 and verify the correctness of the content
❗ Not publicly available. If you try to use this version then it will fail. Available only internally at GitHub while in development. Stay tuned for public announcements soon about broader availability❗
This uploads artifacts from your workflow allowing you to share data between jobs and store data once a workflow is complete.
Upload [Actions Artifacts](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/storing-workflow-data-as-artifacts) from your Workflow Runs. Internally powered by [@actions/artifact](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/tree/main/packages/artifact) package.
See also [download-artifact](https://github.com/actions/download-artifact).
- [Upload an Individual File](#upload-an-individual-file)
- [Upload an Entire Directory](#upload-an-entire-directory)
- [Upload using a Wildcard Pattern](#upload-using-a-wildcard-pattern)
- [Upload using Multiple Paths and Exclusions](#upload-using-multiple-paths-and-exclusions)
- [Altering compressions level (speed v. size)](#altering-compressions-level-speed-v-size)
- [Customization if no files are found](#customization-if-no-files-are-found)
- [(Not) Uploading to the same artifact](#not-uploading-to-the-same-artifact)
- [Environment Variables and Tilde Expansion](#environment-variables-and-tilde-expansion)
- [Retention Period](#retention-period)
- [Using Outputs](#using-outputs)
- [Example output between steps](#example-output-between-steps)
- [Example output between jobs](#example-output-between-jobs)
- [Limitations](#limitations)
- [Number of Artifacts](#number-of-artifacts)
- [Zip archives](#zip-archives)
- [Permission Loss](#permission-loss)
- [Where does the upload go?](#where-does-the-upload-go)
## v4 - What's new
> [!IMPORTANT]
> upload-artifact@v4+ is not currently supported on GHES yet. If you are on GHES, you must use [v3](https://github.com/actions/upload-artifact/releases/tag/v3).
The release of upload-artifact@v4 and download-artifact@v4 are major changes to the backend architecture of Artifacts. They have numerous performance and behavioral improvements.
For more information, see the [`@actions/artifact`](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/tree/main/packages/artifact) documentation.
### Improvements
1. Uploads are significantly faster, upwards of 90% improvement in worst case scenarios.
2. Once uploaded, an Artifact ID is returned and Artifacts are immediately available in the UI and [REST API](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/actions/artifacts). Previously, you would have to wait for the run to be completed before an ID was available or any APIs could be utilized.
3. The contents of an Artifact are uploaded together into an _immutable_ archive. They cannot be altered by subsequent jobs. Both of these factors help reduce the possibility of accidentally corrupting Artifact files.
4. The compression level of an Artifact can be manually tweaked for speed or size reduction.
### Breaking Changes
🚧 Under construction 🚧
1. On self hosted runners, additional [firewall rules](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/tree/main/packages/artifact#breaking-changes) may be required.
2. Uploading to the same named Artifact multiple times.
Big changes coming...
Due to how Artifacts are created in this new version, it is no longer possible to upload to the same named Artifact multiple times. You must either split the uploads into multiple Artifacts with different names, or only upload once. Otherwise you _will_ encounter an error.
Refer [here](https://github.com/actions/upload-artifact/tree/releases/v3) for the previous version
3. Limit of Artifacts for an individual job. Each job in a workflow run now has a limit of 10 artifacts.
# Usage
## Usage
See [action.yml](action.yml)
### Inputs
```yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
# Name of the artifact to upload.
# Optional. Default is 'artifact'
name:
# A file, directory or wildcard pattern that describes what to upload
# Required.
path:
# The desired behavior if no files are found using the provided path.
# Available Options:
# warn: Output a warning but do not fail the action
# error: Fail the action with an error message
# ignore: Do not output any warnings or errors, the action does not fail
# Optional. Default is 'warn'
if-no-files-found:
# Duration after which artifact will expire in days. 0 means using default retention.
# Minimum 1 day.
# Maximum 90 days unless changed from the repository settings page.
# Optional. Defaults to repository settings.
retention-days:
# The level of compression for Zlib to be applied to the artifact archive.
# The value can range from 0 to 9.
# For large files that are not easily compressed, a value of 0 is recommended for significantly faster uploads.
# Optional. Default is '6'
compression-level:
```
### Outputs
| Name | Description | Example |
| - | - | - |
| `artifact-id` | GitHub ID of an Artifact, can be used by the REST API | `1234` |
## Examples
### Upload an Individual File
```yaml
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
- run: mkdir -p path/to/artifact
- run: echo hello > path/to/artifact/world.txt
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4-beta
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
name: my-artifact
path: path/to/artifact/world.txt
@ -37,7 +115,7 @@ steps:
### Upload an Entire Directory
```yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4-beta
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
name: my-artifact
path: path/to/artifact/ # or path/to/artifact
@ -46,7 +124,7 @@ steps:
### Upload using a Wildcard Pattern
```yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4-beta
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
name: my-artifact
path: path/**/[abc]rtifac?/*
@ -55,7 +133,7 @@ steps:
### Upload using Multiple Paths and Exclusions
```yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4-beta
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
name: my-artifact
path: |
@ -84,62 +162,105 @@ If multiple paths are provided as input, the least common ancestor of all the se
Relative and absolute file paths are both allowed. Relative paths are rooted against the current working directory. Paths that begin with a wildcard character should be quoted to avoid being interpreted as YAML aliases.
The [@actions/artifact](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/tree/main/packages/artifact) package is used internally to handle most of the logic around uploading an artifact. There is extra documentation around upload limitations and behavior in the toolkit repo that is worth checking out.
### Altering compressions level (speed v. size)
### Customization if no files are found
If you are uploading large or easily compressable data to your artifact, you may benefit from tweaking the compression level. By default, the compression level is `6`, the same as GNU Gzip.
If a path (or paths), result in no files being found for the artifact, the action will succeed but print out a warning. In certain scenarios it may be desirable to fail the action or suppress the warning. The `if-no-files-found` option allows you to customize the behavior of the action if no files are found:
The value can range from 0 to 9:
- 0: No compression
- 1: Best speed
- 6: Default compression (same as GNU Gzip)
- 9: Best compression
Higher levels will result in better compression, but will take longer to complete.
For large files that are not easily compressed, a value of `0` is recommended for significantly faster uploads.
For instance, if you are uploading random binary data, you can save a lot of time by opting out of compression completely, since it won't benefit:
if-no-files-found: error # 'warn' or 'ignore' are also available, defaults to `warn`
path: my-1gb-file
compression-level: 0 # no compression
```
### Conditional Artifact Upload
To upload artifacts only when the previous step of a job failed, use [`if: failure()`](https://help.github.com/en/articles/contexts-and-expression-syntax-for-github-actions#job-status-check-functions):
But, if you are uploading data that is easily compressed (like plaintext, code, etc) you can save space and cost by having a higher compression level. But this will be heavier on the CPU therefore slower to upload:
```yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4-beta
if: failure()
- name: Make a file with a lot of repeated text
run: |
for i in {1..100000}; do echo -n 'foobar' >> foobar.txt; done
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
name: my-artifact
path: path/to/artifact/
path: foobar.txt
compression-level: 9 # maximum compression
```
### Uploading without an artifact name
### Customization if no files are found
You can upload an artifact without specifying a name
If a path (or paths), result in no files being found for the artifact, the action will succeed but print out a warning. In certain scenarios it may be desirable to fail the action or suppress the warning. The `if-no-files-found` option allows you to customize the behavior of the action if no files are found:
```yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4-beta
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
path: path/to/artifact/world.txt
name: my-artifact
path: path/to/artifact/
if-no-files-found: error # 'warn' or 'ignore' are also available, defaults to `warn`
```
If not provided, `artifact` will be used as the default name which will manifest itself in the UI after upload.
### Uploading to the same artifact
### (Not) Uploading to the same artifact
Unlike earlier versions of `upload-artifact`, uploading to the same artifact via multiple jobs is _not_ supported with `v4`.
Unlike earlier versions of `upload-artifact`, uploading to the same artifact via multiple jobs is _not_ supported with `v4`.
```yaml
- run: echo hi > world.txt
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4-beta
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
# implicitly named as 'artifact'
path: world.txt
- run: echo howdy > extra-file.txt
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4-beta
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
# also implicitly named as 'artifact', will fail here!
path: extra-file.txt
```
Artifact names must be unique since each created artifact is idempotent so multiple jobs cannot modify the same artifact.
In matrix scenarios, be careful to not accidentally upload to the same artifact, or else you will encounter conflict errors. It would be best to name the artifact _with_ a prefix or suffix from the matrix:
This will result in artifacts like: `binary-ubuntu-latest-a`, `binary-windows-latest-b`, and so on.
Previously the behavior _allowed_ for the artifact names to be the same which resulted in unexpected mutations and accidental corruption. Artifacts created by upload-artifact@v4 are immutable.
### Environment Variables and Tilde Expansion
You can use `~` in the path input as a substitute for `$HOME`. Basic tilde expansion is supported:
@ -148,7 +269,7 @@ You can use `~` in the path input as a substitute for `$HOME`. Basic tilde expan
- run: |
mkdir -p ~/new/artifact
echo hello > ~/new/artifact/world.txt
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4-beta
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
name: Artifacts-V4-beta
path: ~/new/**/*
@ -163,7 +284,7 @@ Environment variables along with context expressions can also be used for input.
path: ${{ env.artifactPath }} # this will resolve to testing/file.txt at runtime
@ -192,7 +313,7 @@ Artifacts are retained for 90 days by default. You can specify a shorter retenti
run: echo "I won't live long" > my_file.txt
- name: Upload Artifact
uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4-beta
uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
name: my-artifact
path: my_file.txt
@ -201,14 +322,14 @@ Artifacts are retained for 90 days by default. You can specify a shorter retenti
The retention period must be between 1 and 90 inclusive. For more information see [artifact and log retention policies](https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/actions/reference/usage-limits-billing-and-administration#artifact-and-log-retention-policy).
## Outputs
### Using Outputs
If an artifact upload is successful then an `artifact-id` output is available. This ID is a unique identifier that can be used with [Artifact REST APIs](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/actions/artifacts).
### Example output between steps
#### Example output between steps
```yml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4-beta
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
id: artifact-upload-step
with:
name: my-artifact
@ -218,7 +339,7 @@ If an artifact upload is successful then an `artifact-id` output is available. T
run: echo 'Artifact ID is ${{ steps.artifact-upload-step.outputs.artifact-id }}'
Within an individual job, there is a limit of 10 artifacts that can be created for that job.
There is a trashcan icon that can be used to delete the artifact. This icon will only appear for users who have write permissions to the repository.
You may also be limited by Artifacts if you have exceeded your shared storage quota. Storage is calculated every 6-12 hours. See [the documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/billing/managing-billing-for-github-actions/about-billing-for-github-actions#calculating-minute-and-storage-spending) for more info.
The size of the artifact is denoted in bytes. The displayed artifact size denotes the size of the zip that `upload-artifact` creates during upload.
### Zip archives
When an Artifact is uploaded, all the files are assembled into an immutable Zip archive. There is currently no way to download artifacts in a format other than a Zip or to download individual artifact contents.
### Permission Loss
File permissions are not maintained during artifact upload. All directories will have `755` and all files will have `644`. For example, if you make a file executable using `chmod` and then upload that file, post-download the file is no longer guaranteed to be set as an executable.
If you must preserve permissions, you can `tar` all of your files together before artifact upload. Post download, the `tar` file will maintain file permissions and case sensitivity.
```yaml
- name: 'Tar files'
run: tar -cvf my_files.tar /path/to/my/directory
- name: 'Upload Artifact'
uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
with:
name: my-artifact
path: my_files.tar
```
## Additional Documentation
## Where does the upload go?
See [Storing workflow data as artifacts](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/advanced-guides/storing-workflow-data-as-artifacts) for additional examples and tips.
At the bottom of the workflow summary page, there is a dedicated section for artifacts. Here's a screenshot of something you might see:
See extra documentation for the [@actions/artifact](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/blob/main/packages/artifact/docs/additional-information.md) package that is used internally regarding certain behaviors and limitations.
Rob Herley
2 years ago
committed by
GitHub