actions.nix - generate GitHub/Gitea actions using nix

Features

• Contains a nix module in nix/flake-modules/ci/ that converts nix configuration into GitHub/Gitea action syntax yaml
• Module contains definition of a pre-commit hook, using git-hooks.nix, that converts ci configuration into respective workflow files in the path defined in configuration

Why

• Write your action logic in nix and transform that into yaml actions

• Use the full capabilities of nix generate logic rather than writing it in plain yaml

  • The aim is to let nix handle action generation logic rather than trying to generate it based on complex logic defined in this project
  • Examples and reusable definitions will be added to this project

• Reuse action definitions written in nix across repositories rather than copy-pasting yaml across repositories

Example

See nix/ci/default.nix for action configuration in nix. This is turned by the pre-commit hook, or by running nix run .#render-ci, into the workflow file in .github/workflows/main.yaml.

Installation

This project uses flake-parts. You need to add the module exposed by this repository and configure your own workflows.

  inputs.flake-parts.lib.mkFlake { inherit inputs; }
    ({ self, inputs, config, flake-parts-lib, ... }@args:
      {
        imports = [
          inputs.actions-nix.flakeModules.default
          # Module config for your repository (replace with your own below)
          # ./ci
        ];
      });

About

This is a work-in-progress project. My plan is to implement all functionality I need for minimizing action code repetition across my own various projects.

The aim is to be minimal and allow free-form configuration by users instead of trying to generate it using logic in this project. Main purpose of this project is to write action logic in nix rather than yaml. The opportunities opened by using nix are mainly left for users to exploit.