If you're participating in the GitHub Actions Hackathon and you need some help with your submission, this is the place to be!
If you have any questions about how this hackathon works (ex: due dates, how to post your submission, picking a category, etc.) the DEV team will be available to help out.
If you are running into issues or get stuck when it comes to GitHub Actions and workflows, @blackgirlbytes and @mishmanners from team GitHub will be closely monitoring this thread. Be sure to tag them if you need any GitHub guidance.
Please comment below if you need asynchronous assistance with the GitHub Actions Hackathon 2021!
If you'd like to share an update on the progress you're making on your project or if you'd like to connect with other participants, please do so in the community update thread!
Top comments (74)
Hey, new to Github Actions here! Curious about what it means to use an action in a workflow. Can you link to good examples and blog posts so I can start cooking up ideas?
Hey, I've curated this list of resources on GitHub actions, Check it out😊
twitter.com/coderlens/status/14597...
This is great, Lenin! Thank you!
ok this is awesome thank you!
@cerchie highly recommend you check out this blog from @blackgirlbytes ! 😊
Thanks Gracie!!! @cerchie you can also check out these two blog posts:
docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-g...,
damienaicheh.github.io/github/acti...
Thank you Rizel!!
Thank you!
Really excited for this Hackathon 🚀🔥
But where can I register for this hackathon?
looks like if you follow the submission rules here you should be good, but I'd definitely also wait on an offical DEV.to rep to answer as well dev.to/devteam/join-us-for-the-202...
Yep, you're right @cerchie by following the submission rules outlined in the doc, you should be good to go. No need to register for the hackathon. Only a submission is needed.
Ok Thanks 👍
Ok so we don't have to register by filling any form to participate just like other hackathon . Just write a post on Devto before 8 December with the given submission template right!
Hello @blackgirlbytes, @mishmanners and all participants! Thank you for organizing such a stimulating event. I've learned so many things about GitHub Actions in the last few days that I can't count.
I developed a Developers' Collaborative Playlist with using GitHub Actions and documented it:
Developers' Collaborative Playlist
oz9un ・ Dec 7 ・ 6 min read
I also referenced to my GitHub repository in this dev article. Is there anything else I need to do to participate in the competition?
Lastly, are we allowed to keep developing our project after the hackathon's deadline?
Even now, my project has been used by many people and I received excellent feedbacks and I made some fixes about that. Can I continue to do this after the competition is over? Or should we not touch the projects and stop to commit after the competition deadline?
Thanks for this amazing contest again!
Love this! And definitely keep developing the project after the hackathon ❤️
Hey @oz9un ! Awesome project. As long as you've done the steps below you should be all set:
You can continue to work on your project after submitting!
Hi @geopjr ! Apologies that you're having this issue. I will try to flag your issue to the right group. The good news is you don't have to publish your action to the marketplace to participate in the Hackathon. In the rules outlined, here's all you need to do:
Review these guidelines for more info: dev.to/devteam/join-us-for-the-202...
Hello Rizèl,
Can the code and github actions YAML files be the same repository or should there be two separate repos?
Will the Github Actions Hackathon project DEV post be publicly available and searchable at this website immediately after submission?
Please advise.
Thank you. Regards.
Can be the same repo. Just make sure publicly available and link it into your DEV post. Hope you went well with the submission ❤️
Hello from New York City!
My GitHub Actions Hackathon 2021 was completed on time.
Another DEV.to community member noted a typo in my post.
If my post is edited to correct the typo, will the post's time stamp be updated and possibly disqualify my hackathon submission?
Thank you.
Hi @blackgirlbytes and @mishmanners
I have a technical question regarding GitHub Actions.
Is it applicable to cache checkout actions?
I mean, if I use multiple workflows that do require to checkout my repository, should I apply the same process each and every time I execute any of these workflows or does the cache action provide any alternative?
I know that caching the checkout isn't the right approach as we do need a new and clean version of the repository after each and every commit, but I also do think that cloning the same repository at each workflow is a little bit time consuming and doesn't make sense. So, what I'm really searching for is a way to only apply checkout once across multiple workflows and load the checkout out directory whenever needed.
I did some research on this topic but I found nothing except this unanswered discussion:
github.com/actions/checkout/discus...
Any help would be appreciated...
Hey @shehab7osny ! @mishmanners and I did a bit of research, and it looks like for the source code itself we would generally recommend the checkout is most appropriate. By default, it only pulls the latest commit rather than full history so the amount of data being transferred is already reasonably low. You can save significant time by enabling dependency caching when setting up your environment (such as Node or Python). See the relevant setup action (such as github.blog/changelog/2021-07-02-g...) and look for the ‘cache:’ attribute.
I'm checking in on this and will be back to you soon 😄
Thank you a lot Michelle for your efforts! Take your time 😄
See @blackgirlbytes ' amazing response from our team above 😄
Many thanks for you @mishmanners and @blackgirlbytes ! Much appreciated... I didn't know that
actions/checkout@v2only pulls the latest commit rather than full history. This will definitely help! However, I'm building a C++ project with a varying customizable environment. So, it wouldn't be easy to cache the whole environment, but I will give it a shot anyways. One more time, thank you a lot for the help 😊@mishmanners @blackgirlbytes I know it's late to ask, but could you kindly check these submissions for eligibility? - first time writing on Dev, tried keeping the content relevant and examples to a minimum, wasn't sure how to structure motivation and some links in the given template 😅
Generate PDF handbook with Docusaurus using GitHub Actions
TED Vortex (Teodor Eugen Duțulescu) for Open Sauced ・ Dec 7 ・ 5 min read
How to lint PRs and welcome contributors using GitHub Actions
TED Vortex (Teodor Eugen Duțulescu) for Open Sauced ・ Dec 7 ・ 2 min read
Semantic release to npm and/or ghcr without any tooling
TED Vortex (Teodor Eugen Duțulescu) for Open Sauced ・ Dec 7 ・ 7 min read
Automatically update git major tags on GitHub marketplace release
TED Vortex (Teodor Eugen Duțulescu) for Open Sauced ・ Dec 7 ・ 2 min read
They look eligible to me! Great work!
awesome, thank you for the quick reply!
Hi @blackgirlbytes and @mishmanners
First of all, thank you a lot for organizing such a great hackathon, I really do appreciate it!
Okay so now I have a doubt regarding the hackathon, the following paragraph is mentioned in the original post:
For this year’s hackathon, we’re encouraging participants to utilize existing GitHub Actions to create workflows that make sense in the real world. While you are free to create a new Action, the emphasis of this contest is to create practical and interesting solutions other developers can utilize to solve problems with open source.
Does this mean that workflows that use actions/Any_Action in their jobs are preferred than others that use custom-made actions such as shehab7osny/Any_Action, right? or does it mean to stick to the Actions currently available on the GitHub Actions' marketplace without the need to develop new ones?
The idea is you'll need to either create an Action or workflow FROM an existing Action (preferred), or create a new Action entirely. Look at what's on the Actions marketplace and build on one of those. Don't forget to write a blog post about it 😄
Hi @mishmanners
Thank you a lot for replying! I beg your pardon, but I find the phrase
create an Action FROM an existing Actiona little bit conflicting with the phrase in the original postutilize existing GitHub Actions to create workflows. As in your comment, it is suggested to create an Action while in the original post it is suggested to create a Workflow.As the GitHub Actions Documentation states, Actions are “individual tasks that you can combine to create jobs and customize your workflow”. On the other hand, Workflows are “custom automated processes that you can set up in your repository to build, test, package, release, or deploy any project on GitHub”
So, am I supposed to create a Workflow from an existing Action or create an Action FROM an existing Action?
Thank you a lot for your help @blackgirlbytes and @mishmanners
I'm so sorry for any disturbance caused.
Feel free to create either one; an Action or a workflow. As long as it's new, and utilises an existing Action, and you write a blog post about it 😄
Hi @graciegregory & friends
This is an awesome idea!
I contributed a github action to "lint" Podcast transcripts to the Changelog podcast, and wrote a blog post about it on the Changelog blog. Can I repurpose that here? Would it be a valid submission?
Link on the changelog blog:
changelog.com/posts/auto-improved-...
If you created a new action or workflow, then definitely feel free to include 😄
If anyone has questions, I'm happy to help!
Will it be solo or team work(4 members)base hackathon?
Same question for me as well. Up!!
Hey @star_trooper and @riocantre , solo entries are allowed and so are group entries. I believe the preference is to keep it under 4 members per team. You can learn more about the hackathon rules at this link: dev.to/page/official-hackathon-rules
Thanks 👍
Thank you!
Hello from New York City,
When there are multiple YAML files for Github Actions, what determines the sequence of which YAML file is to run first, second, third and so on? Is it advisable to put all actions in a single YML file?
Thank you..
Hey @anthonyalvarez , I would advise you to put them into a single file. There's nothing that determines the sequence across multiple file. I don't know your exact use case, but maybe reusable workflows would be helpful here. You can find out more about reusable workflows at this link: dev.to/github/github-actions-you-c...
Hello from New York City,
This is my first attempt to make a Github Action but have some questions about Github actions for local development and testing.
Can Github actions be created in a dev branch on a local repo on my PC and then uploaded to Github.com website?
Can the Github actions be tested on a dev branch on the Github.com website?
Finally can the Github actions in dev be merged into the master branch or is it best to create Action files on master branch using Github c.com website and avoid using dev branches and eventually merging with master?
Thank you.
Hi Anthony!!! Happy to answer these questions.
Here's a reference on how to build your first workflow: dev.to/github/github-actions-build...
Do existing blog post and workflow (just made ond in August matching the contest) count ? Or should I write another blog post ?
I'm copying and pasting @mishmanners answer right here because I think it was a great one!!!
"This hackathon is about leveraging existing Actions. If you created a workflow a few months back, then it's an existing Action.
I'd recommend building on this existing Action you already created and submitting that along with your blog post. You could mention why you created the existing Action, and then how you built on that during this hackathon.
Good luck ❤️"
Only new blog posts will be accepted. We are also encouraging people to create new workflows from existing Actions.
Can we submit the workflow which was made a few months back?
This hackathon is about leveraging existing Actions. If you created a workflow a few months back, then it's an existing Action.
I'd recommend building on this existing Action you already created and submitting that along with your blog post. You could mention why you created the existing Action, and then how you built on that during this hackathon.
Good luck ❤️
Here to help if people need!