![act-logo](https://github.com/nektos/act/wiki/img/logo-150.png)

# Overview [![push](https://github.com/nektos/act/workflows/push/badge.svg?branch=master&event=push)](https://github.com/nektos/act/actions) [![Join the chat at https://gitter.im/nektos/act](https://badges.gitter.im/nektos/act.svg)](https://gitter.im/nektos/act?utm_source=badge&utm_medium=badge&utm_campaign=pr-badge&utm_content=badge) [![Go Report Card](https://goreportcard.com/badge/github.com/nektos/act)](https://goreportcard.com/report/github.com/nektos/act) [![awesome-runners](https://img.shields.io/badge/listed%20on-awesome--runners-blue.svg)](https://github.com/jonico/awesome-runners)

> "Think globally, `act` locally"

Run your [GitHub Actions](https://developer.github.com/actions/) locally! Why would you want to do this? Two reasons:

- **Fast Feedback** - Rather than having to commit/push every time you want to test out the changes you are making to your `.github/workflows/` files (or for any changes to embedded GitHub actions), you can use `act` to run the actions locally. The [environment variables](https://help.github.com/en/actions/configuring-and-managing-workflows/using-environment-variables#default-environment-variables) and [filesystem](https://help.github.com/en/actions/reference/virtual-environments-for-github-hosted-runners#filesystems-on-github-hosted-runners) are all configured to match what GitHub provides.
- **Local Task Runner** - I love [make](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make_(software)>). However, I also hate repeating myself. With `act`, you can use the GitHub Actions defined in your `.github/workflows/` to replace your `Makefile`!

# How Does It Work?

When you run `act` it reads in your GitHub Actions from `.github/workflows/` and determines the set of actions that need to be run. It uses the Docker API to either pull or build the necessary images, as defined in your workflow files and finally determines the execution path based on the dependencies that were defined. Once it has the execution path, it then uses the Docker API to run containers for each action based on the images prepared earlier. The [environment variables](https://help.github.com/en/actions/configuring-and-managing-workflows/using-environment-variables#default-environment-variables) and [filesystem](https://help.github.com/en/actions/reference/virtual-environments-for-github-hosted-runners#filesystems-on-github-hosted-runners) are all configured to match what GitHub provides.

Let's see it in action with a [sample repo](https://github.com/cplee/github-actions-demo)!

![Demo](https://github.com/nektos/act/wiki/quickstart/act-quickstart-2.gif)

# Installation

## Necessary prerequisites for running `act`

`act` depends on `docker` to run workflows.

If you are using macOS, please be sure to follow the steps outlined in [Docker Docs for how to install Docker Desktop for Mac](https://docs.docker.com/docker-for-mac/install/).

If you are using Windows, please follow steps for [installing Docker Desktop on Windows](https://docs.docker.com/docker-for-windows/install/).

If you are using Linux, you will need to [install Docker Engine](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/).

`act` is currently not supported with `podman` or other container backends (it might work, but it's not guaranteed). Please see [#303](https://github.com/nektos/act/issues/303) for updates.

## Homebrew

To install with [Homebrew](https://brew.sh/), run:

```shell
brew install act
```

Alternatively, you can use the following:

```shell
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nektos/act/master/install.sh | sudo bash
```

If you are running Windows, download the [latest release](https://github.com/nektos/act/releases/latest) and add the binary into your PATH.
If you are using [Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org/) then run:

[![choco-shield](https://img.shields.io/chocolatey/v/act-cli)](https://community.chocolatey.org/packages/act-cli)

```shell
choco install act-cli
```

If you are using [Scoop](https://scoop.sh/) then run:

[![scoop-shield](https://img.shields.io/scoop/v/act)](https://github.com/ScoopInstaller/Main/blob/master/bucket/act.json)

```shell
scoop install act
```

If you are running Arch Linux, you can install the [act](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/act/) package with your favorite package manager:

[![aur-shield](https://img.shields.io/aur/version/act)](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/act/)

```shell
yay -S act
```

If you are using NixOS or the Nix package manager on another platform you can install act globally by running

```sh
nix-env -iA nixpkgs.act
```

or in a shell by running

```sh
nix-shell -p act
```

If you have Go 1.16+, you can install latest released version of `act` directly from source by running:

```sh
go install github.com/nektos/act@latest
```

or if you want to install latest unreleased version:

```sh
go install github.com/nektos/act@master
```

# Commands

```sh
# Command structure:
act [<event>] [options]
If no event name passed, will default to "on: push"

# List the actions for the default event:
act -l

# List the actions for a specific event:
act workflow_dispatch -l

# Run the default (`push`) event:
act

# Run a specific event:
act pull_request

# Run a specific job:
act -j test

# Run in dry-run mode:
act -n

# Enable verbose-logging (can be used with any of the above commands)
act -v
```

## First `act` run

When running `act` for the first time, it will ask you to choose image to be used as default.
It will save that information to `~/.actrc`, please refer to [Configuration](#configuration) for more information about `.actrc` and to [Runners](#runners) for information about used/available Docker images.

# Flags

```none
  -a, --actor string                    user that triggered the event (default "nektos/act")
  -b, --bind                            bind working directory to container, rather than copy
      --container-architecture string   Architecture which should be used to run containers, e.g.: linux/amd64. If not specified, will use host default architecture. Requires Docker server API Version 1.41+. Ignored on earlier Docker server platforms.
      --defaultbranch string            the name of the main branch
      --detect-event                    Use first event type from workflow as event that triggered the workflow
  -C, --directory string                working directory (default ".")
  -n, --dryrun                          dryrun mode
      --env stringArray                 env to make available to actions with optional value (e.g. --env myenv=foo or -s myenv)
      --env-file string                 environment file to read and use as env in the containers (default ".env")
  -e, --eventpath string                path to event JSON file
      --github-instance string          GitHub instance to use. Don't use this if you are not using GitHub Enterprise Server. (default "github.com")
  -g, --graph                           draw workflows
  -h, --help                            help for act
      --insecure-secrets                NOT RECOMMENDED! Doesn't hide secrets while printing logs.
  -j, --job string                      run job
  -l, --list                            list workflows
  -P, --platform stringArray            custom image to use per platform (e.g. -P ubuntu-18.04=nektos/act-environments-ubuntu:18.04)
      --privileged                      use privileged mode
  -p, --pull                            pull docker image(s) even if already present
  -q, --quiet                           disable logging of output from steps
  -r, --reuse                           reuse action containers to maintain state
  -s, --secret stringArray              secret to make available to actions with optional value (e.g. -s mysecret=foo or -s mysecret)
      --secret-file string              file with list of secrets to read from (e.g. --secret-file .secrets) (default ".secrets")
      --use-gitignore                   Controls whether paths specified in .gitignore should be copied into container (default true)
      --userns string                   user namespace to use
  -v, --verbose                         verbose output
  -w, --watch                           watch the contents of the local repo and run when files change
  -W, --workflows string                path to workflow file(s) (default "./.github/workflows/")
```

In case you want to pass a value for `${{ github.token }}`, you should pass `GITHUB_TOKEN` as secret: `act -s GITHUB_TOKEN=[insert token or leave blank for secure input]`.

# Known Issues

## `MODULE_NOT_FOUND`

A `MODULE_NOT_FOUND` during `docker cp` command [#228](https://github.com/nektos/act/issues/228) can happen if you are relying on local changes that have not been pushed. This can get triggered if the action is using a path, like:

```yaml
- name: test action locally
  uses: ./
```

In this case, you _must_ use `actions/checkout@v2` with a path that _has the same name as your repository_. If your repository is called _my-action_, then your checkout step would look like:

```yaml
steps:
  - name: Checkout
    uses: actions/checkout@v2
    with:
      path: "my-action"
```

If the `path:` value doesn't match the name of the repository, a `MODULE_NOT_FOUND` will be thrown.

# Runners

GitHub Actions offers managed [virtual environments](https://help.github.com/en/actions/reference/virtual-environments-for-github-hosted-runners) for running workflows. In order for `act` to run your workflows locally, it must run a container for the runner defined in your workflow file. Here are the images that `act` uses for each runner type and size:

| GitHub Runner   | Micro Docker Image                   | Medium Docker Image                        | Large Docker Image                                  |
| --------------- | ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------- |
| `ubuntu-latest` | [`node:12.20.1-buster-slim`][micro]  | [`catthehacker/ubuntu:act-latest`][medium] | [`catthehacker/ubuntu:full-20.04`][large-cat]       |
| `ubuntu-20.04`  | [`node:12.20.1-buster-slim`][micro]  | [`catthehacker/ubuntu:act-20.04`][medium]  | [`catthehacker/ubuntu:full-20.04`][large-cat]       |
| `ubuntu-18.04`  | [`node:12.20.1-buster-slim`][micro]  | [`catthehacker/ubuntu:act-18.04`][medium]  | [`nektos/act-environments-ubuntu:18.04`][large-act] |
| `ubuntu-16.04`  | [`node:12.20.1-stretch-slim`][micro] | [`catthehacker/ubuntu:act-16.04`][medium]  | `unavailable`                                       |

[micro]: https://hub.docker.com/_/buildpack-deps
[medium]: https://github.com/catthehacker/docker_images
[large-cat]: https://github.com/catthehacker/act-environments
[large-act]: https://github.com/nektos/act-environments

Below platforms are currently **unsupported and won't work** (see issue [#97](https://github.com/nektos/act/issues/97))

- `windows-latest`
- `windows-2019`
- `macos-latest`
- `macos-10.15`

## Please see [IMAGES.md](./IMAGES.md) for more information about the Docker images that can be used with `act`

## Default runners are intentionally incomplete

These default images do **not** contain **all** the tools that GitHub Actions offers by default in their runners.
Many things can work improperly or not at all while running those image.
Additionally, some software might still not work even if installed properly, since GitHub Actions are running in fully virtualized machines while `act` is using Docker containers (e.g. Docker does not support running `systemd`).
In case of any problems [please create issue](https://github.com/nektos/act/issues/new/choose) in respective repository (issues with `act` in this repository, issues with `nektos/act-environments-ubuntu:18.04` in [`nektos/act-environments`](https://github.com/nektos/act-environments) and issues with any image from user `catthehacker` in [`catthehacker/docker_images`](https://github.com/catthehacker/docker_images))

## Alternative runner images

If you need an environment that works just like the corresponding GitHub runner then consider using an image provided by [nektos/act-environments](https://github.com/nektos/act-environments):

- [`nektos/act-environments-ubuntu:18.04`](https://hub.docker.com/r/nektos/act-environments-ubuntu/tags) - built from the Packer file GitHub uses in [actions/virtual-environments](https://github.com/actions/runner).

:warning: :elephant: `*** WARNING - this image is >18GB 😱***`

- [`catthehacker/ubuntu:full-20.04`](https://hub.docker.com/r/catthehacker/ubuntu/tags) - built from Dockerfile based on the Packer template from [actions/virtual-environments](https://github.com/actions/runner).
  This image size is about `61GB` unpacked (`23GB` compressed) but contains more recent software versions (as of date of build).

## Use an alternative runner image

To use a different image for the runner, use the `-P` option.

```sh
act -P <platform>=<docker-image>
```

If your workflow uses `ubuntu-18.04`, consider below line as an example for changing Docker image used to run that workflow:

```sh
act -P ubuntu-18.04=nektos/act-environments-ubuntu:18.04
```

If you use multiple platforms in your workflow, you have to specify them to change which image is used.
For example, if your workflow uses `ubuntu-18.04`, `ubuntu-16.04` and `ubuntu-latest`, specify all platforms like below

```sh
act -P ubuntu-18.04=nektos/act-environments-ubuntu:18.04 -P ubuntu-latest=ubuntu:latest -P ubuntu-16.04=node:12.20.1-buster-slim
```

# Secrets

To run `act` with secrets, you can enter them interactively, supply them as environment variables or load them from a file. The following options are available for providing secrets:

- `act -s MY_SECRET=somevalue` - use `somevalue` as the value for `MY_SECRET`.
- `act -s MY_SECRET` - check for an environment variable named `MY_SECRET` and use it if it exists. If the environment variable is not defined, prompt the user for a value.
- `act --secret-file my.secrets` - load secrets values from `my.secrets` file.
  - secrets file format is the same as `.env` format

# Configuration

You can provide default configuration flags to `act` by either creating a `./.actrc` or a `~/.actrc` file. Any flags in the files will be applied before any flags provided directly on the command line. For example, a file like below will always use the `nektos/act-environments-ubuntu:18.04` image for the `ubuntu-latest` runner:

```sh
# sample .actrc file
-P ubuntu-latest=nektos/act-environments-ubuntu:18.04
```

Additionally, act supports loading environment variables from an `.env` file. The default is to look in the working directory for the file but can be overridden by:

```sh
act --env-file my.env
```

`.env`:

```env
MY_ENV_VAR=MY_ENV_VAR_VALUE
MY_2ND_ENV_VAR="my 2nd env var value"
```

# Skipping steps

Act adds a special environment variable `ACT` that can be used to skip a step that you
don't want to run locally. E.g. a step that posts a Slack message or bumps a version number.

```yml
- name: Some step
  if: ${{ !env.ACT }}
  run: |
    ...
```

# Events

Every [GitHub event](https://developer.github.com/v3/activity/events/types) is accompanied by a payload. You can provide these events in JSON format with the `--eventpath` to simulate specific GitHub events kicking off an action. For example:

```json
{
  "pull_request": {
    "head": {
      "ref": "sample-head-ref"
    },
    "base": {
      "ref": "sample-base-ref"
    }
  }
}
```

```sh
act -e pull-request.json
```

Act will properly provide `github.head_ref` and `github.base_ref` to the action as expected.

# GitHub Enterprise

Act supports using and authenticating against private GitHub Enterprise servers.
To use your custom GHE server, set the CLI flag `--github-instance` to your hostname (e.g. `github.company.com`).

Please note that if your GHE server requires authentication, we will use the secret provided via `GITHUB_TOKEN`.

Please also see the [official documentation for GitHub actions on GHE](https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-server@3.0/admin/github-actions/about-using-actions-in-your-enterprise) for more information on how to use actions.

# Support

Need help? Ask on [Gitter](https://gitter.im/nektos/act)!

# Contributing

Want to contribute to act? Awesome! Check out the [contributing guidelines](CONTRIBUTING.md) to get involved.

## Manually building from source

- Install Go tools 1.16+ - (<https://golang.org/doc/install>)
- Clone this repo `git clone git@github.com:nektos/act.git`
- Run unit tests with `make test`
- Build and install: `make install`