Github Actions Webhook Trigger

Quick API used to trigger GH Actions on your repos..

I needed something to trigger can action to update my Github profile when I post a new article to my blog.

Setting it up

1. Environment Variables

   This application uses an env.ini file for it's environment variables. You can rename the env.ini.example to env.ini and fill in the values as below.

   Key	Value
   key	API key to make sure it's you using the application. Smash your keyboard to generate a secure token.
   github-token	Your Github Access Token (Get one from here).
   owner	Your Github username
   repository	Your Github repo with the action you want to trigger.

2. The Action Itself

   The workflow.yml file needs to have some specific values for this to work. In particular, the repository_dispatch key. Example below.

   name: Latest blog post workflow
   on:
     repository_dispatch:
       types: [custom-event-type]
     workflow_dispatch:
   jobs:
     your jobs here

   Remember the custom-event-type. More on it later.

3. Starting Up FastAPI

   It's quite simple.

   uvicorn main:app --port=8000 

4. Reverse Proxy

   In my deployment I reverse proxied the app so that I can use it with a domain.

   server {
       listen 80;
       server_name domain.com;
   
       location / {
           proxy_pass              http://127.0.0.1:8000;
           proxy_set_header        X-Real-IP  $remote_addr;
           proxy_set_header        Host $host;
           proxy_set_header        X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
           proxy_set_header        X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
           proxy_redirect          off;
           proxy_buffering         off;
       }
   }
   

5. Using It

   Once you have everything set up and the server reachable on a public domain, it's time to use it.

   https://domain.com/do?event_type=custom-event-type&secret=key

   The custom-event-type from step 2 goes into your URL params. As well as the secure token you generated by smashing your keyboard.

   The secret will 'authenticate' you to use the API and then the custom-event-type gets sent via the Github API. The on.repository_dispatch.type array on your workflow must contain your custom-event-type for it to trigger successfully.

Future plans

• Add support for multiple repositories
• Add support for multiple users
• More secure authentication
• Run as a service for everyone to use?

Credits

• Athfan Khaleel (@athphane)
• All Contributors