Type of github.event.inputs.<name> of boolean inputs in workflow_dispatch event

[rhysd]

Hi, I'm author of actionlint and I got an issue which I suspect a bug of GitHub Actions. So I'd like to clarify this behavior is intended or not.

Let's say we have the reusable workflow:

name: _reusable

on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      is-valid:
        required: true
        description: username to show
        type: boolean

jobs:
  reusable_workflow_job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: called is-valid
        run: echo "called is-valid. ${{ inputs.is-valid }}"

and a regular workflow:

name: actionlint issue

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      is-valid:
        required: true
        description: "is-valid: true or false"
        type: boolean

jobs:
  issue:
    uses: ./.github/workflows/_reusable.yaml
    with:
      is-valid: ${{ github.event.inputs.is-valid }}

This causes an error on running them on GitHub:

The template is not valid. .github/workflows/test.yml (Line: 15, Col: 17): Unexpected type of value 'false', expected type: Boolean.

github.event.inputs.is-valid is a string but is-valid input of _reusable workflow expects boolean input.

The workflow_dispatch's is-valid input is declared as type: boolean, but actually github.event.inputs.is-valid is a string 'false', not a boolean false. Is this intended behavior? Or is it a bug of GitHub Actions and should it be false boolean value?

If it is not a bug, is type of github.event.inputs.<name> always a string?

Currently converting the value to boolean with fromJson is a workaround for this.

is-valid: ${{ fromJson(github.event.inputs.is-valid) }}

[ChristopherHX]

I only found some semi official statements of some GitHub employees.

is type of github.event.inputs.<name> always a string?

Yes, booleans are always strings in that context.

GitHub fixed this with unified inputs by providing the inputs context to workflow_dispatch
You can now do the following in GitHub Actions, boolean type is only respected for the inputs context in both reusable workflow and workflow_dispatch

is-valid: ${{ inputs.is-valid }}

References / Further reading:

• Unified Inputs and boolean type
  • Homogenise inputs from callable workflows and event inputs from dispatchable workflows #9092 (comment))
  • https://github.blog/changelog/2022-06-10-github-actions-inputs-unified-across-manual-and-reusable-workflows/
• Boolean inputs are not actually booleans actions/runner#1483 (comment)
• Merged Inputs, you can access workflow_dispatch inputs in reusable workflows via inputs if these are not declared by the reusable workflow
  • Hopefully reusable workflow agrees to support ${{inputs. XXX}} expression parameter passing actions/runner#1976 (comment)

I'm the author of https://github.com/ChristopherHX/runner.server an GitHub Actions Emulator, with reusable workflow support so I collected some information about internal working of GitHub Actions

[rhysd]

Thank you for the clarification. I'll improve actionlint with the clarified behavior.

[ckingbailey]

@rhysd this is the first time I've heard of actionlint, and I just want to say thank you. This is the validator that GH Workflows has been needing for four (almost five?) years. I will be using it frequently.

[andrea-cassioli-maersk]

I am still facing a similar issue:

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      forceDeployment:
        description: 'Whether a successful build shall be deployed regardless of which branch us'
        required: false
        type: boolean
        default: false

jobs:
  fooOutput:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: FOO
    steps:
      - run: |
          echo "Force deployment: ${{ inputs.forceDeployment }}"

when the workflow runs, it prints

echo "Force deployment: "

it seems the input is unset, even tough its default to false...any thoghts?

[PennRobotics]

I'm unsure if inputs has a default key. Another user has posted a workaround for default values. td;lr it's parameter expansion ${VAL:-"default"}

Nevermind, I just used default in an Action, and it populates each input.