[](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#jobsjob_idruns-on)
[](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#jobsjob_idruns-on)
[](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#jobsjob_idruns-on)
[](https://github.com/search?o=desc\&q=tj-actions+changed-files+language%3AYAML\&s=\&type=Code)
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[](https://github.com/tj-actions/changed-files/actions/workflows/test.yml)
[](https://github.com/tj-actions/changed-files/actions/workflows/sync-release-version.yml)
[](#contributors-)
## changed-files
Retrieve all changed files and directories relative to a target branch, preceeding commit or the last remote commit returning **relative paths** from the project root.
## Table of contents
* [Features](#features)
* [Usage](#usage)
* [Useful Acronyms](#useful-acronyms)
* [Outputs](#outputs)
* [Inputs](#inputs)
* [Versioning](#versioning)
* [Examples](#examples)
* [Real world usage](#real-world-usage)
* [Known Limitation](#known-limitation)
* [Migration guide](#migration-guide)
* [Credits](#credits)
* [Report Bugs](#report-bugs)
* [Contributors ✨](#contributors-)
## Features
* Fast execution (0-10 seconds on average).
* Easy to debug.
* Scales to large repositories.
* Supports Git submodules.
* Escaped JSON output which can be used to run matrix jobs based on changed files.
* List changed directories.
* Limit the matching changed directories to a maximum depth.
* Optionally exclude the current directory
* Write outputs to a `.txt` or `.json` file at a specified location for further processing.
* Monorepos (Fetches a fixed number of commits).
* Supports all platforms (Linux, MacOS, Windows).
* [GitHub-hosted runners](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-github-hosted-runners/about-github-hosted-runners) support
* [GitHub Enterprise Server](https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-server@3.3/admin/github-actions/getting-started-with-github-actions-for-your-enterprise/getting-started-with-github-actions-for-github-enterprise-server) support.
* [self-hosted runners](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/hosting-your-own-runners/about-self-hosted-runners) support.
* List all files and directories that have changed:
* Between the current pull request branch and the last commit on the target branch.
* Between the last commit and the current pushed change.
* Between the last remote branch commit and the current HEAD.
* Restrict change detection to a subset of files and directories:
* Boolean output indicating that certain files have been changed.
* Using [Glob pattern](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#filter-pattern-cheat-sheet) matching.
* Globstar.
* Brace expansion.
## Usage
> **Warning**:
>
> * **IMPORTANT:** For `push` events when configuring [`actions/checkout`](https://github.com/actions/checkout#usage) the `fetch-depth` should be set to either `fetch-depth: 0` **OR** `fetch-depth: 2` depending on your use case.
> * For monorepos where pulling all the branch history might not be desired, you can omit [`actions/checkout`](https://github.com/actions/checkout#usage) - `fetch-depth` for `pull_request` events.
> * All multiline inputs should not use double or single quotes since the value is already a string seperated by a newline character. See [Examples](#examples) for more information.
> * Ensure that `persist-credentials` is set to `true` when configuring [`actions/checkout`](https://github.com/actions/checkout#usage) if `fetch-depth` isn't set to `0`.
```yaml
name: CI
on:
push:
branches:
- main
pull_request:
branches:
- main
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Event `push`: Compare the preceeding commit -> to the current commit of the main branch.
# Event `pull_request`: Compare the last commit of main -> to the current commit of a Pull Request branch.
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest # windows-latest | macos-latest
name: Test changed-files
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v3
with:
fetch-depth: 0 # OR "2" -> To retrieve the preceding commit.
# Example 1
- name: Get changed files
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
# To compare changes between the current commit and the last pushed remote commit set `since_last_remote_commit: true`. e.g
# with:
# since_last_remote_commit: true
- name: List all changed files
run: |
for file in ${{ steps.changed-files.outputs.all_changed_files }}; do
echo "$file was changed"
done
# Example 2
- name: Get changed files in the docs folder
id: changed-files-specific
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
files: docs/*.{js,html} # Alternatively using: `docs/**` or `docs`
- name: Run step if any file(s) in the docs folder change
if: steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.any_changed == 'true'
run: |
echo "One or more files in the docs folder has changed."
echo "List all the files that have changed: ${{ steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.all_changed_files }}"
# Example 3
- name: Get all changed .js file(s) or any file in the static folder excluding the docs folder
id: changed-files-excluded
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
files: |
**.js
static
files_ignore: docs
- name: Run step if any .js file(s) or any file in the static folder change
if: steps.changed-files-excluded.outputs.any_changed == 'true'
run: |
echo "One or more .js file(s) or any file in the static folder but not in the doc folder has changed."
echo "List all the files that have changed: ${{ steps.changed-files-excluded.outputs.all_changed_files }}"
```
To access more examples, navigate to the [Examples](#examples) section.
If you feel generous and want to show some extra appreciation:
Support this project with a :star:
[![Buy me a coffee][buymeacoffee-shield]][buymeacoffee]
[buymeacoffee]: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/jackton1
[buymeacoffee-shield]: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/assets/img/custom_images/orange_img.png
## Useful Acronyms
| Acronym | Meaning |
|:---------:|:------------:|
| A | Added |
| C | Copied |
| M | Modified |
| D | Deleted |
| R | Renamed |
| T | Type changed |
| U | Unmerged |
| X | Unknown |
## Outputs
| OUTPUT | TYPE | DESCRIPTION |
|--------------------------------|--------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| added\_files | string | Returns only files that are
Added (A). |
| all\_changed\_and\_modified\_files | string | Returns all changed and modified
files i.e. *a combination of (ACMRDTUX)* |
| all\_changed\_files | string | Returns all changed files i.e.
*a combination of all added, copied, modified and renamed files (ACMR)* |
| all\_modified\_files | string | Returns all changed files i.e.
*a combination of all added, copied, modified, renamed and deleted files (ACMRD)*. |
| all\_old\_new\_renamed\_files | string | Returns only files that are
Renamed and list their old
and new names. **NOTE:** This
requires setting `include_all_old_new_renamed_files` to `true`
(R) |
| any\_changed | string | Returns `true` when any of
the filenames provided using the
`files` input has changed. i.e.
*using a combination of all added, copied, modified and renamed files (ACMR)*. |
| any\_deleted | string | Returns `true` when any of
the filenames provided using the
`files` input has been deleted.
(D) |
| any\_modified | string | Returns `true` when any of
the filenames provided using the
`files` input has been modified.
i.e. *using a combination of all added, copied, modified, renamed, and deleted files (ACMRD)*. |
| copied\_files | string | Returns only files that are
Copied (C). |
| deleted\_files | string | Returns only files that are
Deleted (D). |
| modified\_files | string | Returns only files that are
Modified (M). |
| only\_changed | string | Returns `true` when only files
provided using the `files` input
has changed. i.e. *using a combination of all added, copied, modified and renamed files (ACMR)*. |
| only\_deleted | string | Returns `true` when only files
provided using the `files` input
has been deleted. (D) |
| only\_modified | string | Returns `true` when only files
provided using the `files` input
has been modified. (ACMRD). |
| other\_changed\_files | string | Returns all other changed files
not listed in the files
input i.e. *using a combination of all added, copied, modified and renamed files (ACMR)*. |
| other\_deleted\_files | string | Returns all other deleted files
not listed in the files
input i.e. *a combination of all deleted files (D)* |
| other\_modified\_files | string | Returns all other modified files
not listed in the files
input i.e. *a combination of all added, copied, modified, and deleted files (ACMRD)* |
| renamed\_files | string | Returns only files that are
Renamed (R). |
| type\_changed\_files | string | Returns only files that have
their file type changed (T). |
| unknown\_files | string | Returns only files that are
Unknown (X). |
| unmerged\_files | string | Returns only files that are
Unmerged (U). |
## Inputs
| INPUT | TYPE | REQUIRED | DEFAULT | DESCRIPTION |
|-----------------------------------------|--------|----------|---------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| base\_sha | string | false | | Specify a different base commit
SHA used for comparing changes |
| diff\_relative | string | false | `"true"` | Exclude changes outside the current
directory and show path names
relative to it. **NOTE:** This
requires you to specify the
top level directory via the
`path` input. |
| dir\_names | string | false | `"false"` | Output unique changed directories instead
of filenames. **NOTE:** This returns
`.` for changed files located
in the current working directory
which defaults to `$GITHUB_WORKSPACE`. |
| dir\_names\_exclude\_current\_dir | string | false | `"false"` | Exclude the current directory represented
by `.` from the output
when `dir_names` is set to
`true`. |
| dir\_names\_exclude\_root | string | false | `"false"` | Exclude the root directory represented
by `.` from the output
when `dir_names`is set to `true`. |
| dir\_names\_max\_depth | string | false | | Limit the directory output to
a maximum depth e.g `test/test1/test2`
with max depth of `2`
returns `test/test1`. |
| escape\_json | string | false | `"true"` | Escape JSON output. |
| fetch\_depth | string | false | `"50"` | Depth of additional branch history
fetched. **NOTE**: This can be
adjusted to resolve errors with
insufficient history. |
| files | string | false | | File and directory patterns to
detect changes using only these
list of file(s) (Defaults to the entire repo) **NOTE:**
Multiline file/directory patterns should not
include quotes. |
| files\_from\_source\_file | string | false | | Source file(s) used to populate
the `files` input. |
| files\_from\_source\_file\_separator | string | false | `"\n"` | Separator used to split the
`files_from_source_file` input |
| files\_ignore | string | false | | Ignore changes to these file(s)
**NOTE:** Multiline file/directory patterns should
not include quotes. |
| files\_ignore\_from\_source\_file | string | false | | Source file(s) used to populate
the `files_ignore` input |
| files\_ignore\_from\_source\_file\_separator | string | false | `"\n"` | Separator used to split the
`files_ignore_from_source_file` input |
| files\_ignore\_separator | string | false | `"\n"` | Separator used to split the
`files_ignore` input |
| files\_separator | string | false | `"\n"` | Separator used to split the
`files` input |
| include\_all\_old\_new\_renamed\_files | string | false | `"false"` | Include `all_old_new_renamed_files` output. Note this
can generate a large output
See: [#501](https://github.com/tj-actions/changed-files/issues/501). |
| json | string | false | `"false"` | Output list of changed files
in a JSON formatted string
which can be used for
matrix jobs. |
| old\_new\_files\_separator | string | false | `" "` | Split character for old and
new renamed filename pairs. |
| old\_new\_separator | string | false | `","` | Split character for old and
new filename pairs. |
| output\_dir | string | false | `".github/outputs"` | Directory to store output files. |
| path | string | false | `"."` | Specify a relative path under
`$GITHUB_WORKSPACE` to locate the repository. |
| quotepath | string | false | `"true"` | Use non ascii characters to
match files and output the
filenames completely verbatim by setting
this to `false` |
| separator | string | false | `" "` | Split character for output strings |
| sha | string | false | | Specify a different commit SHA
used for comparing changes |
| since | string | false | | Get changed files for commits
whose timestamp is older than
the given time. |
| since\_last\_remote\_commit | string | false | `"false"` | Use the last commit on
the remote branch as the
`base_sha`. Defaults to the last
non merge commit on the
target branch for pull request
events and the previous remote
commit of the current branch
for push events. |
| until | string | false | | Get changed files for commits
whose timestamp is earlier than
the given time. |
| write\_output\_files | string | false | `"false"` | Write outputs to files in
the `.github/outputs` folder by default. |
## Versioning
This GitHub Action follows the principles of [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org) for versioning releases.
The format of the version string is as follows:
major: is a major release number that indicates significant changes or new features that may not be backward compatible.
minor: is a minor release number that indicates minor changes or new features that are backward compatible.
patch : is a patch release number that indicates bug fixes or other small changes that are backward compatible.
## Examples
Get all changed files in the current branch
```yaml
...
- name: Get changed files
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
...
```
Get all changed files and using a comma separator
```yaml
...
- name: Get all changed files and use a comma separator in the output
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
separator: ","
...
```
See [inputs](#inputs) for more information.
Get all changed files and list all added files
```yaml
...
- name: Get changed files
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
- name: List all added files
run: |
for file in ${{ steps.changed-files.outputs.added_files }}; do
echo "$file was added"
done
...
```
See [outputs](#outputs) for a list of all available outputs.
Get all changed files and optionally run a step if a file was modified
```yaml
...
- name: Get changed files
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
- name: Run a step if my-file.txt was modified
if: contains(steps.changed-files.outputs.modified_files, 'my-file.txt')
run: |
echo "my-file.txt file has been modified."
...
```
See [outputs](#outputs) for a list of all available outputs.
Get all changed files and write the outputs to a txt file
```yaml
...
- name: Get changed files and write the outputs to a txt file
id: changed-files-write-output-files-txt
uses: ./
with:
write_output_files: true
- name: Verify the contents of the .github/outputs/added_files.txt file
run: |
cat .github/outputs/added_files.txt
...
```
Get all changed files and write the outputs to a json file
```yaml
...
- name: Get changed files and write the outputs to a json file
id: changed-files-write-output-files-json
uses: ./
with:
json: true
write_output_files: true
- name: Verify the contents of the .github/outputs/added_files.json file
run: |
cat .github/outputs/added_files.json
...
```
Get all changed files using a list of files
```yaml
...
- name: Get changed files
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
files: |
my-file.txt
*.sh
*.png
!*.md
test_directory
**/*.sql
...
```
See [inputs](#inputs) for more information.
Get all changed files using a list of files and take action based on the changes
```yaml
...
- name: Get changed files
id: changed-files-specific
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
files: |
my-file.txt
*.sh
*.png
!*.md
test_directory
**/*.sql
- name: Run step if any of the listed files above change
if: steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.any_changed == 'true'
run: |
echo "One or more files listed above has changed."
- name: Run step if only the files listed above change
if: steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.only_changed == 'true'
run: |
echo "Only files listed above have changed."
- name: Run step if any of the listed files above is deleted
if: steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.any_deleted == 'true'
run: |
for file in ${{ steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.deleted_files }}; do
echo "$file was deleted"
done
- name: Run step if all listed files above have been deleted
if: steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.only_deleted == 'true'
run: |
for file in ${{ steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.deleted_files }}; do
echo "$file was deleted"
done
...
```
See [outputs](#outputs) for a list of all available outputs.
Get all changed files using a source file or list of file(s) to populate to files input
```yaml
...
- name: Get changed files using a source file or list of file(s) to populate to files input.
id: changed-files-specific-source-file
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
files_from_source_file: test/changed-files-list.txt
...
```
See [inputs](#inputs) for more information.
Get changed files using a source file or list of file(s) to populate to files input and optionally specify more files
```yaml
...
- name: Get changed files using a source file or list of file(s) to populate to files input and optionally specify more files.
id: changed-files-specific-source-file-and-specify-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
files_from_source_file: |
test/changed-files-list.txt
files: |
test.txt
...
```
See [inputs](#inputs) for more information.
Get all changed files using a different SHA
```yaml
...
- name: Get changed files using a different SHA
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
sha: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
...
```
See [inputs](#inputs) for more information.
Get all changed files using a different base SHA
```yaml
...
- name: Get changed files using a different base SHA
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
base_sha: ${{ github.event.pull_request.base.sha }}
...
```
See [inputs](#inputs) for more information.
Get all changed files between the previous tag and the current tag
```yaml
...
on:
push:
tags:
- 'v*'
jobs:
release:
name: Release
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Checkout
uses: actions/checkout@v3
with:
fetch-depth: 0
- name: Get changed files
id: changed-files
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
- name: Get changed files in the .github folder
id: changed-files-specific
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
base_sha: ${{ steps.get-base-sha.outputs.base_sha }}
files: .github/**
- name: Run step if any file(s) in the .github folder change
if: steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.any_changed == 'true'
run: |
echo "One or more files in the .github folder has changed."
echo "List all the files that have changed: ${{ steps.changed-files-specific.outputs.all_changed_files }}"
...
```
See [inputs](#inputs) for more information.
Get all changed files for a repository located in a different path
```yaml
...
- name: Checkout into dir1
uses: actions/checkout@v3
with:
fetch-depth: 0
path: dir1
- name: Run changed-files with defaults in dir1
id: changed-files-for-dir1
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
path: dir1
- name: List all added files in dir1
run: |
for file in ${{ steps.changed-files-for-dir1.outputs.added_files }}; do
echo "$file was added"
done
...
```
See [inputs](#inputs) for more information.
Get all changed files with non äšćįí characters i.e (Filename in other languages)
```yaml
...
- name: Run changed-files with quotepath disabled
id: changed-files-quotepath
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
quotepath: "false"
- name: Run changed-files with quotepath disabled for a specified list of file(s)
id: changed-files-quotepath-specific
uses: ./
with:
files: test/test-è.txt
quotepath: "false"
...
```
See [inputs](#inputs) for more information.
Get all changed files using the last successful commit of the base branch
-
Push event
```yaml
...
- name: Get branch name
id: branch-name
uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v6
- uses: nrwl/nx-set-shas@v3
id: last_successful_commit_push
with:
main-branch-name: ${{ steps.branch-name.outputs.current_branch }} # Get the last successful commit for the current branch.
workflow-id: 'test.yml'
- name: Run changed-files with the commit of the last successful test workflow run
id: changed-files-base-sha-push
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
base_sha: ${{ steps.last_successful_commit_push.outputs.base }}
...
```
-
Pull request events
```yaml
...
- name: Get branch name
id: branch-name
uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v5
- uses: nrwl/nx-set-shas@v3
id: last_successful_commit_pull_request
with:
main-branch-name: ${{ steps.branch-name.outputs.base_ref_branch }} # Get the last successful commit on master or main branch
workflow_id: 'test.yml'
- name: Run changed-files with the commit of the last successful test workflow run on main
id: changed-files-base-sha-pull-request
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
base_sha: ${{ steps.last_successful_commit_pull_request.outputs.base }}
...
```
> **Warning**: This setting overrides the commit sha used by setting `since_last_remote_commit` to true.
> It is recommended to use either solution that works for your use case.
See [inputs](#inputs) for more information.
Get all changed files but only return the directory names
```yaml
...
- name: Run changed-files with dir_names
id: changed-files-dir-names
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
dir_names: "true"
...
```
See [inputs](#inputs) for more information.
Get all changed files and return JSON formatted outputs
```yaml
...
- name: Run changed-files with json output
id: changed-files-json
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
json: "true"
...
```
See [inputs](#inputs) for more information.
Get all changed files by commits pushed in the past
```yaml
...
- name: Get changed-files since 2022-08-19
id: changed-files-since
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
since: "2022-08-19"
- name: Get changed-files until 2022-08-20
id: changed-files-until
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v36
with:
until: "2022-08-20"
...
```
See [inputs](#inputs) for more information.
## Real world usage
* [vitejs/vite: uses tj-actions/changed-files to automate testing](https://github.com/vitejs/vite/blob/8da04227d6f818a8ad9efc0056101968037c2e36/.github/workflows/ci.yml#L61)
* [qgis/QGIS: uses tj-actions/changed-files to automate spell checking](https://github.com/qgis/QGIS/blob/a5333497e90ac9de4ca70463d8e0b64c3f294d63/.github/workflows/code_layout.yml#L147)
* [coder/code-server: uses tj-actions/changed-files to automate detecting changes and run steps based on the outcome](https://github.com/coder/code-server/blob/c32a31d802f679846876b8ad9aacff6cf7b5361d/.github/workflows/build.yaml#L48)
* [tldr-pages/tldr: uses tj-actions/changed-files to automate detecting spelling errors](https://github.com/tldr-pages/tldr/blob/main/.github/workflows/codespell.yml#L14)
* [nodejs/docker-node: uses tj-actions/changed-files to generate matrix jobs based on changes detected](https://github.com/nodejs/docker-node/blob/3c4fa6daf06a4786d202f2f610351837806a0380/.github/workflows/build-test.yml#L29)
* [refined-github: uses tj-actions/changed-files to automate test URL validation in added/edited files](https://github.com/refined-github/refined-github/blob/b754bfe58904da8a599d7876fdaaf18302785629/.github/workflows/features.yml#L35)
* [aws-doc-sdk-examples: uses tj-actions/changed-files to automate testing](https://github.com/awsdocs/aws-doc-sdk-examples/blob/2393723ef6b0cad9502f4852f5c72f7be58ca89d/.github/workflows/javascript.yml#L22)
And many more...
## Known Limitation
> **Warning**:
>
> * Spaces in file names can introduce bugs when using bash loops. See: [#216](https://github.com/tj-actions/changed-files/issues/216)
> However, this action will handle spaces in file names, with a recommendation of using a separator to prevent hidden issues.
>
> 
## Migration guide
With the switch from using grep's Extended regex to match files to the natively supported workflow glob pattern matching syntax introduced in [v13](https://github.com/tj-actions/changed-files/releases/tag/v13) you'll need to modify patterns used to match `files`.
```diff
...
- name: Get specific changed files
id: changed-files-specific
uses: tj-actions/changed-files@v24
with:
files: |
- \.sh$
- .(sql|py)$
- ^(dir1|dir2)
+ *.{sh,sql,py}
+ dir1
+ dir2
```
* Free software: [MIT license](LICENSE)
## Credits
This package was created with [cookiecutter-action](https://github.com/tj-actions/cookiecutter-action).
* [tj-actions/auto-doc](https://github.com/tj-actions/auto-doc)
* [tj-actions/verify-changed-files](https://github.com/tj-actions/verify-changed-files)
* [tj-actions/demo](https://github.com/tj-actions/demo)
* [tj-actions/demo2](https://github.com/tj-actions/demo2)
* [tj-actions/demo3](https://github.com/tj-actions/demo3)
* [tj-actions/release-tagger](https://github.com/tj-actions/release-tagger)
## Report Bugs
Report bugs at https://github.com/tj-actions/changed-files/issues.
If you are reporting a bug, please include:
* Your operating system name and version.
* Any details about your workflow that might be helpful in troubleshooting. (**NOTE**: Ensure that you include full log outputs with debugging enabled)
* Detailed steps to reproduce the bug.
## Contributors ✨
Thanks goes to these wonderful people ([emoji key](https://allcontributors.org/docs/en/emoji-key)):
This project follows the [all-contributors](https://github.com/all-contributors/all-contributors) specification. Contributions of any kind welcome!
