How can I automate a (usually) interactive build script with Github Actions?

Question

I'm trying to add CI to a project that uses a set of build scripts written in bash. The scripts prompt for input a few times for configuration information (setting flags, setting parameters, etc.) Does Github Actions have its own commands for dealing with this, or is there a way to set up an expect script (or something similar)?

Answer 1

There is currently no feature that allows prompting for manual input during workflow runs. See this response on the community forums where a similar question was asked.

Here are some options you can explore:

1. Redesign the scripts to read from configuration files and check them into git to trigger the build.
2. Use the workflow_dispatch event to create a workflow that you can manually trigger from the Actions UI and supply input parameters. See this documentation for more detail.
3. Use slash-command-dispatch to trigger the build using a slash command with arguments for the build's input parameters.