Error while passing output parameters between jobs

Question

I need to pass the output parameter environment to the second job but for some reason it is always empty i.e.

environment: ${{ needs.set-environment-variable.outputs.Environment }}

Here's my workflow:

jobs:
  set-environment-variable:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      environment: ${{ steps.set_var.outputs.Environment }}
      region: ${{ steps.set_var.outputs.Region }}
    steps:
      - name: Set Environment Variable
        id: set_var
        run: |
          Environment="${{ github.event.inputs.environment }}"
          echo "Environment=${{ github.event.inputs.environment }}" >> "GITHUB_OUTPUT"
          echo "este es el environment $Environment"
          if [[ -z "$Environment" || -z "$Feature2" ]]; then
            case $Environment in
              dev)
                echo "Configuring region for dev"
                echo "Environment=${{ github.event.inputs.environment }}" >> "GITHUB_OUTPUT"
                Region=us-west-2
                echo "Region=$Region" >> "GITHUB_OUTPUT"
                ;;
              stage)
                echo "Configuring region for stage"
                echo "Environment=${{ github.event.inputs.environment }}" >> "GITHUB_OUTPUT"
                Region=us-east-1
                echo "Region=$Region" >> "GITHUB_OUTPUT"
                ;;
              *)
                echo "Configuring region for default"
                Environment="dev"
                Region="us-west-2"
                echo "Environment=$Environment" >> "GITHUB_OUTPUT"
                echo "Region=$Region" >> "GITHUB_OUTPUT"
                ;;
            esac
          fi
  load-aws-credentials: # este será el "job" load-aws-credentials, el que está generando las variables de salida
    uses: xxx/xxx-github-actions-templates/.github/workflows/aws-assume-role-v1.yml@master
    needs: set-environment-variable
    secrets: inherit
    with:
      ENVIRONMENT: ${{ needs.set-environment-variable.outputs.Environment }}
      ROLE: AWS_CICD_DEPLOYMENT_ROLE
      SHARED_ROLE: AWS_OIDC_ROLE

Answer 1

You need to redirect the content to the correct output. Currently you have >> "GITHUB_OUTPUT", but this needs to be >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT (for bash).

For shell: pwsh, use $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT

The minimal yaml file that demonstrates this is:

on:
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  build:
    outputs:
      environment: ${{ steps.environment-selector.outputs.environment }}

    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - id: environment-selector
      run: |
        echo "environment=prod" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
          
  deploy:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: build
     environment: ${{ needs.build.outputs.environment }}
     steps:
     - run: |
         echo ${{ needs.build.outputs.environment }}

If a value is set for an output, the Complete Job step in the logs should log that the value is being set:

If the value is empty, that line isn't logged. That can be a useful indicator where the issue is, in the job that sets the value or the job that needs the value.