Create a new env var for the branch name

Describe the enhancement We already have access to the branch/PR/tag ref name which is good but having an easy way to get the actual branch name is a really important feature.

Gitlab has two very good variables for that: (by the way, they very handy for me)

• CI_COMMIT_REF_NAME for the branch/tag name
• CI_COMMIT_REF_SLUG a slug for the branch/tag name

Ref: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/ci/variables/predefined_variables.html#variables-reference

One of my use cases is to tag a Docker image based on the branch name.

Additional information Here is a list of questions on the web about it and how this can lead to different implementations prone to error:

• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/58033366/how-to-get-current-branch-within-github-actions
• https://stackoverflow.com/questions/58886293/getting-current-branch-and-commit-hash-in-github-action?noredirect=1&lq=1
• https://github.community/t5/GitHub-Actions/How-to-get-PR-branch-name-in-GitHub-Actions/td-p/35041#
• https://github.com/igordcsouza/github-action-get-branch-name

[jwarby]

@tony been a while since I looked at this but I ended up with something along these lines:

jobs:
      define-vars:
          name: Define variables
          runs-on: ubuntu-latest
          outputs:
              docker_tag: ${{ steps.create-docker-tag.outputs.docker_tag }}
          steps:
          - uses: actions/checkout@v2
          - id: create-docker-tag
            run: echo "::set-output name=docker_tag::$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref ${{ github.head_ref || github.ref || 'HEAD' }} | sed 's/[^a-z0-9_-]/__/gi')"

    build:
        # ..snip...
        steps:
           # Build app steps here
           - name: Push to GitHub Packages
            uses: docker/build-push-action@v1.1.0
            with:
                username: ${{ github.actor }}
                password: ${{ secrets.CR_PAT }}
                registry: ghcr.io
                repository: <repository-name>/<app-name>
                path: <path/to/app>
                tags: ${{ needs.define-vars.outputs.docker_tag }}

Hope that helps!

[nikola-jokic]

Hi everyone!

While reading comments, it seems like it has been resolved. I am closing this issue now but feel free to re-open it or file another issue if this matter is not resolved 😊.