create-env-file

Overview

create-env-file is a GitHub Actions composite action that generates a .env file from a JSON extraction of GitHub environment variables.

Features

• Converts GitHub environment variables (provided in JSON format) into a .env file.
• Handles spaces within variable values by encapsulating them in double quotes.
• Escapes special characters (quotes and double quotes) to ensure correct formatting.

Usage

To use this action in your workflow, add the following step:

- name: Generate .env file
  uses: un-fao/create-env-file@main
  with:
    variables: ${{ toJson(vars) }}
    output-name: '.env'  # Optional, defaults to '.env'

Inputs

Name	Description	Required	Default
variables	GitHub environment variables in JSON format	✅	N/A
output-name	Name of the output .env file	❌	.env

Example Output

If the provided JSON input is:

{
  "VAR_1": "variable_1",
  "VAR_2": "\"variable_2\"",
  "VAR_3": "variable number 3"
}

The resulting .env file will contain:

VAR_1=variable_1
VAR_2=\"variable_2\"
VAR_3="variable number 3"

How It Works

The action executes a Bash script (create_env_file.sh) that:

• Creates or overwrites the .env file.
• Parses the provided JSON input using jq.
• Properly formats variables, enclosing values in double quotes if they contain spaces.
• Escapes special characters (" and ') to prevent syntax issues.
• Saves the final output to the specified .env file.