Using GitHub Action workflow to retrigger a workflow that failed

fail.yml

name: fail
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      fail:
        description: whether to fail the workflow
        type: boolean
        default: false
jobs:
  fail:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Intentional fail
        if: ${{ github.event.inputs.fail == 'true' }}
        run: |
          bash -c 'exit 1'
      - name: Success
        run: |
          echo 'Success!'

retrigger-fail.yml

name: retrigger-fail
on:
  workflow_run:
    workflows: ["fail"]
    types: [completed]

jobs:
  on-failure:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'failure' }}
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Retrigger workflow without fail condition
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GH_CLI_TOKEN }}
        run: |
          gh workflow run fail --ref ${{ github.ref_name }} --field fail=false

${{ secrets.GH_CLI_TOKEN }} is a Personal Access Token (PAT)?

${{ secrets.GH_CLI_TOKEN }} is a Personal Access Token (PAT)?

@dennisroche : yeah it is. there used to be a restriction of GitHub Action workflows that you couldn't trigger workflows based from the automatic token generated for the workflow, however I'm not seeing that limitation anymore within https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/actions/using-workflows/events-that-trigger-workflows#workflow_run

It seems like they have limited nesting of calls 🤷

@andyfeller

that restriction is still unfortunately in place.

events triggered by the GITHUB_TOKEN will not create a new workflow run

https://docs.github.com/en/enterprise-cloud@latest/actions/using-workflows/triggering-a-workflow#triggering-a-workflow-from-a-workflow

this limits actions from pushing a commit with generated files or automatic fixes 😢. github support linked me this gist as a possible workaround.

Adding a note as https://github.blog/changelog/2022-09-08-github-actions-use-github_token-with-workflow_dispatch-and-repository_dispatch/ came out after this gist was created where the GitHub Actions automatic token can be used for triggering workflow and repository dispatch events