This Action has been migrated to a TypeScript Action (version 3).

The old Docker Action is peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v2

GitHub Actions for GitHub Pages

This is a GitHub Action to deploy your static files to GitHub Pages. This deploy action can be combined simply and freely with Static Site Generators. (Hugo, MkDocs, Gatsby, GitBook, mdBook, etc.)

The next example step will deploy ./public directory to the remote gh-pages branch.

- name: Deploy
  uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
  with:
    deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
    # github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    # personal_token: ${{ secrets.PERSONAL_TOKEN }}
    publish_dir: ./public

Supported Tokens

Three tokens are supported.

Token	Private repo	Public repo	Protocol	Setup
github_token	✅️	(1)	HTTPS	Unnecessary
personal_token	✅️	✅️	HTTPS	Necessary
deploy_key	✅️	✅️	SSH	Necessary

1. Currently, GitHub Actions does not support to trigger a GitHub Pages build event using GITHUB_TOKEN on a public repository. Maybe, we can use it but there is no official announcement by GitHub.

Supported Platforms

runs-on	deploy_key	github_token	personal_token
ubuntu-18.04	✅️	✅️	✅️
macos-latest	✅️	✅️	✅️
windows-latest	(2)	✅️	✅️

2. WIP, See Issue #87

Table of Contents

• Getting started
  • (1) Add SSH deploy key
  • (2) Create your workflow
    • ⭐️ Repository type - Project
    • ⭐️ Repository type - User and Organization
• Options
  • ⭐️ personal_token
  • ⭐️ github_token
  • ⭐️ CNAME
  • ⭐️ Disable .nojekyll
  • ⭐️ Allow empty commits
  • ⭐️ Keeping existing files
  • ⭐️ Deploy to external repository
  • ⭐️ Force orphan
  • ⭐️ Set Git username and email
  • ⭐️ Set custom commit message
  • ⭐️ Create Git tag
• Tips and FAQ
  • ⭐️ Use the latest and specific release
  • ⭐️ How to add CNAME
  • ⭐️ Deployment completed but you cannot read
• Examples
  • ⭐️ Static Site Generators with Node.js
  • ⭐️ Gatsby
  • ⭐️ React and Next
  • ⭐️ Vue and Nuxt
  • ⭐️ Static Site Generators with Python
  • ⭐️ mdBook (Rust)
  • ⭐️ Flutter Web
  • ⭐️ Elm
• License
• Maintainer

Getting started

(1) Add SSH deploy key

Generate your deploy key with the following command.

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "$(git config user.email)" -f gh-pages -N ""
# You will get 2 files:
#   gh-pages.pub (public key)
#   gh-pages     (private key)

Next, Go to Repository Settings

• Go to Deploy Keys and add your public key with the Allow write access
• Go to Secrets and add your private key as ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY

Add your public key	Success

Add your private key	Success

(2) Create your workflow

Add your workflow setting YAML file .github/workflows/gh-pages.yml and push to the default branch.

⭐️ Repository type - Project

An example workflow for Hugo.

• peaceiris/actions-hugo: GitHub Actions for Hugo

name: github pages

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v1
        # with:
        #   submodules: true

      - name: Setup Hugo
        uses: peaceiris/actions-hugo@v2
        with:
          hugo-version: '0.64.0'

      - name: Build
        run: hugo --minify

      - name: Deploy
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
          publish_dir: ./public

The above example is for Project Pages sites. (<username>/<project_name> repository)

Actions log overview	Build step log

Deploy step log	GitHub Pages log

⭐️ Repository type - User and Organization

For User and Organization Pages sites (<username>/<username>.github.io repository), we have to set master branch to publish_branch.

A default value of publish_branch is gh-pages.

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - source  # default branch

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - run: somebuild

      - name: Deploy
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
          publish_dir: ./public
          publish_branch: master  # deploying branch

Back to TOC ☝️

Options

⭐️ personal_token

Generate a personal access token (repo) and add it to Secrets as PERSONAL_TOKEN, it works as well as ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY.

- deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
+ personal_token: ${{ secrets.PERSONAL_TOKEN }}

⭐️ github_token

⚠️ NOTES: github_token works only on a private repository.

This action supports GITHUB_TOKEN but it has some problems to deploy to GitHub Pages. GitHub team is investigating that. See Issue #9

- deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
+ github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

⭐️ CNAME

To add CNAME file, we can set the cname option.

For more details about CNAME, read the official documentation: Managing a custom domain for your GitHub Pages site - GitHub Help

- name: Deploy
  uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
  with:
    deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
    publish_dir: ./public
    cname: github.com

⭐️ Disable .nojekyll

By default, this action adds the .nojekyll file to only the master and gh-pages branches. When the file already exists, this action does nothing.

To disable this behavior, we can set the disable_nojekyll option to true.

- name: Deploy
  uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
  with:
    deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
    publish_dir: ./public
    disable_nojekyll: true

⭐️ Allow empty commits

By default, a commit will not be generated when no file changes. If you want to allow an empty commit, set the optional parameter allow_empty_commit to true.

For example:

- name: Deploy
  uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
  with:
    deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
    publish_dir: ./public
    allow_empty_commit: true

⭐️ Keeping existing files

By default, existing files in the publish branch are removed before adding the ones from publish dir. If you want the action to add new files but leave existing ones untouched, set the optional parameter keep_files to true.

For example:

- name: Deploy
  uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
  with:
    deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
    publish_dir: ./public
    keep_files: true

⭐️ Deploy to external repository

By default, your files are published to the repository which is running this action. If you want to publish to another repository on GitHub, set the environment variable external_repository to <username>/<external-repository>.

For example:

- name: Deploy
  uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
  with:
    deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
    external_repository: username/external-repository
    publish_branch: gh-pages
    publish_dir: ./public

You can use deploy_key or personal_token. When you use deploy_key, set your private key to the repository which includes this action and set your public key to your external repository.

Be careful, GITHUB_TOKEN has no permission to access to external repositories.

⭐️ Force orphan

We can set the force_orphan: true option. This allows you to make your publish branch with only the latest commit.

- name: Deploy
  uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
  with:
    deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
    publish_dir: ./public
    force_orphan: true

⭐️ Set Git username and email

Set custom git config user.name and git config user.email. A commit is always created with the same user.

- name: Deploy
  uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
  with:
    deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
    publish_dir: ./public
    user_name: iris
    user_email: iris@peaceiris.com

⭐️ Set custom commit message

Set custom commit message. When we create a commit with a message docs: Update some post, a deployment commit will be generated with a message docs: Update some post ${GITHUB_SHA}.

- name: Deploy
  uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
  with:
    deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
    publish_dir: ./public
    commit_message: ${{ github.event.head_commit.message }}

⭐️ Create Git tag

Here is an example workflow.

name: github pages

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master
    tags:
      - 'v*.*.*'

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Some build

      - name: Prepare tag
        id: prepare_tag
        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
        run: |
          TAG_NAME="${GITHUB_REF##refs/tags/}"
          echo "::set-output name=tag_name::${TAG_NAME}"
          echo "::set-output name=deploy_tag_name::deploy-${TAG_NAME}"          

      - name: Deploy
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
          publish_dir: ./public
          tag_name: ${{ steps.prepare_tag.outputs.deploy_tag_name }}
          tag_message: 'Deployment ${{ steps.prepare_tag.outputs.tag_name }}'

Commands on a local machine.

$ # On the master branch
$ git tag -a "v1.2.3" -m "Release v1.2.3"
$ git push origin "v1.2.3"

$ # After deployment
$ git fetch origin
$ git tag
deploy-v1.2.3  # Tag on the gh-pages branch
v1.2.3         # Tag on the master branch

Back to TOC ☝️

Tips and FAQ

⭐️ Use the latest and specific release

We recommend you to use the latest and specific release of this action for stable CI/CD. It is useful to watch this repository (release only) to check the latest release of this action.

⭐️ How to add CNAME

Most of the Static Site Generators support CNAME as a static file.

• Use a Custom Domain | Hugo
• Using the Static folder | GatsbyJS

The same may be said of other files (.nojekyll, BingSiteAuth.xml, robots.txt, etc.). It is better to manage those files by Static Site Generators.

Does not your static site generator deal with the static files? No problem, you can add the file like the following.

- name: Build
  run: |
    buildcommand
    cp ./path/to/CNAME ./public/CNAME    

- name: Deploy

⭐️ Deployment completed but you cannot read

Does your publish_dir contain files or directories that name starts with an underscore? (_modules, _sources and _next, etc.) GitHub Pages does not read those by default. Please add .nojekyll file to publish_dir.

• Bypassing Jekyll on GitHub Pages - The GitHub Blog

It is now possible to completely bypass Jekyll processing on GitHub Pages by creating a file named .nojekyll in the root of your pages repo and pushing it to GitHub. This should only be necessary if your site uses files or directories that start with underscores since Jekyll considers these to be special resources and does not copy them to the final site.

Does not your static site generator deal with the static files? No problem, you can add the file like the following.

- name: Build
  run: |
    buildcommand
    touch ./public/.nojekyll    

- name: Deploy

Back to TOC ☝️

Examples

⭐️ Static Site Generators with Node.js

hexo, gitbook, vuepress, react-static, gridsome, etc.

Premise: Dependencies are managed by package.json and package-lock.json

name: github pages

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Setup Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v1
        with:
          node-version: '10.x'

      - name: Cache dependencies
        uses: actions/cache@v1
        with:
          path: ~/.npm
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-node-            

      - run: npm ci

      - run: npm run build

      - name: Deploy
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
          publish_dir: ./public

⭐️ Gatsby

An example for Gatsby (Gatsby.js) project with gatsby-starter-blog

name: github pages

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Setup Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v1
        with:
          node-version: '10.x'

      - name: Cache dependencies
        uses: actions/cache@v1
        with:
          path: ~/.npm
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-node-            

      - run: npm ci

      - run: npm run format

      - run: npm run test

      - run: npm run build

      - name: Deploy
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
          publish_dir: ./public

⭐️ React and Next

An example for Next.js (React.js) project with create-next-app

• cf. Deploying a Next.js app into GitHub Pages · zeit/next.js Wiki

name: github pages

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Setup Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v1
        with:
          node-version: '10.x'

      - name: Get yarn cache
        id: yarn-cache
        run: echo "::set-output name=dir::$(yarn cache dir)"

      - name: Cache dependencies
        uses: actions/cache@v1
        with:
          path: ${{ steps.yarn-cache.outputs.dir }}
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-yarn-${{ hashFiles('**/yarn.lock') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-yarn-            

      - run: yarn install

      - run: yarn build

      - run: yarn export

      - run: touch ./out/.nojekyll

      - name: Deploy
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
          publish_dir: ./out

⭐️ Vue and Nuxt

An example for Nuxt.js (Vue.js) project with create-nuxt-app

• cf. GitHub Pages Deployment - Nuxt.js

name: github pages

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Setup Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v1
        with:
          node-version: '10.x'

      - name: Cache dependencies
        uses: actions/cache@v1
        with:
          path: ~/.npm
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-node-            

      - run: npm ci

      - run: npm test

      - run: npm run generate

      - name: deploy
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
          publish_dir: ./dist

⭐️ Static Site Generators with Python

pelican, MkDocs, sphinx, etc.

Premise: Dependencies are managed by requirements.txt

name: github pages

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Setup Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v1
        with:
          python-version: '3.6'
          architecture: 'x64'

      - name: Cache dependencies
        uses: actions/cache@v1
        with:
          path: ~/.cache/pip
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements.txt') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-pip-            

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip
          python3 -m pip install -r ./requirements.txt          

      - run: mkdocs build

      - name: Deploy
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
          publish_dir: ./site

⭐️ mdBook (Rust)

An example GitHub Actions workflow to deploy rust-lang/mdBook site to GitHub Pages.

• peaceiris/actions-mdbook: GitHub Actions for mdBook (rust-lang/mdBook)

name: github pages

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Setup mdBook
        uses: peaceiris/actions-mdbook@v1
        with:
          mdbook-version: '0.3.5'
          # mdbook-version: 'latest'

      - run: mdbook build

      - name: Deploy
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
          publish_dir: ./book

⭐️ Flutter Web

An exapmle workflow for Flutter web project. Setup Flutter with subosito/flutter-action.

peanut | Dart Package is also useful.

name: github pages

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Setup Flutter
        uses: subosito/flutter-action@v1
        with:
          channel: 'beta'

      - name: Install
        run: |
          flutter config --enable-web
          flutter pub get          

      - name: Build
        run: flutter build web

      - name: Deploy
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
          publish_dir: ./build/web

⭐️ Elm

An exapmle workflow for Elm with justgook/setup-elm.

name: github pages

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Setup Elm
        uses: justgook/setup-elm@v1

      - name: Make
        run: elm make --optimize src/Main.elm

      - name: Move files
        run: |
          mkdir ./public
          mv ./index.html ./public/          
        # If you have non-minimal setup with some assets and separate html/js files,
        # provide --output=<output-file> option for `elm make` and remove this step

      - name: Deploy
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@v3
        with:
          deploy_key: ${{ secrets.ACTIONS_DEPLOY_KEY }}
          publish_dir: ./public

License

• MIT License - peaceiris/actions-gh-pages

Maintainer

• peaceiris homepage

Back to TOC ☝️