PR Data Validation Action

A GitHub Action that validates pull requests contain both:

1. A new file in the .changelog directory
2. A commit with a Version-Bump: trailer specifying patch, minor, or major

Usage

Add this action to your workflow file (e.g., .github/workflows/pr-validation.yml):

name: PR Validation
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]

jobs:
  validate:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Validate PR Data
        uses:gazebo-tooling/pr-data-action
        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          changelog-dir: '.changelog'  # Optional, defaults to '.changelog'

Inputs

Input	Description	Required	Default
token	GitHub token for API access	Yes	${{ github.token }}
changelog-dir	Directory where changelog files should be located	No	.changelog

Outputs

Output	Description
changelog-found	Whether a changelog file was found
version-bump-found	Whether a valid version bump trailer was found
version-bump-type	The type of version bump (patch, minor, major)

What it checks

1. Changelog File

The action checks if the PR includes any new or modified files in the specified changelog directory (.changelog by default).

Example changelog file structure:

.changelog/
├── fix-login-bug.md
├── add-user-profile.md
└── breaking-change-api.md

2. Version Bump Trailer

The action looks for a Version-Bump: trailer in any of the commit messages in the PR.

Valid version bump values:

• patch - for bug fixes and small changes
• minor - for new features (backward compatible)
• major - for breaking changes

Example commit message:

Fix critical authentication bug

This resolves an issue where users couldn't log in
after password reset.

Version-Bump: patch

Error Messages

The action provides helpful error messages when validation fails:

Missing Changelog

📝 Please add a changelog file to document your changes:
   1. Create a new file in the .changelog/ directory
   2. Name it descriptively (e.g., fix-bug-123.md, add-new-feature.md)
   3. Document what changed, why, and any breaking changes

Missing Version Bump

🏷️  Please add a Version-Bump trailer to one of your commits:
   1. Edit your commit message to include one of:
      - Version-Bump: patch   (for bug fixes)
      - Version-Bump: minor   (for new features)
      - Version-Bump: major   (for breaking changes)
   2. The trailer should be on its own line at the end of the commit message

Development

This action is implemented as a composite action using shell scripts, making it simple and dependency-free.

Files

• action.yml - Action metadata and configuration
• validate-pr.sh - Main validation script

Testing

You can test the action locally by setting the required environment variables:

export GITHUB_TOKEN="your-token"
export GITHUB_REPOSITORY="owner/repo"
export GITHUB_EVENT_NAME="pull_request"
export GITHUB_EVENT_PATH="/path/to/event.json"
export CHANGELOG_DIR=".changelog"

./validate-pr.sh