actions-timeline

An Action shows timeline of a GitHub Action workflow in the run summary page.

actions-timeline is a tool that allows developers to visualize the sequence of jobs and steps that occur during a GitHub Actions workflow. By examining the timeline, you can quickly identify any issues or bottlenecks in your workflow, and make adjustments as needed to improve performance and efficiency.

USAGE

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      # Register this action before your build step. It will then be executed at the end of the job post-processing.
      - uses: Kesin11/actions-timeline@v2
        with:
          # e.g.: ${{ secrets.MY_PAT }}
          # Default: ${{ github.token }}
          github-token: ""
          # Show waiting runner time in the timeline.
          # Default: true
          show-waiting-runner: true

      # Your build steps...

If your workflow has many jobs, you should run actions-timeline in the job that takes the most time, or create an independent job for actions-timeline in a last of the workflow.

jobs:
  build-1:
  build-2:
  build-3:

  actions-timeline:
    needs: [build-1, build-2, build-3]
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: Kesin11/actions-timeline@v2

How it works

actions-timeline fetches the jobs and steps of the workflow run from the GitHub API, and then generates a timeline with mermaid gantt diagrams. Thanks to the GitHub flavored markdown that can visualize mermaid diagrams, the timeline is displayed in the run summary page.

This action is run on post-processing of the job, so you should register this action before your build step. If you register this action after your build step, the timeline will not include other post-processing steps.

Support GHES

actions-timeline can also work on GitHub Enterprise Server(GHES). It needs GITHUB_API_URL environment variable to access your GHES. Thanks to GitHub Actions, it sets default environment variables so you do not need to make any code changes.

Known issues

Important

In some cases, the workflow requires `actions:read' permission.

Sometimes the actions:read' permission is needed in the workflow to fetch workflow jobs and steps. If you see the following error, you need to add theactions:read' permission to your workflow.

jobs:
  build:
    permissions:
      actions: read
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: Kesin11/actions-timeline@v2

Important

'Waiting for a runner' step is not supported < GHES v3.9

GET workflow_job API response does not contain created_at field in GHES v3.8, it is added from GHES v3.9. So it is not possible to calculate the elapsed time the runner is waiting for a job, actions-timeline omits Waiting for a runner step in the timeline.

Similar works

• https://github.com/Kesin11/github_actions_otel_trace
• https://github.com/inception-health/otel-export-trace-action
• https://github.com/runforesight/workflow-telemetry-action

CLI tool

actions-timeline is also available as a CLI tool. You can use it with deno run command.

deno run --allow-net --allow-write --allow-env=GITHUB_API_URL \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Kesin11/actions-timeline/main/cli.ts \
  https://github.com/Kesin11/actions-timeline/actions/runs/8021493760/attempts/1 \
  -t $(gh auth token) \
  -o output.md

# Fetch latest attempt if ommit attempts
deno run --allow-net --allow-write --allow-env=GITHUB_API_URL \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Kesin11/actions-timeline/main/cli.ts \
  https://github.com/Kesin11/actions-timeline/actions/runs/8021493760/ \
  -t $(gh auth token) \
  -o output.md

# GHES
deno run --allow-net --allow-write --allow-env=GITHUB_API_URL \
  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Kesin11/actions-timeline/main/cli.ts \
  https://YOUR_ENTERPRISE_HOST/OWNER/REPO/actions/runs/RUN_ID/attempts/1 \
  -t $(gh auth token -h YOUR_ENTERPRISE_HOST) \
  -o output.md

cli.ts just outputs the markdown to file or STDOUT, so you have to use other tools to visualize mermaid diagrams.

• Online editor: Mermaid Live Editor
• VSCode extension: Markdown Preview Mermaid Support
• Local terminal: mermaid-cli

DEVELOPMENT

Setup

asdf install
deno task setup:githooks

DEBUG

If you want to debug this action, first generate dist/ then execute own action.

- uses: actions/checkout@v3
- uses: denoland/setup-deno@v1
- run: deno task bundle
- uses: ./

LICENSE

MIT