#2 Git Automate email event Processing

Automate Email-Like Event Processing with Git Actions

Automating tasks based on incoming communications is a powerful way to streamline workflows. While directly "reading" a live email inbox with Git Actions is not straightforward due to security and architectural considerations, we can effectively process email-like events by simulating their arrival and then applying Git Actions' automation capabilities.

This tutorial will show you how to set up a Git Action workflow that:

1. Accepts "email" details as input.
2. Parses and processes these details.
3. Performs conditional actions based on the "email" content.

Let's get started!

Module 1: Setting up an Email Event Processor Workflow

In this module, we'll create a basic Git Action workflow that simulates receiving an email. We'll use workflow_dispatch to allow manual triggering and define inputs for the "email's" subject, sender, and body.

Key Concepts:

• workflow_dispatch with inputs: This trigger allows you to manually run a workflow from the GitHub Actions tab and pass custom input parameters. This is perfect for simulating incoming email data.
• github.event.inputs: This context object allows your workflow to access the values provided through the workflow_dispatch trigger.

Steps:

1. Create the Workflow File: In your repository, create a directory named .github/workflows if it doesn't exist. Inside it, create a new file named process-email-event.yml.
2. Add Workflow Content: Paste the following YAML into process-email-event.yml:

process-email-event.yml (Module 1)

name: Process Email Event

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      sender_email:
        description: 'Sender Email Address'
        required: true
        default: 'noreply@example.com'
      subject:
        description: 'Email Subject'
        required: true
        default: 'Automated Report'
      body_content:
        description: 'Email Body Content (first few lines)'
        required: false
        type: string
        default: 'This is an automated report from our system.'
jobs:
  log_email_details:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Log Incoming Email Details
        run: |
          echo "--- Incoming Email Event ---"
          echo "Sender: ${{ github.event.inputs.sender_email }}"
          echo "Subject: ${{ github.event.inputs.subject }}"
          echo "Body Preview: ${{ github.event.inputs.body_content }}"
          echo "----------------------------"
            

3. Commit and Push: Commit this file to your repository and push it to GitHub.

Expected Outcome:

Navigate to the "Actions" tab in your GitHub repository. You should now see a workflow named "Process Email Event" with a "Run workflow" button. Click this button, and you'll see a form where you can input values for sender_email, subject, and body_content. Fill them out and run the workflow. The output in the log_email_details job will display the information you entered.

---

Module 2: Conditional Actions Based on Email Content

Now that we can "receive" email details, let's make our workflow smarter by performing different actions based on the subject or sender of the "email." We'll use conditional logic (if statements) in our job steps.

Key Concepts:

• if conditions: You can apply if conditions to individual steps or entire jobs to control when they run. These conditions use GitHub's expression syntax.
• String manipulation: You can use functions like contains(), startsWith(), endsWith(), equals() to check for specific text within your inputs.

Steps:

1. Modify process-email-event.yml: Update your existing workflow file as follows:

process-email-event.yml (Module 2 Update)

name: Process Email Event

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      sender_email:
        description: 'Sender Email Address'
        required: true
        default: 'noreply@example.com'
      subject:
        description: 'Email Subject'
        required: true
        default: 'Automated Report'
      body_content:
        description: 'Email Body Content (first few lines)'
        required: false
        type: string
        default: 'This is an automated report from our system.'
jobs:
  log_email_details:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Log Incoming Email Details
        run: |
          echo "--- Incoming Email Event ---"
          echo "Sender: ${{ github.event.inputs.sender_email }}"
          echo "Subject: ${{ github.event.inputs.subject }}"
          echo "Body Preview: ${{ github.event.inputs.body_content }}"
          echo "----------------------------"
      - name: Handle Critical Alert (if subject contains 'Critical')
        if: contains(github.event.inputs.subject, 'Critical')
        run: |
          echo "!!! CRITICAL ALERT DETECTED !!!"
          echo "Triggering high-priority notification..."
          # In a real scenario, this could trigger a Slack alert, PagerDuty, etc.

      - name: Process Support Request (if sender is 'support@example.com')
        if: github.event.inputs.sender_email == 'support@example.com'
        run: |
          echo "New Support Request from support@example.com"
          echo "Logging details to a specific support channel..."
          # This could post to a CRM, create a GitHub Issue, etc.

      - name: Acknowledge General Email
        if: ${{ !contains(github.event.inputs.subject, 'Critical') && github.event.inputs.sender_email != 'support@example.com' }}
        run: |
          echo "Received a general email, acknowledging..."
          # This might trigger a generic response or simply log.
            

2. Commit and Push: Commit and push these changes.

Expected Outcome:

Run the workflow manually multiple times with different inputs:

• Scenario 1: Subject: Critical System Failure → You should see both "Log Incoming Email Details" and "Handle Critical Alert" steps run.
• Scenario 2: Sender Email Address: support@example.com → You should see "Log Incoming Email Details" and "Process Support Request" steps run.
• Scenario 3: Subject: Daily Report, Sender Email Address: analytics@example.com → Only "Log Incoming Email Details" and "Acknowledge General Email" should run.

This demonstrates how you can create branching logic in your automation based on the parsed "email" content.

---

Module 3: Simulating External Integration (Sending "Responses")

Finally, let's explore how our email processing workflow could trigger external actions or "send" a response. Since Git Actions cannot directly send emails without external services, we'll simulate this by creating a GitHub Issue or commenting on an existing one. This demonstrates the principle of integrating with other services.

Key Concepts:

• GitHub Actions Marketplace Actions: For interacting with GitHub features (like issues), there are excellent pre-built actions. We'll use peter-evans/create-or-update-issue@v3.
• Secrets: If you were to integrate with actual external services (e.g., a Slack webhook, an email API), you would store sensitive credentials securely as GitHub Secrets.

Steps:

1. Add repo permission to your workflow: To create issues, your workflow needs permission. Add this to the job:

Adding permissions to jobs

jobs:
  log_email_details:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      issues: write # Add this line
    steps:
      # ... existing steps ...
            

2. Modify process-email-event.yml: Add a new input and a new step to your log_email_details job:

process-email-event.yml (Module 3 Update)

name: Process Email Event

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      sender_email:
        description: 'Sender Email Address'
        required: true
        default: 'noreply@example.com'
      subject:
        description: 'Email Subject'
        required: true
        default: 'Automated Report'
      body_content:
        description: 'Email Body Content (first few lines)'
        required: false
        type: string
        default: 'This is an automated report from our system.'
      create_issue: # New input to control issue creation
        description: 'Create GitHub Issue for this email event?'
        required: true
        type: boolean
        default: false

jobs:
  log_email_details:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      issues: write # Grant permission to create/update issues
    steps:
      - name: Log Incoming Email Details
        run: |
          echo "--- Incoming Email Event ---"
          echo "Sender: ${{ github.event.inputs.sender_email }}"
          echo "Subject: ${{ github.event.inputs.subject }}"
          echo "Body Preview: ${{ github.event.inputs.body_content }}"
          echo "----------------------------"
      - name: Handle Critical Alert (if subject contains 'Critical')
        if: contains(github.event.inputs.subject, 'Critical')
        run: |
          echo "!!! CRITICAL ALERT DETECTED !!!"
          echo "Triggering high-priority notification..."
          # In a real scenario, this could trigger a Slack alert, PagerDuty, etc.
      - name: Process Support Request (if sender is 'support@example.com')
        if: github.event.inputs.sender_email == 'support@example.com'
        run: |
          echo "New Support Request from support@example.com"
          echo "Logging details to a specific support channel..."
          # This could post to a CRM, create a GitHub Issue, etc.
      - name: Acknowledge General Email
        if: ${{ !contains(github.event.inputs.subject, 'Critical') && github.event.inputs.sender_email != 'support@example.com' }}
        run: |
          echo "Received a general email, acknowledging..."
          # This might trigger a generic response or simply log.
      - name: Create GitHub Issue for Email Event
        if: ${{ github.event.inputs.create_issue == true }}
        uses: peter-evans/create-or-update-issue@v3
        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          title: 'Email Event: ${{ github.event.inputs.subject }}'
          body: |
            An email event was processed by Git Actions:
            - **Sender:** `${{ github.event.inputs.sender_email }}`
            - **Subject:** `${{ github.event.inputs.subject }}`
            - **Body Preview:**
            ```
            ${{ github.event.inputs.body_content }}
            ```
          labels: |
            email-event
            automation
            

3. Commit and Push: Commit and push these changes.

Expected Outcome:

Run the workflow manually again. This time, set create_issue to true. After the workflow completes, navigate to the "Issues" tab in your GitHub repository. You should see a new issue created with the "email" details and specific labels.

---

Further Enhancements (Beyond this Tutorial)

• Real Email Integration: To genuinely "read" emails, you would typically use an external service (like Zapier, IFTTT, AWS SES with Lambda, or a custom webhook server) that can:
  1. Monitor an email inbox.
  2. Parse incoming emails.
  3. Trigger your Git Action workflow via a repository_dispatch event (sending the email details as the event payload) or by directly calling the GitHub API with a Personal Access Token.
• More Complex Parsing: For richer email content (HTML, attachments), you'd need a more sophisticated external parsing service.
• Dynamic Response: Instead of just creating an issue, your workflow could trigger other automations, deploy code, update databases (via APIs), or even send an actual email using a third-party email API and GitHub Secrets for authentication.

This tutorial provides a solid foundation for understanding how to process external, event-driven data using Git Actions, even when direct integration isn't feasible.

#1 Git Actions - Micro Tutorials

Getting Started with Git Actions: Automate Your Workflow!

Git Actions are a powerful way to automate tasks within your software development lifecycle directly from your GitHub repository. From continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD) to running tests, building documentation, or deploying your application, Git Actions can streamline almost any workflow.

This tutorial will guide you through the basics of setting up and using Git Actions in 5 easy-to-understand modules. Let's dive in!

---

Module 1: Understanding the Basics - What are Git Actions?

At its core, a Git Action is an event-driven automation framework. This means that when a specific event occurs in your repository (like a push to a branch, a pull request being opened, or even a scheduled time), a predefined workflow will automatically execute.

Key Concepts:

• Workflows: These are configurable automated processes defined by a YAML file (.yml) in your repository's .github/workflows directory. They consist of one or more jobs.
• Events: Specific activities that trigger a workflow run. Examples include push, pull_request, issue_comment, schedule, and workflow_dispatch (manual trigger).
• Jobs: A set of steps that execute on the same runner. Jobs run in parallel by default, but you can configure them to run sequentially.
• Steps: An individual task within a job. A step can be a script that you write or an action that you use.
• Actions: Reusable units of work that you can combine into steps. These can be custom actions you write, or actions shared by the GitHub community.
• Runners: Virtual machines hosted by GitHub that execute your workflows. You can also host your own self-hosted runners.

Visualizing the Workflow:

Imagine a typical development cycle: you write code, commit it, push it to GitHub, and then you want to ensure it builds correctly and passes tests. Git Actions can automate this entire sequence.

YAML Workflow Example

name: CI/CD Pipeline

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm install
      - name: Build project
        run: npm run build
      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test
            

---

Module 2: Your First Workflow - "Hello World"

Let's create a simple workflow that prints "Hello, Git Actions!" to the console every time there's a push to your repository.

Steps:

1. Create the Workflow Directory: In your repository, create a directory named .github/workflows.
2. Create the Workflow File: Inside .github/workflows, create a new file named hello-world.yml.
3. Add Workflow Content: Paste the following YAML into hello-world.yml:

hello-world.yml

name: Hello World Workflow

on: [push] # This workflow runs on every push to any branch

jobs:
  greet:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest # Specify the operating system for the runner
    steps:
      - name: Say Hello
        run: echo "Hello, Git Actions!" # Execute a simple shell command
            

4. Commit and Push: Commit this file to your repository and push it to GitHub.

Expected Outcome:

Once you push the hello-world.yml file, navigate to the "Actions" tab in your GitHub repository. You should see a new workflow run triggered by your push. Clicking on it will show you the "greet" job and the "Say Hello" step, which will have "Hello, Git Actions!" in its logs.

---

Module 3: Using Pre-built Actions and Checkout

While you can write your own shell commands, a core strength of Git Actions is the ability to use pre-built actions from the GitHub Marketplace. One of the most common actions is actions/checkout, which checks out your repository's code so your workflow can access it.

Let's modify our "Hello World" to first check out the repository.

Steps:

1. Edit hello-world.yml: Open hello-world.yml and modify it as follows:

Modified hello-world.yml

name: Hello World Workflow with Checkout

on: [push]

jobs:
  greet:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3 # Use the checkout action to get your code
      - name: Say Hello
        run: echo "Hello, Git Actions from your repo!"
            

2. Commit and Push: Commit and push this change to your repository.

Explanation of uses: actions/checkout@v3:

• uses:: This keyword indicates that you're using a pre-built action.
• actions/checkout@v3: This specifies the action (checkout) from the actions organization and the version (v3). Using a specific version is crucial for workflow stability.

Why Checkout?

Many workflows, especially CI/CD pipelines, need access to your repository's files to compile code, run tests, or deploy applications. The checkout action provides this essential first step.

---

Module 4: Working with Multiple Jobs and Environments

Workflows can have multiple jobs, and jobs can be configured to run in different environments or with different settings. Let's create a workflow with two jobs: one to build the project and another to run tests, ensuring they run sequentially.

Steps:

1. Create build-and-test.yml: In .github/workflows, create build-and-test.yml with the following content:

build-and-test.yml

name: Build and Test Workflow

on: [push]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Install dependencies and build
        run: |
              echo "Simulating build process..."
              # In a real scenario, this would be `npm install` and `npm run build`
      - name: Archive production artifacts
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: my-app-build
          path: . # Assuming your build artifacts are in the root for this example

  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: build # This job will only run after the 'build' job completes successfully
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Download build artifacts
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: my-app-build
      - name: Run tests
        run: |
              echo "Simulating test process..."
              # In a real scenario, this would be `npm test`
            

2. Commit and Push: Commit and push this file.

Key Features Introduced:

• jobs: Contains build and test jobs.
• needs: build: The test job will only start after the build job has successfully completed. This creates a dependency.
• actions/upload-artifact@v3 and actions/download-artifact@v3: These actions allow you to share files (artifacts) between different jobs within the same workflow run, which is crucial for multi-stage pipelines (e.g., build in one job, test that build in another, then deploy the same build).

Expected Outcome:

You'll see two jobs running in sequence under the "Actions" tab. The test job will wait for the build job to finish before starting. You'll also see "Artifacts" listed for the workflow run, which you can download.

---

Module 5: Event Triggers and Context

Git Actions can be triggered by a multitude of events. You can also access information about the event and the repository using the github context.

Common Event Triggers:

• on: push: Runs when a push is made to any branch (or specific branches: on: push: branches: [main, develop]).
• on: pull_request: Runs when a pull request is opened, synchronized, or reopened.
• on: schedule: Runs at specified UTC times using cron syntax (on: schedule: ['0 0 * * *'] for daily at midnight).
• on: workflow_dispatch: Allows you to manually trigger a workflow from the GitHub UI or API.
• on: issue_comment: Triggers when a comment is made on an issue.

Using Context Information:

The github context provides information about the event that triggered the workflow, the repository, and the runner. You can access this information using expression syntax ${{ github.<property> }}.

Let's create a workflow that uses workflow_dispatch and prints information about the trigger.

Steps:

1. Create manual-trigger-info.yml: In .github/workflows, create manual-trigger-info.yml:

manual-trigger-info.yml

name: Manual Trigger Info

on:
  workflow_dispatch: # Allows manual triggering from the Actions tab

jobs:
  display-info:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Print Trigger Info
        run: |
              echo "Workflow triggered by: ${{ github.event_name }}"
              echo "Ref: ${{ github.ref }}"
              echo "Actor: ${{ github.actor }}"
              echo "Repository: ${{ github.repository }}"
              echo "Commit SHA: ${{ github.sha }}"
            

2. Commit and Push: Commit and push this file.

Expected Outcome:

Go to the "Actions" tab. You'll now see "Run workflow" button next to "Manual Trigger Info" workflow. Click it, select a branch (e.g., main), and run the workflow. The output will show details about the manual trigger.

---

You've now completed a foundational journey into Git Actions! You've learned how to create basic workflows, use pre-built actions, manage multiple jobs, share artifacts, and respond to different event triggers. This is just the beginning of what you can automate with Git Actions. Explore the GitHub Marketplace for more actions and start automating your development workflows today!

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