For this action to work you must explicitly allow GitHub Actions to create pull requests.
This setting can be found in a repository's settings under Actions > General > Workflow permissions.
For repositories belonging to an organization, this setting can be managed by admins in organization settings under Actions > General > Workflow permissions.
| `token` | The token that the action will use to create and update the pull request. See [token](#token). | `GITHUB_TOKEN` |
| `branch-token` | The token that the action will use to create and update the branch. See [branch-token](#branch-token). | Defaults to the value of `token` |
| `add-paths` | A comma or newline-separated list of file paths to commit. Paths should follow git's [pathspec](https://git-scm.com/docs/gitglossary#Documentation/gitglossary.txt-aiddefpathspecapathspec) syntax. If no paths are specified, all new and modified files are added. See [Add specific paths](#add-specific-paths). | |
| `committer` | The committer name and email address in the format `Display Name <email@address.com>`. Defaults to the GitHub Actions bot user on github.com. | `github-actions[bot] <41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>` |
| `author` | The author name and email address in the format `Display Name <email@address.com>`. Defaults to the user who triggered the workflow run. | `${{ github.actor }} <${{ github.actor_id }}+${{ github.actor }}@users.noreply.github.com>` |
| `signoff` | Add [`Signed-off-by`](https://git-scm.com/docs/git-commit#Documentation/git-commit.txt---signoff) line by the committer at the end of the commit log message. | `false` |
| `branch-suffix` | The branch suffix type when using the alternative branching strategy. Valid values are `random`, `timestamp` and `short-commit-hash`. See [Alternative strategy](#alternative-strategy---always-create-a-new-pull-request-branch) for details. | |
| `push-to-fork` | A fork of the checked-out parent repository to which the pull request branch will be pushed. e.g. `owner/repo-fork`. The pull request will be created to merge the fork's branch into the parent's base. See [push pull request branches to a fork](docs/concepts-guidelines.md#push-pull-request-branches-to-a-fork) for details. | |
| `sign-commits` | Sign commits as `github-actions[bot]` when using `GITHUB_TOKEN`, or your own bot when using [GitHub App tokens](docs/concepts-guidelines.md#authenticating-with-github-app-generated-tokens). See [commit signing](docs/concepts-guidelines.md#commit-signature-verification-for-bots) for details. | `false` |
| `title` | The title of the pull request. | `Changes by create-pull-request action` |
| `body` | The body of the pull request. | `Automated changes by [create-pull-request](https://github.com/peter-evans/create-pull-request) GitHub action` |
| `team-reviewers` | A comma or newline-separated list of GitHub teams to request a review from. Note that a `repo` scoped [PAT](https://docs.github.com/en/github/authenticating-to-github/creating-a-personal-access-token), or equivalent [GitHub App permissions](docs/concepts-guidelines.md#authenticating-with-github-app-generated-tokens), are required. | |
| `draft` | Create a [draft pull request](https://docs.github.com/en/github/collaborating-with-issues-and-pull-requests/about-pull-requests#draft-pull-requests). Valid values are `true` (only on create), `always-true` (on create and update), and `false`. | `false` |
| `maintainer-can-modify` | Indicates whether [maintainers can modify](https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/working-with-forks/allowing-changes-to-a-pull-request-branch-created-from-a-fork) the pull request. | `true` |
#### token
The token input defaults to the repository's `GITHUB_TOKEN`.
> [!IMPORTANT]
> - If you want pull requests created by this action to trigger an `on: push` or `on: pull_request` workflow then you cannot use the default `GITHUB_TOKEN`. See the [documentation here](docs/concepts-guidelines.md#triggering-further-workflow-runs) for further details.
> - If using the repository's `GITHUB_TOKEN` and your repository was created after 2nd February 2023, the [default permission is read-only](https://github.blog/changelog/2023-02-02-github-actions-updating-the-default-github_token-permissions-to-read-only/). Elevate the [permissions](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/writing-workflows/choosing-what-your-workflow-does/controlling-permissions-for-github_token#defining-access-for-the-github_token-permissions) in your workflow.
> ```yml
> permissions:
> contents: write
> pull-requests: write
> ```
Other token options:
- Classic [Personal Access Token (PAT)](https://docs.github.com/en/github/authenticating-to-github/creating-a-personal-access-token) with `repo` scope.
- Fine-grained [Personal Access Token (PAT)](https://docs.github.com/en/github/authenticating-to-github/creating-a-personal-access-token) with `contents: write` and `pull-requests: write` scopes.
- [GitHub App tokens](docs/concepts-guidelines.md#authenticating-with-github-app-generated-tokens) with `contents: write` and `pull-requests: write` scopes.
> [!TIP]
> If pull requests could contain changes to Actions workflows you may also need the `workflows` scope.
#### branch-token
The action first creates a branch, and then creates a pull request for the branch.
In addition to a message, the `commit-message` input can also be used to populate the commit description. Leave a single blank line between the message and description.
The `delete-branch` feature doesn't delete branches immediately on merge. (It can't do that because it would require the merge to somehow trigger the action.)
If you want branches to be deleted immediately on merge then you should use GitHub's `Automatically delete head branches` feature in your repository settings.
- If a pull request already exists it will be updated if necessary. Local changes in the Actions workspace, or changes on the base branch, can cause an update. If no update is required the action exits silently.
- If a pull request exists and new changes on the base branch make the pull request unnecessary (i.e. there is no longer a diff between the pull request branch and the base), the pull request is automatically closed. Additionally, if [`delete-branch`](#delete-branch) is set to `true` the `branch` will be deleted.
#### Alternative strategy - Always create a new pull request branch
For some use cases it may be desirable to always create a new unique branch each time there are changes to be committed.
This strategy is *not recommended* because if not used carefully it could result in multiple pull requests being created unnecessarily. If in doubt, use the [default strategy](#action-behaviour) of creating an updating a fixed-name branch.
To use this strategy, set input `branch-suffix` with one of the following options.
-`random` - Commits will be made to a branch suffixed with a random alpha-numeric string. e.g. `create-pull-request/patch-6qj97jr`, `create-pull-request/patch-5jrjhvd`
-`timestamp` - Commits will be made to a branch suffixed by a timestamp. e.g. `create-pull-request/patch-1569322532`, `create-pull-request/patch-1569322552`
-`short-commit-hash` - Commits will be made to a branch suffixed with the short SHA1 commit hash. e.g. `create-pull-request/patch-fcdfb59`, `create-pull-request/patch-394710b`
The action defaults to adding all new and modified files.
If there are files that should not be included in the pull request, you can use the following methods to control the committed content.
#### Remove files
The most straightforward way to handle unwanted files is simply to remove them in a step before the action runs.
```yml
- run: |
rm -rf temp-dir
rm temp-file.txt
```
#### Ignore files
If there are files or directories you want to ignore you can simply add them to a `.gitignore` file at the root of your repository. The action will respect this file.
#### Add specific paths
You can control which files are committed with the `add-paths` input.
Paths should follow git's [pathspec](https://git-scm.com/docs/gitglossary#Documentation/gitglossary.txt-aiddefpathspecapathspec) syntax.
Note that the repository must be checked out on a branch with a remote, it won't work for [events which checkout a commit](docs/concepts-guidelines.md#events-which-checkout-a-commit).
