workflow is not valid / Unknown property inputs

[BBBmau]

Bug report info

openpilot(base) ┌─(~/Dev/openpilot)────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────(mau@mau-JKDT676NCP:s075)─┐
└─(11:19:23 on master)──> act --bug-report                                                                                                 1 ↵ ──(Sun,Sep29)─┘
act version:            0.2.67
GOOS:                   darwin
GOARCH:                 arm64
NumCPU:                 10
Docker host:            DOCKER_HOST environment variable is not set
Sockets found:
        /var/run/docker.sock
        $HOME/.docker/run/docker.sock
Config files:           
        /Users/mau/.actrc:
                -P ubuntu-latest=catthehacker/ubuntu:act-latest
                -P ubuntu-22.04=catthehacker/ubuntu:act-22.04
                -P ubuntu-20.04=catthehacker/ubuntu:act-20.04
                -P ubuntu-18.04=catthehacker/ubuntu:act-18.04
Build info:
        Go version:            go1.23.1
        Module path:           command-line-arguments
        Main version:          
        Main path:             
        Main checksum:         
        Build settings:
                -buildmode:           exe
                -compiler:            gc
                -ldflags:             -X main.version=0.2.67
                DefaultGODEBUG:       asynctimerchan=1,gotypesalias=0,httplaxcontentlength=1,httpmuxgo121=1,httpservecontentkeepheaders=1,tls10server=1,tls3des=1,tlskyber=0,tlsrsakex=1,tlsunsafeekm=1,winreadlinkvolume=0,winsymlink=0,x509keypairleaf=0,x509negativeserial=1
                CGO_ENABLED:          1
                CGO_CFLAGS:           
                CGO_CPPFLAGS:         
                CGO_CXXFLAGS:         
                CGO_LDFLAGS:          
                GOARCH:               arm64
                GOOS:                 darwin
                GOARM64:              v8.0
Docker Engine:
        Engine version:        26.1.1
        Engine runtime:        runc
        Cgroup version:        2
        Cgroup driver:         cgroupfs
        Storage driver:        overlay2
        Registry URI:          https://index.docker.io/v1/
        OS:                    Docker Desktop
        OS type:               linux
        OS version:            
        OS arch:               aarch64
        OS kernel:             6.6.26-linuxkit
        OS CPU:                10
        OS memory:             7840 MB
        Security options:
                name=seccomp,profile=unconfined
                name=cgroupns

Command used with act

└─(11:12:22 on master)──> act --container-architecture linux/amd64                                                                         1 ↵ ──(Sun,Sep29)─┘
INFO[0000] Using docker host 'unix:///var/run/docker.sock', and daemon socket 'unix:///var/run/docker.sock' 
Error: workflow is not valid. 'action.yaml': Line: 3 Column 1: Unknown Property inputs
Line: 18 Column 1: Unknown Property runs

Describe issue

This happens on a fresh install of act using brew install act

Link to GitHub repository

https://github.com/commaai/openpilot

Workflow content

name: 'automatically cache based on current runner'

inputs:
  path:
    description: 'path to cache'
    required: true
  key:
    description: 'key'
    required: true
  restore-keys:
    description: 'restore-keys'
    required: true
  save:
    description: 'whether to save the cache'
    default: 'false'
    required: false

runs:
  using: "composite"
  steps:
    - name: setup namespace cache
      if: ${{ contains(runner.name, 'nsc') }}
      uses: namespacelabs/nscloud-cache-action@v1
      with:
        path: ${{ inputs.path }}

    - name: setup github cache
      if: ${{ !contains(runner.name, 'nsc') && inputs.save != 'false' }}
      uses: 'actions/cache@v4'
      with:
        path: ${{ inputs.path }}
        key: ${{ inputs.key }}
        restore-keys: ${{ inputs.restore-keys }}

    - name: setup github cache
      if: ${{ !contains(runner.name, 'nsc') && inputs.save == 'false' }}
      uses: 'actions/cache/restore@v4'
      with:
        path: ${{ inputs.path }}
        key: ${{ inputs.key }}
        restore-keys: ${{ inputs.restore-keys }}

    # make the directory manually in case we didn't get a hit, so it doesn't fail on future steps
    - id: scons-cache-setup
      shell: bash
      run: |
        mkdir -p ${{ inputs.path }}
        sudo chmod -R 777 ${{ inputs.path }}
        sudo chown -R $USER ${{ inputs.path }}

Relevant log output

openpilot(base) ┌─(~/Dev/openpilot)────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────(mau@mau-JKDT676NCP:s075)─┐
└─(11:18:57 on master)──> act --container-architecture linux/amd64 -v                                                                      1 ↵ ──(Sun,Sep29)─┘
DEBU[0000] Handling container host and socket           
DEBU[0000] Defaulting container socket to DOCKER_HOST   
INFO[0000] Using docker host 'unix:///var/run/docker.sock', and daemon socket 'unix:///var/run/docker.sock' 
DEBU[0000] Loading environment from /Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.env 
DEBU[0000] Loading action inputs from /Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.input 
DEBU[0000] Loading secrets from /Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.secrets 
DEBU[0000] Loading vars from /Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.vars 
DEBU[0000] Evaluated matrix inclusions: map[]           
DEBU[0000] Conditional GET for notices etag=f3371bdd-b981-44c5-b378-9c778eedf272 
DEBU[0000] Loading workflows from '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows' 
DEBU[0000] Loading workflows recursively                
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'action.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/auto-cache/action.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'auto_pr_review.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/auto_pr_review.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'badges.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/badges.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'ci_weekly_report.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/ci_weekly_report.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'ci_weekly_run.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/ci_weekly_run.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'action.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/compile-openpilot/action.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'docs.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/docs.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'jenkins-pr-trigger.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/jenkins-pr-trigger.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'prebuilt.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/prebuilt.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'release.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/release.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'repo-maintenance.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/repo-maintenance.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'selfdrive_tests.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/selfdrive_tests.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'action.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/setup/action.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'action.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/setup-with-retry/action.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'stale.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/stale.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'tools_tests.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/tools_tests.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Found workflow 'ui_preview.yaml' in '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/ui_preview.yaml' 
DEBU[0000] Reading workflow '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/auto-cache/action.yaml' 
Error: workflow is not valid. 'action.yaml': Line: 3 Column 1: Unknown Property inputs
Line: 18 Column 1: Unknown Property runs

Additional information

No response

[sebastien-perpignane]

Hi,

I think that's because act expects workflow yaml files in .github/workflows/ directory, not action yaml files.

As the log says, "DEBU[0000] Reading workflow '/Users/mau/Dev/openpilot/.github/workflows/auto-cache/action.yaml' "

I think you should consider to move your actions in a .github/actions dir to make your repo compatible with GitHub and with act. That's what I would try to do if I had the same issue :)

[ChristopherHX]

...The problem is actually that a feature request for GitHub Actions ",Workflows in subdirectories of .github/workflows" has been implemented in act

A PR that reverts/removes the feature would resolve this

Older versions would have handled an action.yml file as an empty workflow, which is incorrect

[sebastien-perpignane]

Hi @ChristopherHX

Do you think that some code change ignoring yaml files named "action" in .github/workflows would be a correct fix ?

[ChristopherHX]

Do you think that some code change ignoring yaml files named "action" in .github/workflows would be a correct fix ?

No, action.yml is a valid name for a workflow in .github/workflows until you can provide me an example on GitHub that shows the opposite.

Ignoring files without .yml/.yaml extension should be implemented in my opinion

[tsny-houzz]

This is also happening to me and only with composite workflows.

[ChristopherHX]

composite workflows

I don't like this term, because it is not 100% clear if it is a workflow or an action.

• composite actions (I guess you mean this, because of the validation error)
  • are not workflows
  • make act abort when in .github/workflows without -W cli parameter to a actual workflow
  • action.yml / action.yaml files anywhere
  • Only job steps can use them
• reusable workflow
  • must be in .github/workflows folder
  • any yaml file name
  • make act pass validation
  • this is the composite action concept for workflows

IMO putting yaml files that are not workflows in .github/workflows is going to be a problem for you soon, when GitHub adds support for organizing workflows in folders this feature got label backlog for GitHub Actions