Stefan Stranger's Blog

Github Action to create an Azure DevOps Bug Work Item for failing Github Workflow actions


I developed a new Github Action to create an Azure DevOps Bug Work Item for failing Github Workflow actions.

For Azure DevOps there are already some Extensions that create a Bug when a release is failing, but I wanted to have something simular in Github Workflows.

How does it works?

Github Action Azure DevOps Bug Work Item

With the Github Action Azure DevOps Bug Work Item you can create an Azure DevOps Bug Work Item for failed Github Workflow Actions.

Screenshot Github Workflow with failed Action

Failed Workflow Screenshot

Screenshot Bug created in Azure DevOps Backlog

Azure DevOps Bug Work Item screenshot

Azure DevOps Bug Work Items

As your team identifies code defects or bugs, they can add them to the backlog and track them similar to requirements. Or, they can schedule them to be fixed within a sprint along with other tasks.

More information can be found here

Sample workflow that uses Azure DevOps Bug Work Item

name: Error

on: [push]

jobs:
  error:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v1
      - name: Throw error in PowerShell script
        run: |
          throw 'something failed';
      - name: The job has failed
        uses: stefanstranger/azuredevops-bug-action@v1
        if: failure()
        with:
          OrganizationName: "stefanstranger"
          PAT: "PAT"
          ProjectName: "Contoso"
          AreaPath: "Contoso\\Automation"
          IterationPath: "Contoso"
          GithubToken: "GithubToken"
          WorkflowFileName: "error.yml"
        env:
          PAT: $
          GithubToken: $
Input Description
OrganizationName Azure DevOps Organization name
PAT Github Secret Name for PAT stored as Github environment variable
ProjectName Azure DevOps Project name
AreaPath Azure DevOps Area Path for the Bug Work Items
IterationPath Azure DevOps Iteration Path for the Bug Work Item
GithubToken Github Secret Name for Github Token stored as Github environment variable
WorkflowFileName Github Workflow file name

Configure Personal Access Token (PAT)

For creating the Azure DevOps Bug Work Item we need to create an Azure DevOps Personal Access Token.

More information about creating an Azure DevOps Personal Access token can be found here

The minimal scope authorization for Work Items is Read, write & manage.

PAT configuration

Add the PAT output as a secret (let’s say with the name PAT) in the GitHub repository.

PAT Github Secret screenshot

Configure Github Token

This Github Action uses the Github REST API to retrieve detailed information about the failed Github Workflow Run.

Create a Github Personal Access Token via the Github Developer Settings.

Your Github Token needs the following permissions:

Add the Github Token a secret (let’s say with the name githubtoken) in the GitHub repository.

Github Token Secret screenshot

Hope you enjoy this new Github Action!

References