githubgithub-actions

How to run a github-actions step, even if the previous step fails, while still failing the job


I'm trying to follow an example Github has for testing my build with github actions, and then compressing the test results and uploading them as an artifact. https://help.github.com/en/actions/automating-your-workflow-with-github-actions/persisting-workflow-data-using-artifacts#uploading-build-and-test-artifacts

I'm having trouble with what to do when my tests fail though. This is my action. When my tests pass everything works great, my results are zipped an exported as an artifact, but if my tests fail, it stops the rest of the steps in the job, so my results never get published.
github-ci-result
I tried adding the continue-on-error: true https://help.github.com/en/actions/automating-your-workflow-with-github-actions/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#jobsjob_idstepscontinue-on-error
This makes it continue after it fails and uploads my test results. but then the job is marked as passed, even though my test step failed. Is there some way to have it upload my artifact even if a step fails, while still marking the overall job as failed?

name: CI
on:
  pull_request:
    branches:
    - master
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  build-and-test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v1    
    - name: Test App
      run: ./gradlew test

    - name: Archive Rest Results
      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v1
      with:
        name: test-results
        path: app/build/reports/tests

Solution

  • You can add

    if: always()
    

    to your step to have it run even if a previous step fails https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/expressions#status-check-functions

    so for a single step it would look like this:

    steps:
    - name: Build App
      run: ./build.sh
    
    - name: Archive Test Results
      if: always()
      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v1
      with:
        name: test-results
        path: app/build
    

    Or you can add it to a job:

    jobs:
      job1:
      job2:
        needs: job1
      job3:
        if: always()
        needs: [job1, job2]
    

    Additionally, as pointed out below, putting always() will cause the function to run even if the build is canceled. If you don't want the function to run when you manually cancel a job, you can instead put:

    if: success() || failure()
    

    or

    if: '!cancelled()'
    

    (Quotes are needed so that !cancelled() is not interpreted as a YAML tag.)

    Likewise, if you want to run a function ONLY when something has failed, you can put:

    if: failure()
    

    Also, as mentioned in the comments, if a status check function is not used in if, like

    if: true
    

    the result will (perhaps confusingly) behave like

    if: success() && true
    

    This is documented in Expressions - GitHub Docs:

    Status check functions

    You can use the following status check functions as expressions in if conditionals. A default status check of success() is applied unless you include one of these functions.