Run a workflow only once using a workflow_call event

[kwk]

Hi. I have a workflow that runs an expensive check and I only want to run it automatically once a day per "configuration". The condition when this expensive workflow shall run is complicated and we cannot determine this by any schedule. Instead we have another workflow that checks if a "configuration" is all green and it makes sense to run the expensive checks on it. This workflow is scheduled to run every hour.

Is there a way to list workflow runs and find out what the inputs were? Based on this I could decide if we need to run the expensive check workflow or not.

[kwk]

I've found an answer and will post it here tomorrow.

[ghost]

Hi. You can use a combination of GitHub Actions and GitHub API. Only remember to handle rate limits and authentication when using the GitHub API.

[ghost]

I will show high-level overview.
store configuration state - Maintain a state or record somewhere (e.g., a file or database) to track whether the expensive check workflow has been run for each configuration and when it was last run.
Then trigger workflow on configuration check - Set up a workflow triggered by the hourly schedule. This workflow checks the status of each configuration and decides whether to trigger the expensive check workflow.
Now you must use gitHub API - retrieve the list of workflow runs for each configuration. You can filter these runs based on the workflow file path or other relevant criteria.
Then determine workflow inputs - Extract the inputs for each workflow run using the GitHub API. You can retrieve this information from the workflow run's details.
After that, decision making - Based on the inputs and the configuration state, decide whether to trigger the expensive check workflow. If the conditions are met, trigger the expensive check workflow using the GitHub Actions API. Then update the state or record to indicate that the expensive check workflow has been run for the current configuration.Dont forget implement error handling and logging mechanisms to handle any failures or unexpected scenarios.
You can achieve running the expensive check workflow only once a day per configuration, based on the conditions you've described.

[kwk]

Thank you @vontanne . I was away from work for the past week. I didn't continue working on this but I found this comment interesting:

Then determine workflow inputs - Extract the inputs for each workflow run using the GitHub API. You can retrieve this information from the workflow run's details.

I'd love to know with API allows inspection here? I'm looking at WorkflowRun.py and that has no information about the inputs. I thought about creating an artifact just to store the inputs in its name or content just to come back later and identify that a workflow has run already but that would be overkill.

[github-actions[bot]]

🕒 Discussion Activity Reminder 🕒

This Discussion has been labeled as dormant by an automated system for having no activity in the last 60 days. Please consider one the following actions:

1️⃣ Close as Out of Date: If the topic is no longer relevant, close the Discussion as out of date at the bottom of the page.

2️⃣ Provide More Information: Share additional details or context — or let the community know if you've found a solution on your own.

3️⃣ Mark a Reply as Answer: If your question has been answered by a reply, mark the most helpful reply as the solution.

Note: This dormant notification will only apply to Discussions with the Question label. To learn more, see our recent announcement.

Thank you for helping bring this Discussion to a resolution! 💬

[kwk]

I just wanted to inform that I've used invisible <!-- HTML comments --> in the initial issue comment to track information about my expensive workflows. If they have outdated I re-ran a workflow it works very seamlessly and allows me to store much more information than I anticipated before.