Can github actions edit parts of README.md? - variables

Question

I want to update ONLY the first header of a readme so it always has the repo's name.
I know how to get the repo name in github actions by doing something like:
name: CI
on:
push:
jobs:
build:
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout#v3
- name: Run a one-line script
run: echo "REPO_NAME=${{ github.event.repository.name }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
However, I want to access my readme.md and add the 'github.event.repository.name' to the header.
So I would make a Readme with something like:
Introduction for: {{ github.event.repository.name }}
hoping I can get something like this with gitactions:
Introduction for: RepoName
I tried using some marketplace github actions but the one I tried seems to not do variables and it seems to update the whole readme.md not just the header: https://github.com/marketplace/actions/dynamic-readme
Here is the failed example for this marketplace plugin:
name: Dynamic Template
on:
push:
branches:
- main
workflow_dispatch:
jobs:
update_templates:
name: "Update Templates"
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: "📥 Fetching Repository Contents"
uses: actions/checkout#main
# Runs a single command using the runners shell
- name: Run a one-line script
run: echo "REPO_NAME=${{ github.event.repository.name }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
# Runs a set of commands using the runners shell
- name: Update GitHub Profile README
uses: theboi/github-update-readme#v1.0
env:
GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
REPO_NAME: ${{ github.event.repository.name }}
with:
header: $REPO_NAME
Is there any way to make the readme.md file have the repo name dynamically with a variable in github actions?
EDIT: I think I am very close but I don't know how to commit code in github actions. I figured, I can do this manually by using the sed command in bash in github actions. I think it worked but I think I have to commit the code to make it save. Here is the code I have so far:
name: Dynamic Template
on:
push:
branches:
- main
workflow_dispatch:
jobs:
update_templates:
name: "Update Templates"
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: "📥 Fetching Repository Contents"
uses: actions/checkout#main
# Runs a single command using the runners shell
- name: Run a one-line script
run: echo "REPO_NAME=${{ github.event.repository.name }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
# Runs a set of commands using the runners shell
- name: Run a multi-line script
run: |
ls
sed -i 's/<reponame>/$REPO_NAME/' README.md
cat README.md
echo $REPO_NAME

Answer 1

I figured it out. You can it manually by using the sed command in bash within a runner in github actions. Set your README.md with a variable that you want to replace like <reponame> then use github actions to find that string and replace it with something you want (for me the repo name).
name: Dynamic Template
on:
create:
jobs:
update_templates:
name: "Update Templates"
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: "📥 Fetching Repository Contents"
uses: actions/checkout#main
# Runs a set of commands using the runners shell
- name: Update README.md
run: |
sed -i 's/<reponame>/'${{ github.event.repository.name }}'/' README.md
git config user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]#users.noreply.github.com"
git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
git commit -am "Automated report"
git push
The email I used is a dependabot mentioned from here: https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/26560#discussioncomment-3531273

Answer 2

This method needs four files
README.md
python script #replace tag
github_action.yml #run it automatically
variable.json #define variable
#PythonKiddieScripterX provides a good idea.
Based on the idea that context inside <> those <information will be hidden>. We can update our readme files by replacing those tags <> with the texts we want.
Example of my README.md file
This answer is version `1.0`. It will be updated automatically by loading `json` file and using GitHub Action.
In my readme.json file
{
VERSION: 1.0
}
Then I will only need a script to do the replacement. In this example, I use python saved as
replace_tag.py.
import re
import os
import json
# read all .md files
readmefiles = []
for root, dirs, files in os.walk("."):
for file in files:
if file.endswith(".md"):
readmefiles.append(os.path.join(root, file))
# load variable json
with open('readme.json') as f:
var_dic = json.load(f)
# match pattern (<variable-*.?-tag>)(`*.?`)
# example: (<variable-VERSION-tag>)(`1.1`)
for filename in readmefiles:
with open(filename,"r") as f:
content = f.read()
# update readme variables
for key, value in var_dic.items():
pattern = r"(<variable-{}-tag>)(`.*?`)".format(key)
replacement = r"\1`{}`".format(value)
content = re.sub(pattern, replacement, content)
with open(filename,"w") as f:
f.write(content)
Then the final thing is to use GitHub Action to run this python script every time there is a change.
yml file could be
name: README Dynamic Update
on:
push:
paths:
- *.md
- readme.json
- **/*.md
workflow_dispatch:
jobs:
update_templates:
name: "Update Templates"
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: "📥 Update GitHub Readme files"
uses: actions/checkout#main
# Runs a set of commands using the runners shell
- name: Update README.md
run: |
python replace_tag.py
- name: pull-request
uses: repo-sync/pull-request#v2
with:
destination_branch: "main"
github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
- name: commit
run: |
git config --global user.email youremail
git config --global user.name yourusername
git add .
git commit -m "README update Automation" -a
- name: Push changes
uses: ad-m/github-push-action#master
with:
github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
Also for those text inside the code blocks, we can use <pre></pre> to solve the hidding issue.
Note that
need to add tag in this format <variable-YOURTAG-tag>"variable"