Create a snapshot NPM release with /snapit comment in a PR

This GitHub action allows for automation of Changesets Snapshot Release with the comment /snapit in a pull request. Snapshot releases are a way to release your changes for testing without updating the versions.

Create a .github/workflows/snapit.yml file with the following contents.

Deploy to NPM

name: Snapit

on:
  issue_comment:
    types:
      - created

jobs:
  snapit:
    name: Snapit
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout default branch
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Create snapshot version
        uses: Shopify/snapit@main
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
        with:
          build_script: pnpm build # Optional
          comment_command: /snapit # Default value not required

Deploy to branch

This is useful when orchestrating releases outside of GitHub actions or with other package registries.

name: Snapit

on:
  issue_comment:
    types:
      - created

jobs:
  snapit:
    name: Snapit
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout default branch
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Create snapshot version
        uses: Shopify/snapit@main
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        with:
          branch: snapshot-release
          comment_command: /snapit # Default value not required

GITHUB_TOKEN

The GITHUB_TOKEN is needed for changesets to look up the current changeset when creating a snapshot. You can use the automatically created ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} to authenticate in the workflow job.

NPM_TOKEN

A NPM_TOKEN needs to be created and added to the repository to (publish packages from GitHub actions to the npm registry)[https://docs.github.com/en/actions/publishing-packages/publishing-nodejs-packages#publishing-packages-to-the-npm-registry].

build_script (optional)

The build script to run before publishing.

comment_command (optional, default /snapit)

The comment to write to trigger the creation of a snapshot.

branch (optional)

Push the changes to a branch instead of publishing to the NPM registry.

custom_message_prefix (optional)

Custom message to added to the beginning of the release GitHub comment. By default a generic message is shown: "Test the snapshots by updating your package.json with the newly published versions:"

custom_message_suffix (optional)

Custom message to added to the end of the release GitHub comment.

global_install (optional)

If true, the generated GitHub comment will show the command to install your packages globally. Otherwise, the default behaviour is to show a json example to update your local dependencies.

github_comment_included_packages (optional)

In workspaces where many packages are deployed, use this filter if you only want to include some of them in the release GitHub comment. (To specify multiple packages, separate using commas)

To contribute a change, bug fix or feature to snapit:

1. Make a new branch my-branch
2. Make the changes you need
3. Run pnpm build
4. Push your changes to the branch
5. In your repositories main branch point the .github/snapit.yml file to the shopify/snapit branch uses: Shopify/snapit@my-branch
6. Create a pull request with changeset and write /snapit as a comment in the pull request

v0.0.13

• Add global_install to show global npm installation instructions on the generated GitHub comment.
• Add github_comment_included_packages to allow including just some packages on the generated GitHub comment.
• Rename custom_message to custom_message_prefix
• Add custom_message_suffix

v0.0.12

• Fix typo in snapshot comment message

v0.0.11

• Capture snapshot versions before build_script

v0.0.10

• Disallow private packages from being published
• Check for snapshots before getting the timestamp
• Skip packages that do not have a name or version

v0.0.9

• Add branch to publish to other package services
• Add custom_message to add a markdown string to the generated GitHub comment
• Add missing comma to GitHub comment seperating versions

v0.0.8

• Add space between package name and version in GitHub comment

v0.0.7

• Simplify GitHub comment

v0.0.6

• Add support for pnpm

v0.0.5

• Reorder build_script to run after changeset version

v0.0.4

• Improve error handling
• Update action to use TypeScript

v0.0.3

• Fix issue with Version Packages PRs not resetting changesets
• Allow build_script to have && when multiple scripts are needed
• Make build_script optional for projects that do not need a build

v0.0.2

• Install comment recommends yarn add if the project has a yarn.lock
• Fix issue with PR changes not being included in snapshot version
• Optionally change the comment to trigger the snapshot with the comment_command input

v0.0.1

• Initial version used by @shopify/polaris