Must a YAML file that utilizes workflow_dispatch be in all branches that would use it?

[Rod-at-DOH]

Why are you starting this discussion?

Question

What GitHub Actions topic or product is this about?

Workflow Configuration

Discussion Details

Last week we were trying to deploy from different branches, but it didn't work. We have 6 .yml files. When we tried to run them none of the even produced a log in the GitHub Actions. I believe the problem is that early in the workflows they all check to see if they're running from either the Development, UAT, or Production branches. And we were trying to run it in Master. I believe we will have to specify Master as a valid branch to run from. Is that correct?

[suhanpahari]

Your workflows didn’t run because the on: section in each .yml file only allows triggers from the Development, UAT, or Production branches, so when you pushed to master, nothing was triggered and no logs appeared; to fix this, you’ll need to add master to the list of branches under on.push.branches, or adjust the conditions so the workflows run from master (or any branch you choose) without unintentionally deploying from branches where you don’t want deployments.

[Rod-at-DOH]

Really? WOW, that's unexpected. And I think gets back to my original question. We've had .yml files in the Development, UAT, Production, and Master branches. All with workflow_dispatch. But not all had the same files. Furthermore, we only had environments for Development, UAT, and Production; none for Master. And I know that the .yml didn't look at Master. e.g.:

if : ${{ github.event.pull_request.merged == true && (github.base_ref == 'Development' || github.base_ref == 'UAT' || github.base_ref == 'Production') }}

This is why I was wondering if the YAML files must be identical. Perhaps they don't need to be, but I've a feeling that If statement above must include the Master branch.

[suhanpahari]

You don’t need all the YAML files to be identical, but the conditions inside each workflow (like your if: check) must explicitly allow the branch you want to trigger from. Right now, master isn’t included anywhere, so those workflows will just skip.

If you want master to behave like the other branches, you’ll need to do two things:

1. Add master to the on: trigger (for push, pull_request, or workflow_dispatch as needed).
2. Update your if: condition to also check for master, or adjust the logic so it runs whenever you need it to.

The workflows don’t have to be identical across branches, but they do need to reference the branch you’re running from, otherwise nothing will happen.