github-change-json

maxgfr/github-change-json is a GitHub Action which lets you change a value from a JSON file (e.g. package.json, tsconfig.json, or any other JSON file).

Why

Sometimes you need to update a .json file in your project during a workflow. For example, when you want to deploy a package to GitHub Packages and npm packages with a different name for each package (e.g. @maxgfr/package-name for GitHub Packages and package-name for npm packages) or you want to publish a create-react-app to GitHub Pages by modifying the homepage prop such as here. The purpose of this action is to handle this kind of situation by updating your .json file directly during the workflow without having to manually edit it.

Usage

Basic Example

name: 'action-test'
on:
  pull_request:
  push:

jobs:
  action:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Get commit sha
        run: |
          echo "GITHUB_SHA=${GITHUB_SHA}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
      - name: Modify name of the package.json
        uses: maxgfr/github-change-json@main
        with:
          key: 'name'
          value: '@maxgfr/example-${{ env.GITHUB_SHA }}'
          path: example/package.json
          commit: true # it will commit the change
      - name: Modify name of the package.json locally
        uses: maxgfr/github-change-json@main
        with:
          key: 'name'
          value: 'yo'
          path: ./example/package.json

Use Cases

1. Scoped Package Names for Different Registries

- name: Update package name for GitHub Packages
  uses: maxgfr/github-change-json@main
  with:
    key: 'name'
    value: '@my-org/my-package'
    path: package.json
    commit: false

2. Update Version Number

- name: Bump version
  uses: maxgfr/github-change-json@main
  with:
    key: 'version'
    value: '2.0.0'
    path: package.json
    commit: true

3. Modify TypeScript Configuration

- name: Update TypeScript target
  uses: maxgfr/github-change-json@main
  with:
    key: 'compilerOptions.target'
    value: 'ES2020'
    path: tsconfig.json

Inputs

Name	Type	Required	Description
path	string	yes	Path to the JSON file you want to update (relative to repository root)
key	string	yes	Key that you want to modify in your JSON
value	string	yes	Value linked to the key that you want to modify in your JSON
commit	boolean	no	Boolean flag to commit and push the changes to the repository (default: false)

Output

This action does not produce any outputs. It modifies the specified JSON file and optionally commits the changes.

Behavior

File Modification

The action will:

1. Read the JSON file at the specified path
2. Update the specified key with the new value
3. Write the modified JSON back to the file with proper formatting (2-space indentation)

Error Handling

The action will fail and provide clear error messages if:

• The specified file does not exist
• The file contains invalid JSON
• The file cannot be read or written

Commit Behavior

When commit: true:

• The action will configure git with the GitHub Actions bot credentials
• Changes will be committed with message: chore: update <path> with <key>=<value>
• The commit will be pushed to the branch that triggered the workflow
• Pre-commit hooks are bypassed with --no-verify

Development

Install

pnpm install

Build

pnpm run build

Test

pnpm test

Lint

pnpm run lint

Format

pnpm run format

All Checks

pnpm run all

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.