--migrate-local-actions rewrites action files in nested worktrees and submodules

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@aksestok is already working on this.

Since Nov 2, 2026.

  • #254 by @aksestok — open

Assessment

Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Newbie friendliness
20/100
Issue type
Bug
Clarity
Clearly specified
Activity status
Stale
Tech stack
github-actions, go
Domain
cli

Research direction

The --migrate-local-actions sweep walks every action.yml / action.yaml under the repo and only stops at directories named .git. Pull request #254 and the dont-worktrees-or-submodules branch already cover this, so read that work before starting anything new. Done means the sweep skips any subdirectory below the root that has a .git file or directory, and a ./ ref inside such a checkout is left unchanged.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

--migrate-local-actions sweeps the whole repository for action.yml / action.yaml files and rewrites their ./… steps to $/…. The sweep only stops at directories named .git, so it also walks into separate checkouts nested inside the repo:

  • git worktrees kept under the repo (e.g. .gwt/<name>/), which have a .git file
  • submodules, which also have a .git file
  • nested clones, which have their own .git directory

Why this is a problem

It edits files that aren't part of the change. A nested worktree is usually another branch someone is working on. After a run in the main checkout, that worktree has uncommitted rewrites the user never asked for, and these files are included in the run's migration count. For a submodule or nested clone, the files belong to a different repository entirely, so the edits can't be committed as part of this repo's change.

An unrelated checkout can stop the run. Migration is all-or-nothing. If any action file in a nested checkout fails migration validation, the whole run fails with refusing to migrate … and rolls back, even though nothing in this repository is wrong.

./ refs into a submodule get the wrong rewrite. A ./path ref is rewritten to $/path when an action file exists at that path on disk. If the path is inside a submodule, the file is on disk but isn't part of this repository's tree, so the $/path ref can't reach it. The ./ ref should be left alone.

Repro

cd my-repo                       # has .github/workflows/*.yml
git worktree add .gwt/other some-branch
# .gwt/other/.github/actions/foo/action.yml has `uses: ./something`
gh actions-lock --migrate-local-actions
git -C .gwt/other status         # foo/action.yml now modified: ./something -> $/something

Expected

The sweep covers only this repository's checkout. It skips any subdirectory below the root that is its own checkout (has a .git file or directory), and it never treats a ./ path inside such a checkout as a same-repo action.

A fix is in progress on the dont-worktrees-or-submodules branch; a PR will follow.

Dominant language
Go
Stars
253
Forks
15
Avg merge
19h 30m
Merged PRs (30d)
60

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
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