This GitHub/Gitea Action downloads a tool from a GitHub release, extracts it, automatically finds the executable, and adds it to the system PATH. It supports platform-aware selection, recursive binary search, and tool caching.

Features

Automatic Platform Detection: Detects OS and Architecture to find the right asset.
Recursive Binary Search: Finds the executable even if it's nested deep inside an archive.
Tool Caching: Uses the standard runner tool cache to speed up subsequent runs.
Flexible Matching: Supports literal names, regex patterns, and custom file types.

Usage

Simple (Automatic Selection)

The action will automatically detect your OS (Linux, Windows, macOS) and architecture (x64, ARM64) and look for a matching archive. It will search for a binary named after the repository.

- name: Install Hugo
  uses: koszewscy/setup-github-release@v1
  with:
    repository: 'go-acme/lego'

Note: RClone is an example of a project that provides a binary in a subdirectory inside the archive. The action will find it automatically.

Advanced Asset Selection

For projects with multiple binary versions, you can use a regex pattern (prefixed with ~) to narrow down the asset. Hugo is an example where you have to choose between one of the three versions: standard, extended, or extended with deploy support.

- name: Install Extended Hugo
  uses: koszewscy/setup-github-release@v1
  with:
    repository: 'gohugoio/hugo'
    file-name: '~hugo_extended_[^a-z]' # Regex to match extended version

Specific Binary Finding

If the binary name is different from the repository name, like in the example of GitHub CLI, you can specify the binary-name input to locate the correct executable inside the downloaded asset:

- name: Install GitHub CLI
  uses: koszewscy/setup-github-release@v1
  with:
    repository: 'cli/cli'
    binary-name: 'gh' # Searches for 'gh' (or 'gh.exe') inside the extracted release

Debugging Archive Content

If you are unsure how the binary is named, use the debug flag to list all files in the unpacked asset, or download the asset manually to inspect its structure.

- uses: koszewscy/setup-github-release@v1
  with:
    repository: 'owner/repo'
    debug: true

Inputs

repository (required): GitHub repository in owner/repo format.
file-name (optional): Literal name or regex pattern (if starts with ~) to match the asset.
binary-name (optional): The name or regex pattern (if starts with ~) of the binary to find. Defaults to the repository name.
file-type (optional, default: archive): Predefined keywords archive, package, or a custom regex pattern.
debug (optional, default: false): Set to true to log the contents of the unpacked asset.
token (optional): GitHub token for authentication (defaults to ${{ github.token }} that is an equivalent of ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}). Use ${{ secrets.GITEA_TOKEN }} for Gitea, or create a personal access token.

Important: Default authentication will will only work if the action is used within GitHub workflow. For Gitea, you must provide a token explicitly.