Backport Github Action

Getting started

Create a file /.github/workflows/backport.yml with the following content:

name: Automatic backport action

on:
  pull_request_target:
    types: ["labeled", "closed"]

jobs:
  backport:
    name: Backport PR
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Backport Action
        uses: sorenlouv/[email protected]
        with:
          github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          auto_backport_label_prefix: backport-to-

      - name: Info log
        if: ${{ success() }}
        run: cat ~/.backport/backport.info.log
        
      - name: Debug log
        if: ${{ failure() }}
        run: cat ~/.backport/backport.debug.log        
          

Now, to backport a pull request, simply apply the label backport-to-production. This will automatically backport the PR to the branch called "production" when the PR is merged.

Configuration

For more fine grained customization, and for the ability to run the Backport Tool as a CLI tool locally, you should create a .backportrc.json file in the root directory:

// .backportrc.json
{
  // example repo info
  "repoOwner": "torvalds",
  "repoName": "linux",

  // `targetBranch` option allows to automatically backport every PR to a specific branch without the need for labels
  "targetBranches": ["production"],

  // the branches available to backport to
  "targetBranchChoices": ["main", "production", "staging"],

  // In this case, adding the label "backport-to-production" will backport the PR to the "production" branch
  "branchLabelMapping": {
    "^backport-to-(.+)$": "$1"
  }
}

See the Backport Tool documentation for all configuration options.