Branch Names

branch-names

Get a branch or tag name without the /ref/* prefix.

Features

Retrieve the current branch name without any prefix. (e.g. 'refs/heads/main' -> 'main')
Retrieve the current tag with an option to strip the prefix (e.g. v0.0.1 -> v -> 0.0.1)
Detect actions triggered by non default branches
Detect actions triggered by the default branch
Supports all valid git branch names

Usage

...

    steps:
      - name: Get branch names.
        id: branch-names
        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v8
        
      - name: Running on the default branch.
        if: steps.branch-names.outputs.is_default == 'true'
        run: |
          echo "Running on default: ${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.current_branch }}" 
        # Outputs: "Running on default: main"
      
      - name: Running on a pull request branch.
        if: steps.branch-names.outputs.is_default == 'false'
        run: |
          echo "Running on pr: ${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.current_branch }}"
        # Outputs: "Running on pr: feature/test"
      
      - name: Running on a pull request branch.
        if: steps.branch-names.outputs.is_default == 'false'
        run: |
          echo "Base branch: ${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.base_ref_branch }}"
        # Outputs: "Base branch: main"
        
      - name: Running on any event.
        run: |
          echo "Default branch: ${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.default_branch }}"
        # Outputs: "Default branch: main"

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Inputs

- uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v8
  id: branch-names
  with:
    # The prefix that should be 
    # stripped from the tag e.g 
    # `v` -> with a tag 
    # `v0.0.1` -> returns `0.0.1` 
    # Type: string
    strip_tag_prefix: ''

Outputs

OUTPUT	TYPE	DESCRIPTION
base_ref_branch	string	The target branch of a pull request or tag e.g `main`
current_branch	string	The current branch name regardless of event_type e.g `main`, `feature/test`
default_branch	string	The default branch name e.g `main` OR `master`
head_ref_branch	string	The source branch of a pull request e.g `feature/test`
is_default	string	Returns `"true"` if the current branch is the default else `"false"`.
is_tag	string	Returns `"true"` if the current branch is a tag else `"false"`.
ref_branch	string	The branch that triggered the workflow run. e.g `1/merge`, `main`
tag	string	The tag that triggered the workflow run. e.g `v0.0.1`, `0.0.1`

Events

`push*`

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main

...
    steps:
      - name: Get branch names
        id: branch-names
        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v8

      - name: Current branch names
        run: |
          echo "${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.current_branch }}"
        # Outputs: "main" the branch that triggered the push event.

      - name: Running on the default branch.
        if: steps.branch-names.outputs.is_default == 'true'
        run: |
          echo "Running on default: ${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.current_branch }}"
        # Outputs: "Running on default: main".
      
      - name: Running on the default branch (i.e non tag based branch).
        if: steps.branch-names.outputs.is_tag == 'false' && steps.branch-names.outputs.is_default == 'true'
        run: |
          echo "Running on branch: ${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.current_branch }}"
        # Outputs: "Running on branch: main".
      
      - name: Get Ref brach name
        run: |
          echo "${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.ref_branch }}"
        #  Outputs: "main"
      
      - name: Default branch name
        run: |
          echo "${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.default_branch }}"
        # Outputs: "main" the default branch.

`pull_request*`

on:
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main

...
    steps:
      - name: Get branch names
        id: branch-names
        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v8
      
      - name: Current branch names
        run: |
          echo "${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.current_branch }}"
        # Outputs: "feature/test" current PR branch.

      - name: Running on a non tag based branch and a PR branch.
        if: steps.branch-names.outputs.is_default == 'false'
        run: |
          echo "Running on branch: ${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.current_branch }}"
        # Outputs: "Running on branch: feature/test".
      
      - name: Running on a pull request (i.e non tag based branch).
        if: steps.branch-names.outputs.is_tag == 'false' && steps.branch-names.outputs.is_default == 'false'
        run: |
          echo "Running on branch: ${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.current_branch }}"
        # Outputs: "Running on branch: feature/test".
      
      - name: Get Ref branch name
        run: |
          echo "${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.ref_branch }}"
        #  Outputs: "1/merge"

      - name: Get Head Ref branch names (i.e The current pull request branch)
        run: |
          echo "${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.head_ref_branch }}"
        # Outputs: "feature/test" current PR branch.

      - name: Get Base Ref branch names (i.e The target of a pull request.)
        run: |
          echo "${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.base_ref_branch }}"
        # Outputs: "main".
      
      - name: Default branch names
        run: |
          echo "${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.default_branch }}"
        # Outputs: "main" the default branch.

`tag*`

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - '*'

...
    steps:
      - name: Get branch names
        id: branch-names
        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v8
        with:
          strip_tag_prefix: v # Optionally strip the leading `v` from the tag.
     
      - name: Running on a tag branch.
        if: steps.branch-names.outputs.is_tag == 'true'
        run: |
          echo "Running on: ${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.tag }}"
        # Outputs: "Running on: 0.0.1".
        
      - name: Get the current tag
        if: steps.branch-names.outputs.is_tag == 'true'  # Replaces: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
        run: |
          echo "${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.tag }}"
        # Outputs: "0.0.1"

Other supported events

See .github/workflows/test.yml for more examples.

Possible usage with actions/checkout

on:
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - develop
    
 jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Get branch names.
        id: branch-names
        uses: tj-actions/branch-names@v8
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          ref: ${{ steps.branch-names.outputs.head_ref_branch }}