Create Feature Branch Composite Action

          

A GitHub Composite Action to automatically create a feature branch from an issue using the GitHub API.

sequenceDiagram
    participant User
    participant GitHub
    participant Workflow
    participant Developer

    User->>GitHub: Create issue
    GitHub->>Developer: Assign issue
    GitHub->>Workflow: Trigger workflow

    alt Issue type = bug
        Workflow->>GitHub: Create branch "bug/<issue-number>"
    else Issue type = task or sub-task or feature
        Workflow->>GitHub: Create branch "feature/<issue-number>"
    else Invalid issue type
        Workflow->>GitHub: Fail the workflow and print an error in the summary
    end

    Developer->>GitHub: Unassign issue
    GitHub->>NewDeveloper: Assign issue
    GitHub->>Workflow: Trigger workflow

    alt Valid issue type
        Workflow->>GitHub: Create new branch with suffix (e.g., "bug/<issue-number>-AB12")
    else Invalid issue type
        Workflow->>GitHub: Fail the workflow and print an error in the summary
    end

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Prerequisite

The repository name must follow the pattern:

<Numeric Project Sequence>-<Project Code>-<Short Description>

Example: 001-PORTAL-dark-mode-support

Features

• Creates a new branch based on an existing GitHub issue.

• Builds the branch name using project metadata and a truncated, slugified issue title.

• Posts a comment on the issue with a link to the new branch.

• Branch naming format:

  <Issue Type>/<Project Code>-<Project Sequence>.<Issue Number>-<Truncated Slugified Title>
  

Inputs

Name	Description	Required	Default
base-branch	The base branch to create the new branch from.	No	main
title-length	Number of characters to keep from issue title.	No	15
github-token	GitHub token with repo access.	Yes	–
dry-run	Simulate the process only without creating branch.	Yes	false

Sample Usage

on:
  issues:
    types: [opened, assigned]

jobs:
  create-feature-branch:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      issues: write
      contents: write
    steps:
      - uses: subhamay-bhattacharyya-gha/[email protected]
        with:
          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          title-length: 20

Note: This action is triggered by issue events. Be sure your workflow listens to events like opened or assigned.

How It Works

1. Extracts the issue number and title.

2. Builds the branch name in this format:

   <Issue Type>/<Project Code>-<Project Sequence>.<Issue Number>-<Truncated Slugified Title>
   

3. Uses the GitHub API to create the new branch from the base branch.

4. Comments on the issue with a link to the new branch.

Example Output

Given:

• Repository: 001-PORTAL-dark-mode-support
• Issue: #123 titled Add support for dark mode

Generated branch:

feature/PORTAL-001.123-add-support

Requirements

• jq (used internally for parsing JSON)
• A GitHub token with repo and issues permissions

License

MIT