This [GitHub action](https://github.com/features/actions) will handle the deploy process of your project to [GitHub Pages](https://pages.github.com/). It can be configured to upload your production-ready code into any branch you'd like, including `gh-pages` and `docs`.
You can include the action in your workflow to trigger on any event that [GitHub actions supports](https://help.github.com/en/articles/events-that-trigger-workflows). If the remote branch that you wish to deploy to doesn't already exist the action will create it for you. Your workflow will also need to include the `actions/checkout` step before this workflow runs in order for the deployment to work.
uses: actions/checkout@v2 # If you're using actions/checkout@v2 you must set persist-credentials to false in most cases for the deployment to work correctly.
This action is primarily developed using [Ubuntu](https://ubuntu.com/). [In your workflow job configuration](https://help.github.com/en/actions/automating-your-workflow-with-github-actions/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#jobsjob_idruns-on) it's reccomended to set the `runs-on` property to `ubuntu-latest`.
Operating systems such as [Windows](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/) are not currently supported, however you can workaround this using [artifacts](https://help.github.com/en/actions/automating-your-workflow-with-github-actions/persisting-workflow-data-using-artifacts). In your workflow configuration you can utilize the `actions/upload-artifact` and `actions/download-artifact` actions to move your project built on a Windows job to a secondary job that will handle the deployment.
<details><summary>You can view an example of this pattern here.</summary>
<p>
```yml
name: Build and Deploy
on: [push]
jobs:
build:
runs-on: windows-latest # The first job utilizes windows-latest
FOLDER: 'site' # The deployment folder should match the name of the artifact. Even though our project builds into the 'build' folder the artifact name of 'site' must be placed here.
If you use a [container](https://help.github.com/en/actions/automating-your-workflow-with-github-actions/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#jobsjob_idcontainer) in your workflow you may need to run an additional step to install `rsync` as this action depends on it. You can view an example of this below.
The `with` portion of the workflow **must** be configured before the action will work. You can add these in the `with` section found in the examples above. Any `secrets` must be referenced using the bracket syntax and stored in the GitHub repositories `Settings/Secrets` menu. You can learn more about setting environment variables with GitHub actions [here](https://help.github.com/en/articles/workflow-syntax-for-github-actions#jobsjob_idstepsenv).
| `ACCESS_TOKEN` | Depending on the repository permissions you may need to provide the action with a GitHub personal access token instead of the provided GitHub token in order to deploy. You can [learn more about how to generate one here](https://help.github.com/en/articles/creating-a-personal-access-token-for-the-command-line). **This should be stored as a secret**. | `secrets / with` | **Yes** |
| `GITHUB_TOKEN` | In order for GitHub to trigger the rebuild of your page you must provide the action with the repositories provided GitHub token. This can be referenced in the workflow `yml` file by using `${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}`. Only required if an access token is **not** provided. **Please note there is currently an issue affecting the use of this token, [you can learn more here](https://github.com/JamesIves/github-pages-deploy-action/issues/5)**. | `secrets / with` | **Yes** |
| `FOLDER` | The folder in your repository that you want to deploy. If your build script compiles into a directory named `build` you'd put it here. **Folder paths cannot have a leading `/` or `./`**. If you wish to deploy the root directory you can place a `.` here. | `with` | **Yes** |
| `TARGET_FOLDER` | If you'd like to push the contents of the deployment folder into a specific directory on the deployment branch you can specify it here. | `with` | **No** |
| `BASE_BRANCH` | The base branch of your repository which you'd like to checkout prior to deploying. This defaults to the current commit [SHA](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SHA-1) that triggered the build followed by `master` if it doesn't exist. This is useful for making deployments from another branch, and also may be necessary when using a scheduled job. | `with` | **No** |
| `COMMIT_MESSAGE` | If you need to customize the commit message for an integration you can do so. | `with` | **No** |
| `CLEAN` | If your project generates hashed files on build you can use this option to automatically delete them from the deployment branch with each deploy. This option can be toggled on by setting it to `true`. | `with` | **No** |
| `CLEAN_EXCLUDE` | If you need to use `CLEAN` but you'd like to preserve certain files or folders you can use this option. This should be formatted as an array but stored as a string. For example: `'["filename.js", "folder"]'` | `with` | **No** |
This action maintains the full Git history of the deployment branch. Therefore if you're using a custom domain and require a `CNAME` file, or if you require the use of a `.nojekyll` file, you can safely commit these files directly into deployment branch without them being overridden after each deployment.
