XML Key Substitution
ActionsTags
(2)This GitHub Action updates XML files by replacing values in <add> elements based on matching environment variables.
It supports:
<add key="VAR" value="...">→ replacesvalue<add name="VAR" connectionString="...">→ replacesconnectionString
- 🔁 Replaces values of
<add>elements with matchingkeyornamefrom environment variables - 🔠 Case-insensitive matching for variable names
- ✨ Supports glob patterns like
**/*.config - 🚫 Automatically deduplicates matched files
- 🛡️ Ignores files that aren’t valid XML
- 🛡️ Fails cleanly if no files matched
- 🧾 Works for
web.config,app.config, and other XML files - ⚙️ Fully cross-platform (Windows, Linux, macOS)
| Input | Description | Required |
|---|---|---|
files |
Newline-separated list of XML file paths | ✅ |
- ✅ ubuntu-latest
- ✅ windows-latest
- ✅ macos-latest
Because GitHub Actions composite actions cannot directly access the vars, inputs, or secrets contexts, you must manually pass any required values through the env block (see example below).
Alternatively you can dump all variables as environment variables using the following script in a step before calling this action:
⚠️ Warning: Dumping all variables may expose sensitive information. Use with caution.
- name: Export all GitHub vars
run: |
$json = '${{ toJson(vars) }}'
$vars = ConvertFrom-Json $json
foreach ($property in $vars.PSObject.Properties) {
$key = $property.Name
$value = $property.Value
Write-Host "Setting $key to $value"
$output = "${key}<<EOF`n${value}`nEOF" # Needed if any value contains a new-line (\r\n)
Add-Content -Path $Env:GITHUB_ENV -Value $output
}
Write-Host "Variables exported successfully."- name: Substitute XML values
uses: CasperWSchmidt/substitute-xml-action@v1
with:
files: |
deploy/**/*.config
web.config
env: # required to pass variables into the action
ENVIRONMENT: ${{ inputs.environment }}
CONNECTION_STRING: ${{ secrets.MY_DATABASE_CONNECTION }}
ROOT_DIRECTORY: ${{ vars.MY_ROOT_DIRECTORY }}- name: Export all GitHub vars
run: |
$json = '${{ toJson(vars) }}'
$vars = ConvertFrom-Json $json
foreach ($property in $vars.PSObject.Properties) {
$key = $property.Name
$value = $property.Value
Write-Host "Setting $key to $value"
$output = "${key}<<EOF`n${value}`nEOF" # Needed if any value contains a new-line (\r\n)
Add-Content -Path $Env:GITHUB_ENV -Value $output
}
Write-Host "Variables exported successfully."
- name: Substitute XML values
uses: CasperWSchmidt/substitute-xml-action@v1
with:
files: |
deploy/**/*.config
web.config<configuration>
<appSettings>
<add key="Environment" value="Dummy" />
<add key="RootDirectory" value="Dummy" />
</appSettings>
<connectionStrings>
<add name="DefaultConnection" connectionString="..." />
</connectionStrings>
</configuration><configuration>
<appSettings>
<add key="Environment" value="Production" />
<add key="RootDirectory" value="C:\Some\Path" />
</appSettings>
<connectionStrings>
<add name="DefaultConnection" connectionString="Server=sql;Database=prod;User Id=admin;" />
</connectionStrings>
</configuration>
XML Key Substitution is not certified by GitHub. It is provided by a third-party and is governed by separate terms of service, privacy policy, and support documentation.
About
Tags
(2)XML Key Substitution is not certified by GitHub. It is provided by a third-party and is governed by separate terms of service, privacy policy, and support documentation.