# `@actions/upload-artifact`

> [!WARNING]
> actions/upload-artifact@v3 is scheduled for deprecation on **November 30, 2024**. [Learn more.](https://github.blog/changelog/2024-04-16-deprecation-notice-v3-of-the-artifact-actions/)
> Similarly, v1/v2 are scheduled for deprecation on **June 30, 2024**.
> Please update your workflow to use v4 of the artifact actions.
> This deprecation will not impact any existing versions of GitHub Enterprise Server being used by customers.

Upload [Actions Artifacts](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/storing-workflow-data-as-artifacts) from your Workflow Runs. Internally powered by [@actions/artifact](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/tree/main/packages/artifact) package.

See also [download-artifact](https://github.com/actions/download-artifact).

- [`@actions/upload-artifact`](#actionsupload-artifact)
  - [What's new](#whats-new)
  - [GHES Support](#ghes-support)
  - [Usage](#usage)
    - [Inputs](#inputs)
    - [Outputs](#outputs)
  - [Examples](#examples)
    - [Upload an Individual File (Zipped)](#upload-an-individual-file-zipped)
    - [Upload an Individual File (Unzipped)](#upload-an-individual-file-unzipped)
    - [Upload an Entire Directory](#upload-an-entire-directory)
    - [Upload using a Wildcard Pattern](#upload-using-a-wildcard-pattern)
    - [Upload using Multiple Paths and Exclusions](#upload-using-multiple-paths-and-exclusions)
    - [Altering compressions level (speed v. size)](#altering-compressions-level-speed-v-size)
    - [Customization if no files are found](#customization-if-no-files-are-found)
    - [(Not) Uploading to the same artifact](#not-uploading-to-the-same-artifact)
    - [Environment Variables and Tilde Expansion](#environment-variables-and-tilde-expansion)
    - [Retention Period](#retention-period)
    - [Using Outputs](#using-outputs)
      - [Example output between steps](#example-output-between-steps)
      - [Example output between jobs](#example-output-between-jobs)
    - [Overwriting an Artifact](#overwriting-an-artifact)
  - [Limitations](#limitations)
    - [Number of Artifacts](#number-of-artifacts)
    - [Permission Loss](#permission-loss)
  - [Where does the upload go?](#where-does-the-upload-go)

## What's new

Check out the [releases page](https://github.com/actions/upload-artifact/releases) for details on what's new.

## Note

Thank you for your interest in this GitHub repo, however, right now we are not taking contributions.

We continue to focus our resources on strategic areas that help our customers be successful while making developers' lives easier. While GitHub Actions remains a key part of this vision, we are allocating resources towards other areas of Actions and are not taking contributions to this repository at this time. The GitHub public roadmap is the best place to follow along for any updates on features we’re working on and what stage they’re in.

We are taking the following steps to better direct requests related to GitHub Actions, including:

1. We will be directing questions and support requests to our [Community Discussions area](https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/categories/actions)

2. High Priority bugs can be reported through Community Discussions or you can report these to our support team https://support.github.com/contact/bug-report.

3. Security Issues should be handled as per our [security.md](SECURITY.md).

We will still provide security updates for this project and fix major breaking changes during this time.

You are welcome to still raise bugs in this repo.

## GHES Support

`upload-artifact@v4+` is not currently supported on GitHub Enterprise Server (GHES). If you are on GHES, you must use [v3.2.2](https://github.com/actions/upload-artifact/releases/tag/v3.2.2) (latest Node LTS) or [v3.2.2-node20](https://github.com/actions/upload-artifact/releases/tag/v3.2.2-node20) (Node 20).

## Usage

### Inputs

```yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    # Name of the artifact to upload.
    # Optional. Default is 'artifact'
    name:

    # A file, directory or wildcard pattern that describes what to upload
    # Required.
    path:

    # The desired behavior if no files are found using the provided path.
    # Available Options:
    #   warn: Output a warning but do not fail the action
    #   error: Fail the action with an error message
    #   ignore: Do not output any warnings or errors, the action does not fail
    # Optional. Default is 'warn'
    if-no-files-found:

    # Duration after which artifact will expire in days. 0 means using default retention.
    # Minimum 1 day.
    # Maximum 90 days unless changed from the repository settings page.
    # Optional. Defaults to repository settings.
    retention-days:

    # The level of compression for Zlib to be applied to the artifact archive.
    # The value can range from 0 to 9.
    # For large files that are not easily compressed, a value of 0 is recommended for significantly faster uploads.
    # Optional. Default is '6'
    compression-level:

    # If true, an artifact with a matching name will be deleted before a new one is uploaded.
    # If false, the action will fail if an artifact for the given name already exists.
    # Does not fail if the artifact does not exist.
    # Optional. Default is 'false'
    overwrite:

    # Whether to include hidden files in the provided path in the artifact
    # The file contents of any hidden files in the path should be validated before
    # enabled this to avoid uploading sensitive information.
    # Optional. Default is 'false'
    include-hidden-files:

    # Whether to zip the artifact files before upload
    # If 'false', only a single file can be uploaded. The name of the file will be used as the artifact name (the 'name' parameter is ignored)
    # Optional. Default is 'true'
    archive:
```

### Outputs

| Name | Description | Example |
| - | - | - |
| `artifact-id` | GitHub ID of an Artifact, can be used by the REST API | `1234` |
| `artifact-url` | URL to download an Artifact. Can be used in many scenarios such as linking to artifacts in issues or pull requests. Users must be logged-in in order for this URL to work. This URL is valid as long as the artifact has not expired or the artifact, run or repository have not been deleted | `https://github.com/example-org/example-repo/actions/runs/1/artifacts/1234` |
| `artifact-digest` | SHA-256 digest of an Artifact | 0fde654d4c6e659b45783a725dc92f1bfb0baa6c2de64b34e814dc206ff4aaaf |

## Examples

### Upload an Individual File (Zipped)

```yaml
steps:
- run: mkdir -p path/to/artifact
- run: echo hello > path/to/artifact/world.txt
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    name: my-artifact
    path: path/to/artifact/world.txt
```

### Upload an Individual File (Unzipped)

```yaml
steps:
- run: mkdir -p path/to/artifact
- run: echo hello > path/to/artifact/world.txt
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    path: path/to/artifact/world.txt
    archive: false
```

### Upload an Entire Directory

```yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    name: my-artifact
    path: path/to/artifact/ # or path/to/artifact
```

### Upload using a Wildcard Pattern

```yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    name: my-artifact
    path: path/**/[abc]rtifac?/*
```

### Upload using Multiple Paths and Exclusions

```yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    name: my-artifact
    path: |
      path/output/bin/
      path/output/test-results
      !path/**/*.tmp
```

For supported wildcards along with behavior and documentation, see [@actions/glob](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/tree/main/packages/glob) which is used internally to search for files.

If a wildcard pattern is used, the path hierarchy will be preserved after the first wildcard pattern:

```
path/to/*/directory/foo?.txt =>
    ∟ path/to/some/directory/foo1.txt
    ∟ path/to/some/directory/foo2.txt
    ∟ path/to/other/directory/foo1.txt

would be flattened and uploaded as =>
    ∟ some/directory/foo1.txt
    ∟ some/directory/foo2.txt
    ∟ other/directory/foo1.txt
```

If multiple paths are provided as input, the least common ancestor of all the search paths will be used as the root directory of the artifact. Exclude paths do not affect the directory structure.

Relative and absolute file paths are both allowed. Relative paths are rooted against the current working directory. Paths that begin with a wildcard character should be quoted to avoid being interpreted as YAML aliases.

### Altering compressions level (speed v. size)

If you are uploading large or easily compressable data to your artifact, you may benefit from tweaking the compression level. By default, the compression level is `6`, the same as GNU Gzip.

The value can range from 0 to 9:
  - 0: No compression
  - 1: Best speed
  - 6: Default compression (same as GNU Gzip)
  - 9: Best compression

Higher levels will result in better compression, but will take longer to complete.
For large files that are not easily compressed, a value of `0` is recommended for significantly faster uploads.

For instance, if you are uploading random binary data, you can save a lot of time by opting out of compression completely, since it won't benefit:

```yaml
- name: Make a 1GB random binary file
  run: |
    dd if=/dev/urandom of=my-1gb-file bs=1M count=1000
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    name: my-artifact
    path: my-1gb-file
    compression-level: 0 # no compression
```

But, if you are uploading data that is easily compressed (like plaintext, code, etc) you can save space and cost by having a higher compression level. But this will be heavier on the CPU therefore slower to upload:

```yaml
- name: Make a file with a lot of repeated text
  run: |
    for i in {1..100000}; do echo -n 'foobar' >> foobar.txt; done
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    name: my-artifact
    path: foobar.txt
    compression-level: 9 # maximum compression
```

### Customization if no files are found

If a path (or paths), result in no files being found for the artifact, the action will succeed but print out a warning. In certain scenarios it may be desirable to fail the action or suppress the warning. The `if-no-files-found` option allows you to customize the behavior of the action if no files are found:

```yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    name: my-artifact
    path: path/to/artifact/
    if-no-files-found: error # 'warn' or 'ignore' are also available, defaults to `warn`
```

### (Not) Uploading to the same artifact

Unlike earlier versions of `upload-artifact`, uploading to the same artifact via multiple jobs is _not_ supported with `v4`.

```yaml
- run: echo hi > world.txt
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    # implicitly named as 'artifact'
    path: world.txt

- run: echo howdy > extra-file.txt
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    # also implicitly named as 'artifact', will fail here!
    path: extra-file.txt
```

Artifact names must be unique since each created artifact is idempotent so multiple jobs cannot modify the same artifact.

In matrix scenarios, be careful to not accidentally upload to the same artifact, or else you will encounter conflict errors. It would be best to name the artifact _with_ a prefix or suffix from the matrix:

```yaml
jobs:
  upload:
    name: Generate Build Artifacts

    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]
        version: [a, b, c]

    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}

    steps:
    - name: Build
      run: ./some-script --version=${{ matrix.version }} > my-binary
    - name: Upload
      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
      with:
        name: binary-${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.version }}
        path: my-binary
```

This will result in artifacts like: `binary-ubuntu-latest-a`, `binary-windows-latest-b`, and so on.

Previously the behavior _allowed_ for the artifact names to be the same which resulted in unexpected mutations and accidental corruption. Artifacts created by upload-artifact@v4 are immutable.

### Environment Variables and Tilde Expansion

You can use `~` in the path input as a substitute for `$HOME`. Basic tilde expansion is supported:

```yaml
  - run: |
      mkdir -p ~/new/artifact
      echo hello > ~/new/artifact/world.txt
  - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
    with:
      name: my-artifacts
      path: ~/new/**/*
```

Environment variables along with context expressions can also be used for input. For documentation see [context and expression syntax](https://help.github.com/en/actions/reference/context-and-expression-syntax-for-github-actions):

```yaml
    env:
      name: my-artifact
    steps:
    - run: |
        mkdir -p ${{ github.workspace }}/artifact
        echo hello > ${{ github.workspace }}/artifact/world.txt
    - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
      with:
        name: ${{ env.name }}-name
        path: ${{ github.workspace }}/artifact/**/*
```

For environment variables created in other steps, make sure to use the `env` expression syntax

```yaml
    steps:
    - run: |
        mkdir testing
        echo "This is a file to upload" > testing/file.txt
        echo "artifactPath=testing/file.txt" >> $GITHUB_ENV
    - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
      with:
        name: artifact
        path: ${{ env.artifactPath }} # this will resolve to testing/file.txt at runtime
```

### Retention Period

Artifacts are retained for 90 days by default. You can specify a shorter retention period using the `retention-days` input:

```yaml
  - name: Create a file
    run: echo "I won't live long" > my_file.txt

  - name: Upload Artifact
    uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
    with:
      name: my-artifact
      path: my_file.txt
      retention-days: 5
```

The retention period must be between 1 and 90 inclusive. For more information see [artifact and log retention policies](https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/actions/reference/usage-limits-billing-and-administration#artifact-and-log-retention-policy).

### Using Outputs

If an artifact upload is successful then an `artifact-id` output is available. This ID is a unique identifier that can be used with [Artifact REST APIs](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/actions/artifacts).

#### Example output between steps

```yml
    - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
      id: artifact-upload-step
      with:
        name: my-artifact
        path: path/to/artifact/content/

    - name: Output artifact ID
      run:  echo 'Artifact ID is ${{ steps.artifact-upload-step.outputs.artifact-id }}'
```

#### Example output between jobs

```yml
jobs:
  job1:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      output1: ${{ steps.artifact-upload-step.outputs.artifact-id }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        id: artifact-upload-step
        with:
          name: my-artifact
          path: path/to/artifact/content/
  job2:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: job1
    steps:
      - env:
          OUTPUT1: ${{needs.job1.outputs.output1}}
        run: echo "Artifact ID from previous job is $OUTPUT1"
```

### Overwriting an Artifact

Although it's not possible to mutate an Artifact, can completely overwrite one. But do note that this will give the Artifact a new ID, the previous one will no longer exist:

```yaml
jobs:
  upload:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Create a file
        run: echo "hello world" > my-file.txt
      - name: Upload Artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: my-artifact # NOTE: same artifact name
          path: my-file.txt
  upload-again:
    needs: upload
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Create a different file
        run: echo "goodbye world" > my-file.txt
      - name: Upload Artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: my-artifact # NOTE: same artifact name
          path: my-file.txt
          overwrite: true
```

### Uploading Hidden Files

By default, hidden files are ignored by this action to avoid unintentionally uploading sensitive information.

If you need to upload hidden files, you can use the `include-hidden-files` input.
Any files that contain sensitive information that should not be in the uploaded artifact can be excluded
using the `path`:

```yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    name: my-artifact
    include-hidden-files: true
    path: |
      path/output/
      !path/output/.production.env
```

Hidden files are defined as any file beginning with `.` or files within folders beginning with `.`.
On Windows, files and directories with the hidden attribute are not considered hidden files unless
they have the `.` prefix.

## Limitations

### Number of Artifacts

Within an individual job, there is a limit of 500 artifacts that can be created for that job.

You may also be limited by Artifacts if you have exceeded your shared storage quota. Storage is calculated every 6-12 hours. See [the documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/billing/managing-billing-for-github-actions/about-billing-for-github-actions#calculating-minute-and-storage-spending) for more info.

### Permission Loss

File permissions are not maintained during zipped artifact upload. All directories will have `755` and all files will have `644`. For example, if you make a file executable using `chmod` and then upload that file with `archive: true`, post-download the file is no longer guaranteed to be set as an executable.

If you must preserve permissions, you can `tar` all of your files together before artifact upload and upload that file directly with `archive: false`. Post download, the `tar` file will maintain file permissions and case sensitivity.

```yaml
- name: 'Tar files'
  run: tar -cvf my_files.tar /path/to/my/directory

- name: 'Upload Artifact'
  uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    path: my_files.tar
    archive: false
```

## Where does the upload go?

At the bottom of the workflow summary page, there is a dedicated section for artifacts. Here's a screenshot of something you might see:

<img src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/bcb7120f-f445-4a3e-9596-77f85f7e0af0" width="700" height="300">


There is a trashcan icon that can be used to delete the artifact. This icon will only appear for users who have write permissions to the repository.

The size of the artifact is denoted in bytes. The displayed artifact size denotes the size of the zip that `upload-artifact` creates during upload. The Digest column will display the SHA256 digest of the artifact being uploaded.
