Only a single commit is fetched by default, for the ref/SHA that triggered the workflow. Set fetch-depth to fetch more history. Refer here to learn which commit $GITHUB_SHA points to for different events.

The auth token is persisted in the local git config. This enables your scripts to run authenticated git commands. The token is removed during post-job cleanup. Set persist-credentials: false to opt-out.

When Git 2.18 or higher is not in your PATH, falls back to the REST API to download the files.

What's new

Improved performance
- Fetches only a single commit by default
Script authenticated git commands
- Auth token persisted in the local git config
Creates a local branch
- No longer detached HEAD when checking out a branch
Improved layout
- The input path is always relative to $GITHUB_WORKSPACE
- Aligns better with container actions, where $GITHUB_WORKSPACE gets mapped in
Fallback to REST API download
- When Git 2.18 or higher is not in the PATH, the REST API will be used to download the files
- When using a job container, the container's PATH is used
Removed input submodules

Refer here for previous versions.

Usage

- uses: actions/checkout@v2
  with:
    # Repository name with owner. For example, actions/checkout
    # Default: ${{ github.repository }}
    repository: ''

    # The branch, tag or SHA to checkout. When checking out the repository that
    # triggered a workflow, this defaults to the reference or SHA for that event.
    # Otherwise, defaults to `master`.
    ref: ''

    # Auth token used to fetch the repository. The token is stored in the local git
    # config, which enables your scripts to run authenticated git commands. The
    # post-job step removes the token from the git config. [Learn more about creating
    # and using encrypted secrets](https://help.github.com/en/actions/automating-your-workflow-with-github-actions/creating-and-using-encrypted-secrets)
    # Default: ${{ github.token }}
    token: ''

    # Whether to persist the token in the git config
    # Default: true
    persist-credentials: ''

    # Relative path under $GITHUB_WORKSPACE to place the repository
    path: ''

    # Whether to execute `git clean -ffdx && git reset --hard HEAD` before fetching
    # Default: true
    clean: ''

    # Number of commits to fetch. 0 indicates all history.
    # Default: 1
    fetch-depth: ''

    # Whether to download Git-LFS files
    # Default: false
    lfs: ''

Scenarios

Checkout a different branch
Checkout HEAD^
Checkout multiple repos (side by side)
Checkout multiple repos (nested)
Checkout multiple repos (private)
Checkout pull request HEAD commit instead of merge commit
Checkout pull request on closed event
Checkout submodules
Fetch all tags
Fetch all branches
Fetch all history for all tags and branches

Checkout a different branch

- uses: actions/checkout@v2
  with:
    ref: my-branch

Checkout HEAD^

- uses: actions/checkout@v2
  with:
    fetch-depth: 2
- run: git checkout HEAD^

Checkout multiple repos (side by side)

- name: Checkout
  uses: actions/checkout@v2
  with:
    path: main

- name: Checkout tools repo
  uses: actions/checkout@v2
  with:
    repository: my-org/my-tools
    path: my-tools

Checkout multiple repos (nested)

- name: Checkout
  uses: actions/checkout@v2

- name: Checkout tools repo
  uses: actions/checkout@v2
  with:
    repository: my-org/my-tools
    path: my-tools

Checkout multiple repos (private)

- name: Checkout
  uses: actions/checkout@v2
  with:
    path: main

- name: Checkout private tools
  uses: actions/checkout@v2
  with:
    repository: my-org/my-private-tools
    token: ${{ secrets.GitHub_PAT }} # `GitHub_PAT` is a secret that contains your PAT
    path: my-tools

${{ github.token }} is scoped to the current repository, so if you want to checkout a different repository that is private you will need to provide your own PAT.

Checkout pull request HEAD commit instead of merge commit

- uses: actions/checkout@v2
  with:
    ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}

Checkout pull request on closed event

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [master]
    types: [opened, synchronize, closed]
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2

Checkout submodules

- uses: actions/checkout@v2
- name: Checkout submodules
  shell: bash
  run: |
    # If your submodules are configured to use SSH instead of HTTPS please uncomment the following line
    # git config --global url."https://github.com/".insteadOf "git@github.com:"
    auth_header="$(git config --local --get http.https://github.com/.extraheader)"
    git submodule sync --recursive
    git -c "http.extraheader=$auth_header" -c protocol.version=2 submodule update --init --force --recursive --depth=1

Fetch all tags

- uses: actions/checkout@v2
- run: git fetch --depth=1 origin +refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*

Fetch all branches

- uses: actions/checkout@v2
- run: |
    git fetch --no-tags --prune --depth=1 origin +refs/heads/*:refs/remotes/origin/*

Fetch all history for all tags and branches

- uses: actions/checkout@v2
- run: |
    git fetch --prune --unshallow

License

The scripts and documentation in this project are released under the MIT License