actions / actions/toolkit

@actions/cache path exclude pattern doesn't work

Open
#2,155 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

bug
Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
5.9k
Forks
1.8k
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

Describe the bug
Accroding to C# - NuGet example in actions/cache, @actions/cache should support exclude pattern like this:

['~/.nuget/packages', '!~/.nuget/packages/unwanted']

But saveCacheV2() use resolvePaths() here:
https://github.com/actions/toolkit/blob/ddc5fa4ae84a892bfa8431c353db3cf628f1235d/packages/cache/src/cache.ts#L533
and resolvePaths() simply ignore all exclude pattern.
https://github.com/actions/toolkit/blob/ddc5fa4ae84a892bfa8431c353db3cf628f1235d/packages/cache/src/internal/cacheUtils.ts#L51-L53

To Reproduce

import cache from '@actions/cache/lib/internal/cacheUtils.js'
console.log(await cache.resolvePaths(['~/.nuget/packages', '!~/.nuget/packages/unwanted']))
// [ '~/.nuget/packages' ]

or run an actions (example from actions/cache):

- uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: |
      ~/.nuget/packages
      !~/.nuget/packages/unwanted
    key: ${{ runner.os }}-nuget-${{ hashFiles('**/packages.lock.json') }}
    restore-keys: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-nuget-

Expected behavior
Respect exclude patterns and ignore ~/.nuget/packages/unwanted.

Screenshots

Desktop (please complete the following information):

  • OS: Ubuntu 24.04 (GitHub-hosted runners)
  • Browser irrelevant
  • Version irrelevant

Smartphone (please complete the following information):

  • Device: irrelevant
  • OS: irrelevant
  • Browser irrelevant
  • Version irrelevant

Additional context
Here is a real world example:
workflows file
actions debug log
you can see pattern !/tmp/.xmake/**/.git was ignored and actions tried to cache .git file which it doesn't have proper permission to read.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with saveCacheV2() in packages/cache/src/cache.ts and resolvePaths() in packages/cache/src/internal/cacheUtils.ts, then run the reproduction using the NuGet paths from the issue. Done means resolvePaths() and the cache action respect the !~/.nuget/packages/unwanted pattern instead of returning or attempting to cache the excluded path.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
github-actions, typescript
Domain
devops, tooling
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
45/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.