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📖 [Docs]: build diagnostics and reporting into the GitHub Actions standard#13

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Marius Storhaug (MariusStorhaug) merged 10 commits into
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docs/gha-standard-diagnostics
Jul 5, 2026
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📖 [Docs]: build diagnostics and reporting into the GitHub Actions standard#13
Marius Storhaug (MariusStorhaug) merged 10 commits into
mainfrom
docs/gha-standard-diagnostics

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@MariusStorhaug Marius Storhaug (MariusStorhaug) commented Jul 3, 2026

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Adds a "Build in logging and diagnostics" section to the GitHub Actions
standard: an action reports on itself so any run is diagnosable from the log it
already produced.

The section states how an action logs, signals its result, and gates a merge.

  • Logs the whole story by default. Resolved inputs, decisions, external
    calls, and outputs are logged on every run, each phase wrapped in a ::group::
    block so the detail is present yet collapsed.
  • Calls out the result with an annotation. ::notice:: / ::warning:: /
    ::error:: carry the lines a reader must not miss — above all the final
    result — with dynamic values escaped.
  • Reports the bigger picture in a step summary. A result larger than a line
    is GitHub-flavored Markdown in the step summary: the headline in the open, long
    detail folded into <details> blocks, and the same facts exposed as outputs.
  • Reports back on the trigger. Feedback reaches the author through the
    channel the trigger implies — a pull-request comment, an issue comment, or the
    step summary — as one upserted comment from the single job that holds write
    scope.
  • Gates merges with a named status check. Work that must block a merge
    surfaces as a stable, named check that exits non-zero on a real failure.

The examples follow the PSModule action helpers (LogGroup, Write-GitHubNotice,
Set-GitHubStepSummary, Details).

Context: extends the standard from authoring mechanics into how an action
communicates its work.

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Pull request overview

This PR updates the GitHub Actions coding standard to add explicit expectations for built-in diagnostics: grouped verbose logging, step-summary receipts, trigger-aware feedback (PR/issue comments), and merge-gating via named status checks.

Changes:

  • Extends the GitHub Actions standard with a new “Build in logging and diagnostics” section covering logging, step summaries, reporting channels, and gating checks.
  • Updates the GitHub Actions page metadata/description and the Coding Standards index entry to reflect the new “diagnostic logging” guidance.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

File Description
src/docs/Coding-Standards/index.md Updates the generated index row description for the GitHub Actions standard to include diagnostic logging.
src/docs/Coding-Standards/GitHub-Actions.md Adds a new diagnostics section and updates frontmatter description to include diagnostic logging.

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Comment thread src/docs/Coding-Standards/GitHub-Actions.md Outdated
Comment thread src/docs/Coding-Standards/GitHub-Actions.md Outdated

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Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

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Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Comment thread src/docs/Coding-Standards/GitHub-Actions.md Outdated
Comment thread src/docs/Coding-Standards/GitHub-Actions.md Outdated
Comment thread src/docs/Coding-Standards/GitHub-Actions.md
…ons, escaping note, secret-safe logging, jobs wrapper

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Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

Comment thread src/docs/Coding-Standards/GitHub-Actions.md Outdated
Comment thread src/docs/Coding-Standards/GitHub-Actions.md Outdated

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Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

Comment thread src/docs/Coding-Standards/GitHub-Actions.md
Comment thread src/docs/Coding-Standards/GitHub-Actions.md
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Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

Comment thread src/docs/Coding-Standards/GitHub-Actions.md
Comment thread src/docs/Coding-Standards/GitHub-Actions.md

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@MariusStorhaug Marius Storhaug (MariusStorhaug) marked this pull request as ready for review July 5, 2026 11:27
@MariusStorhaug Marius Storhaug (MariusStorhaug) merged commit 432d03c into main Jul 5, 2026
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@MariusStorhaug Marius Storhaug (MariusStorhaug) deleted the docs/gha-standard-diagnostics branch July 5, 2026 11:29
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