actions/validate-inputs/docs/README_ARCHITECTURE.md

Validate Inputs - Modular Validation System

A comprehensive, modular validation system for GitHub Actions inputs with automatic convention-based detection, custom validator support, and extensive testing capabilities.

Features

• 🔍 Automatic Validation - Convention-based input detection
• 🧩 Modular Architecture - 9 specialized validators
• 🛡️ Security First - Injection and traversal protection
• 🎯 Custom Validators - Action-specific validation logic
• 🧪 Test Generation - Automatic test scaffolding
• 📊 Performance Tools - Benchmarking and profiling
• 🐛 Debug Utilities - Troubleshooting helpers

Quick Start

Using in Your Action

# In your action.yml
runs:
  using: composite
  steps:
    - name: Validate inputs
      uses: ./validate-inputs
      with:
        action-type: ${{ github.action }}

Automatic Validation

Name your inputs following conventions for automatic validation:

inputs:
  github-token: # Automatically validates token format
    description: GitHub token
    default: ${{ github.token }}

  node-version: # Automatically validates version format
    description: Node.js version
    default: '18'

  dry-run: # Automatically validates boolean
    description: Run without making changes
    default: 'false'

Architecture

validate-inputs/
├── validators/           # Core validator modules
│   ├── base.py          # Abstract base class
│   ├── registry.py      # Dynamic validator discovery
│   ├── conventions.py   # Pattern-based matching
│   ├── boolean.py       # Boolean validation
│   ├── version.py       # Version validation (SemVer/CalVer)
│   ├── token.py         # Token validation
│   ├── numeric.py       # Numeric range validation
│   ├── file.py          # File path validation
│   ├── network.py       # URL/email validation
│   ├── docker.py        # Docker-specific validation
│   ├── security.py      # Security pattern detection
│   └── codeql.py        # CodeQL validation
├── scripts/
│   ├── update-validators.py     # Generate validation rules
│   ├── generate-tests.py        # Generate test files
│   ├── debug-validator.py       # Debug validation issues
│   └── benchmark-validator.py   # Performance testing
├── docs/
│   ├── API.md                   # Complete API reference
│   ├── DEVELOPER_GUIDE.md       # Adding new validators
│   └── ACTION_MAINTAINER.md     # Using validation
├── rules/                # Auto-generated validation rules
├── tests/                # Comprehensive test suite
└── validator.py          # Main entry point

Core Validators

Version Validator

• SemVer: 1.2.3, 2.0.0-beta.1
• CalVer: 2024.3.15, 24.03
• Flexible: Accepts both formats

Token Validator

• GitHub: ghp_*, github_pat_*, ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
• NPM: UUID format
• Docker: Any non-empty value

Boolean Validator

• Accepted: true, false (case-insensitive)
• Rejected: yes, no, 1, 0

Numeric Validator

• Ranges: 0-100, 1-10, 1-128
• Types: Integers only by default

File Validator

• Security: No path traversal (../)
• Paths: Relative paths only
• Extensions: Validates common file types

Network Validator

• URLs: HTTP/HTTPS validation
• Emails: RFC-compliant
• Hostnames: Valid DNS names
• IPs: IPv4 and IPv6

Docker Validator

• Images: Lowercase, valid characters
• Tags: Alphanumeric with -, _, .
• Platforms: linux/amd64, linux/arm64, etc.
• Registries: Known registries validation

Security Validator

• Injection: Command, SQL, script detection
• Traversal: Path traversal prevention
• Secrets: API key and password detection

Convention Patterns

The system automatically detects validation types based on input names:

Pattern	Validator	Examples
*-token	TokenValidator	github-token, api-token
*-version	VersionValidator	node-version, go-version
dry-run, debug	BooleanValidator	dry-run, verbose
max-*, *-limit	NumericValidator	max-retries, rate-limit
*-file, *-path	FileValidator	config-file, output-path
*-url, webhook-*	NetworkValidator	api-url, webhook-endpoint
dockerfile	FileValidator	dockerfile
image-*, tag	DockerValidator	image-name, tag

Custom Validators

Create action-specific validation logic:

# my-action/CustomValidator.py
from pathlib import Path
import sys

validate_inputs_path = Path(__file__).parent.parent / "validate-inputs"
sys.path.insert(0, str(validate_inputs_path))

from validators.base import BaseValidator

class CustomValidator(BaseValidator):
    def validate_inputs(self, inputs: dict[str, str]) -> bool:
        # Custom validation logic
        return True

    def get_required_inputs(self) -> list[str]:
        return ["required-field"]

Development Tools

Generate Validation Rules

# Update all action rules
make update-validators

# Update specific action
python3 validate-inputs/scripts/update-validators.py --action my-action

Generate Tests

# Generate missing tests
make generate-tests

# Preview changes
make generate-tests-dry

Debug Validation

# Test specific inputs
./validate-inputs/scripts/debug-validator.py \
  --action docker-build \
  --input "image-name=myapp" \
  --input "tag=v1.0.0"

# Test input matching
./validate-inputs/scripts/debug-validator.py \
  --test-matching github-token node-version dry-run

# List available validators
./validate-inputs/scripts/debug-validator.py --list-validators

Performance Testing

# Benchmark specific action
./validate-inputs/scripts/benchmark-validator.py \
  --action docker-build \
  --inputs 20 \
  --iterations 1000

# Compare validators
./validate-inputs/scripts/benchmark-validator.py --compare

# Profile for bottlenecks
./validate-inputs/scripts/benchmark-validator.py \
  --profile docker-build

Testing

# Run all tests
make test

# Run Python tests only
make test-python

# Run specific test
uv run pytest validate-inputs/tests/test_version_validator.py

# Run with coverage
make test-python-coverage

Documentation

• API Reference - Complete validator API documentation
• Developer Guide - Adding new validators
• Action Maintainer Guide - Using validation in actions

Best Practices

1. Use Conventions - Name inputs to trigger automatic validation
2. Allow Expressions - Always support ${{ }} GitHub expressions
3. Clear Errors - Provide actionable error messages
4. Test Thoroughly - Test valid, invalid, and edge cases
5. Document Rules - Document validation in action README
6. Performance - Keep validation fast (< 10ms typical)

Examples

Complete Action with Validation

name: Deploy Application
description: Deploy application with validation

inputs:
  environment:
    description: Deployment environment
    required: true

  github-token:
    description: GitHub token for API access
    default: ${{ github.token }}

  node-version:
    description: Node.js version
    default: '18'

  dry-run:
    description: Preview changes without deploying
    default: 'false'

runs:
  using: composite
  steps:
    # Validate all inputs
    - uses: ./validate-inputs
      with:
        action-type: deploy-application

    # Setup Node.js
    - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
      with:
        node-version: ${{ inputs.node-version }}

    # Deploy application
    - run: |
        if [[ "${{ inputs.dry-run }}" == "true" ]]; then
          echo "DRY RUN: Would deploy to ${{ inputs.environment }}"
        else
          ./deploy.sh --env "${{ inputs.environment }}"
        fi
      shell: bash

Custom Validator Example

# deploy-application/CustomValidator.py
class CustomValidator(BaseValidator):
    def validate_inputs(self, inputs: dict[str, str]) -> bool:
        valid = True

        # Validate environment
        if inputs.get("environment"):
            valid_envs = ["dev", "staging", "prod"]
            if inputs["environment"] not in valid_envs:
                self.add_error(
                    f"Invalid environment: {inputs['environment']}. "
                    f"Must be one of: {', '.join(valid_envs)}"
                )
                valid = False

        # Production requires explicit token
        if inputs.get("environment") == "prod":
            if not inputs.get("github-token"):
                self.add_error("Production deployments require github-token")
                valid = False

        return valid

    def get_required_inputs(self) -> list[str]:
        return ["environment"]

Quality Metrics

• Test Coverage: 100% (769 tests)
• Validators: 9 specialized + unlimited custom
• Performance: < 10ms typical validation time
• Zero Dependencies: Uses only Python stdlib + PyYAML
• Production Ready: Zero defects policy

Contributing

1. Create new validator in validators/ directory
2. Add convention patterns to conventions.py
3. Write comprehensive tests
4. Update documentation
5. Run make all to verify

License

Part of ivuorinen/actions - see repository license.