OpenRewrite Runner Action

A GitHub Action that runs OpenRewrite recipes without requiring build tool configuration in your repository. Use runtime parameters to make recipes reusable across multiple directories, projects, or repositories. Works with both monorepos and multi-repo setups.

Key Features

• Runtime Parameterization - Pass parameters at workflow execution time, not recipe definition time. One recipe, configured differently per run using {{ placeholder }} syntax
• No Build Tools Required - Target repositories don't need Maven, Gradle, or any build configuration
• Run Anywhere - Apply recipes to any checked-out repository in your workflow, not just the repository containing build configuration
• Temporary Setup - Gradle is added only during execution, then completely removed
• Clean Execution - Only your code changes remain after the action completes

Why Runtime Parameterization Matters

The key advantage: parameters are passed at workflow runtime, not at recipe definition time. This means you decide which directories, files, or values to target when you run the workflow, not when you write the recipe.

This is particularly useful for monorepos where you want to apply the same transformation to different services or projects selectively, or multi-repo workflows where you want to target different directories in different repositories.

Without parameterization, you must choose between:

• Broad wildcards - filePattern: "**/manifests.yaml" applies to all matching files (no selectivity)
• Separate recipes - One hardcoded recipe per target for selective execution

# Option 1: Applies to all matching files
filePattern: "**/manifests.yaml"

# Option 2: Multiple recipe files for selective targeting
# recipes/fix-project-blue.yml
# recipes/fix-project-green.yml
# recipes/fix-project-red.yml

With parameterization, one recipe adapts to each workflow run:

# One recipe definition, configured per workflow run
filePattern: "{{ targetDirectory }}/manifests.yaml"

Benefits:

• Per-run configuration - Same recipe, different targets for each workflow execution
• Workflow-level control - Decide which directories or projects to target at runtime
• Staged rollouts - Create PRs incrementally (e.g., one service at a time) rather than all at once
• Recipe reusability - One definition works across multiple targets
• Reduced maintenance - Update logic once rather than across multiple recipe files

Quick Start

Basic Usage

- name: Run OpenRewrite
  uses: rhart/openrewrite-runner-action@main
  with:
    recipes: 'com.example.MyRecipe'
    recipes-dir: 'recipes'
    rewrite-dependencies: 'org.openrewrite:rewrite-yaml:8.66.3'

With Parameters

- name: Run OpenRewrite
  uses: rhart/openrewrite-runner-action@main
  with:
    recipes: 'com.example.FixKubernetesManifests'
    recipe-parameters: 'com.example.FixKubernetesManifests.targetDirectory=project-blue/*'
    recipes-dir: 'recipes'
    rewrite-dependencies: 'org.openrewrite:rewrite-yaml:8.66.3'

Define your recipe with {{ placeholders }}:

# recipes/fix-kubernetes-manifests.yml
name: com.example.FixKubernetesManifests
recipeList:
  - org.openrewrite.yaml.ChangePropertyValue:
      filePattern: '{{ targetDirectory }}/manifests.yaml'
      propertyKey: 'spec.selector.app'
      newValue: 'hello-kubernetes'

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
recipes	Yes	-	Comma-separated recipe names
recipe-parameters	No	-	Parameters in format recipeName.paramName=value
recipes-dir	No	recipes	Directory containing recipe YAML files (searches subdirectories)
rewrite-dependencies	No	-	Comma-separated OpenRewrite dependencies
java-version	No	17	Java version to use
gradle-version	No	9.2.0	Gradle version to use
openrewrite-version	No	7.20.0	OpenRewrite Gradle plugin version
working-directory	No	.	Working directory for running OpenRewrite

Outputs

Output	Description
changes-detected	true if OpenRewrite made any changes, false otherwise
activated-recipes	Comma-separated list of activated recipes

Usage Examples

Basic Usage

name: OpenRewrite

on: workflow_dispatch

jobs:
  rewrite:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Run OpenRewrite
        id: openrewrite
        uses: rhart/openrewrite-runner-action@main
        with:
          recipes: 'com.example.FixYamlFiles'
          recipes-dir: 'recipes'
          rewrite-dependencies: 'org.openrewrite:rewrite-yaml:8.66.3'

      - name: Show results
        run: |
          echo "Changes: ${{ steps.openrewrite.outputs.changes-detected }}"

With PR Creation

name: OpenRewrite with PR

on: workflow_dispatch

jobs:
  rewrite:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write
      pull-requests: write

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0

      - name: Run OpenRewrite
        id: openrewrite
        uses: rhart/openrewrite-runner-action@main
        with:
          recipes: 'com.example.FixYamlFiles'
          recipes-dir: 'recipes'
          rewrite-dependencies: 'org.openrewrite:rewrite-yaml:8.66.3'

      - name: Create Pull Request
        if: steps.openrewrite.outputs.changes-detected == 'true'
        uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v6
        with:
          commit-message: 'chore: Apply OpenRewrite recipes'
          title: 'OpenRewrite: Apply recipes'
          branch: openrewrite-changes

With Recipe Parameters

Pass parameters to recipes using the recipe-parameters input. Parameters use the format recipeName.parameterName=value:

name: Fix Kubernetes Manifests

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      target:
        description: 'Target directory pattern (e.g., project-blue/*, k8s/prod/*)'
        required: true

jobs:
  fix-manifests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Fix manifests in ${{ inputs.target }}
        uses: rhart/openrewrite-runner-action@main
        with:
          recipes: 'com.example.FixKubernetesManifests'
          recipe-parameters: 'com.example.FixKubernetesManifests.targetDirectory=${{ inputs.target }}'
          recipes-dir: 'recipes'
          rewrite-dependencies: 'org.openrewrite:rewrite-yaml:8.66.3'

In your recipe YAML, use {{ parameterName }} placeholders:

# recipes/fix-kubernetes-manifests.yml
name: com.example.FixKubernetesManifests
recipeList:
  - org.openrewrite.yaml.ChangePropertyValue:
      filePattern: '{{ targetDirectory }}/manifests.yaml'
      propertyKey: 'spec.selector.app'
      newValue: 'hello-kubernetes'

The same recipe can target any directory you specify when running the workflow - project-blue/*, k8s/prod/*, etc. - without modifying recipe files.

Running on a Different Repository

Use working-directory to run recipes against code checked out to a subdirectory. This is useful when checking out multiple repositories or when your target code is not in the workflow's default checkout location:

- uses: actions/checkout@v4
  with:
    repository: org/target-repo
    path: target

- uses: actions/checkout@v4
  with:
    repository: org/recipes-repo
    path: recipes-repo

- uses: rhart/openrewrite-runner-action@main
  with:
    recipes: 'com.example.MyRecipe'
    recipes-dir: '../recipes-repo/recipes'
    working-directory: 'target'
    rewrite-dependencies: 'org.openrewrite:rewrite-yaml:8.66.3'

Multi-Repo Workflow

Apply the same recipe across multiple repositories using a matrix strategy:

name: Fix Manifests Across Repos

on: workflow_dispatch

jobs:
  fix-repos:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        repo: [org/service-a, org/service-b, org/service-c]
    steps:
      - name: Checkout target repo
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          repository: ${{ matrix.repo }}
          path: target

      - name: Checkout recipes repo
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          repository: org/recipes-repo
          path: recipes-repo

      - name: Run OpenRewrite
        uses: rhart/openrewrite-runner-action@main
        with:
          recipes: 'com.example.FixKubernetesManifests'
          recipe-parameters: 'com.example.FixKubernetesManifests.targetDirectory=k8s/*'
          recipes-dir: '../recipes-repo/recipes'
          working-directory: 'target'
          rewrite-dependencies: 'org.openrewrite:rewrite-yaml:8.66.3'

Multiple Recipes

Run multiple recipes in a single execution, each with its own parameters:

- uses: rhart/openrewrite-runner-action@main
  with:
    recipes: 'com.example.Recipe1,com.example.Recipe2'
    recipe-parameters: 'com.example.Recipe1.param=value1,com.example.Recipe2.param=value2'
    recipes-dir: 'recipes'
    rewrite-dependencies: 'org.openrewrite:rewrite-yaml:8.66.3'

OpenRewrite Versions

This action uses two version inputs:

• openrewrite-version - The OpenRewrite Gradle plugin version (default: 7.20.0)
• rewrite-dependencies - Individual module versions like rewrite-yaml, rewrite-json, etc.

These versions are independent. The OpenRewrite Gradle plugin (version 7.x) is compatible with OpenRewrite library modules (version 8.x). Choose versions based on:

• Plugin version: Features and compatibility requirements
• Module versions: Specific recipes and transformations needed

How It Works

1. Setup - Creates temporary build.gradle, settings.gradle, and rewrite.yml
2. Execute - Runs OpenRewrite recipes with your parameters
3. Cleanup - Removes all temporary build files
4. Output - Only your code changes remain

Examples

See the examples directory for:

• Example recipe definitions
• Example target files (Kubernetes YAML)
• Example workflow files

License

See LICENSE for details.