For supported wildcards along with behavior and documentation, see [@actions/glob](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/tree/main/packages/glob) which is used internally to search for files.
If a wildcard pattern is used, the path hierarchy will be preserved after the first wildcard pattern.
```
path/to/*/directory/foo?.txt =>
∟ path/to/some/directory/foo1.txt
∟ path/to/some/directory/foo2.txt
∟ path/to/other/directory/foo1.txt
would be flattened and uploaded as =>
∟ some/directory/foo1.txt
∟ some/directory/foo2.txt
∟ other/directory/foo1.txt
```
If multiple paths are provided as input, the least common ancestor of all the search paths will be used as the root directory of the artifact. Exclude paths do not effect the directory structure.
Relative and absolute file paths are both allowed. Relative paths are rooted against the current working directory. Paths that begin with a wildcard character should be quoted to avoid being interpreted as YAML aliases.
The [@actions/artifact](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/tree/main/packages/artifact) package is used internally to handle most of the logic around uploading an artifact. There is extra documentation around upload limitations and behavior in the toolkit repo that is worth checking out.
If a path (or paths), result in no files being found for the artifact, the action will succeed but print out a warning. In certain scenarios it may be desirable to fail the action or suppress the warning. The `if-no-files-found` option allows you to customize the behavior of the action if no files are found.
```yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
with:
name: my-artifact
path: path/to/artifact/
if-no-files-found: error # 'warn' or 'ignore' are also available, defaults to `warn`
To upload artifacts only when the previous step of a job failed, use [`if: failure()`](https://help.github.com/en/articles/contexts-and-expression-syntax-for-github-actions#job-status-check-functions):
You can upload an artifact without specifying a name
```yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
with:
path: path/to/artifact/world.txt
```
If not provided, `artifact` will be used as the default name which will manifest itself in the UI after upload.
### Uploading to the same artifact
Each artifact behaves as a file share. Uploading to the same artifact multiple times in the same workflow can overwrite and append already uploaded files
```yaml
- run: echo hi > world.txt
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
with:
path: world.txt
- run: echo howdy > extra-file.txt
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
with:
path: extra-file.txt
- run: echo hello > world.txt
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
with:
path: world.txt
```
With the following example, the available artifact (named `artifact` which is the default if no name is provided) would contain both `world.txt` (`hello`) and `extra-file.txt` (`howdy`).
- name: 'Accidently upload to the same artifact via multiple jobs'
uses: 'actions/upload-artifact@v2'
with:
name: my-artifact
path: ${{ github.workspace }}
```
In the above example, four jobs will upload four different files to the same artifact but there will only be one file available when `my-artifact` is downloaded. Each job overwrites what was previously uploaded. To ensure that jobs don't overwrite existing artifacts, use a different name per job.
Environment variables along with context expressions can also be used for input. For documentation see [context and expression syntax](https://help.github.com/en/actions/reference/context-and-expression-syntax-for-github-actions).
Artifacts are retained for 90 days by default. You can specify a shorter retention period using the `retention-days` input:
```yaml
- name: 'Create a file'
run: echo "I won't live long" > my_file.txt
- name: 'Upload Artifact'
uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
with:
name: my-artifact
path: my_file.txt
retention-days: 5
```
The retention period must be between 1 and 90 inclusive. For more information see [artifact and log retention policies](https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/actions/reference/usage-limits-billing-and-administration#artifact-and-log-retention-policy).
In the top right corner of a workflow run, once the run is over, if you used this action, there will be an `Artifacts` dropdown which you can download items from. Here's a screenshot of what it looks like<br/>
During a workflow run, files are uploaded and downloaded individually using the `upload-artifact` and `download-artifact` actions. However, when a workflow run finishes and an artifact is downloaded from either the UI or through the [download api](https://developer.github.com/v3/actions/artifacts/#download-an-artifact), a zip is dynamically created with all the file contents that were uploaded. There is currently no way to download artifacts after a workflow run finishes in a format other than a zip or to download artifact contents individually. One of the consequences of this limitation is that if a zip is uploaded during a workflow run and then downloaded from the UI, there will be a double zip created.
:exclamation: File permissions are not maintained during artifact upload :exclamation: For example, if you make a file executable using `chmod` and then upload that file, post-download the file is no longer guaranteed to be set as an executable.
### Case Insensitive Uploads
:exclamation: File uploads are case insensitive :exclamation: If you upload `A.txt` and `a.txt` with the same root path, only a single file will be saved and available during download.
### Maintaining file permissions and case sensitive files
If file permissions and case sensitivity are required, you can `tar` all of your files together before artifact upload. Post download, the `tar` file will maintain file permissions and case sensitivity.
See [persisting workflow data using artifacts](https://help.github.com/en/actions/configuring-and-managing-workflows/persisting-workflow-data-using-artifacts) for additional examples and tips.
See extra documentation for the [@actions/artifact](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/blob/master/packages/artifact/docs/additional-information.md) package that is used internally regarding certain behaviors and limitations.
