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what is changed-files fr?

botpress/changed-files — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-07-19 · repo last pushed 2022-12-06

Audience · ops devopsComplexity · 2/5DormantSetup · easy

tl;dr

A GitHub Action that detects which files changed in a commit or pull request, letting you skip unnecessary work and run only the tests or builds relevant to those specific files.

vibe map

mindmap
  root((repo))
    What it does
      Detects changed files
      Compares commits or branches
      Runs in under two seconds
    Use cases
      Skip irrelevant CI steps
      Monorepo folder filtering
      Target specific file patterns
    Outputs
      File lists by change type
      Boolean flags for files
      Filtered by glob patterns
    Compatibility
      Linux macOS Windows
      GitHub-hosted and self-hosted
      GitHub Enterprise Server
    Setup notes
      Needs checkout step
      Set adequate fetch depth

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what do people make with this?

VIBE 1

Run only frontend tests in a monorepo when files in the frontend folder change, skipping backend tests.

VIBE 2

Trigger a documentation rebuild only when files inside the docs folder are modified.

VIBE 3

Run a lint step only on YAML configuration files that were changed in a pull request.

what's the stack?

TypeScriptGitHub ActionsGit

how it stacks up fr

botpress/changed-files0verflowme/alarm-clock0verflowme/seclists
LanguageCSS
Last pushed2022-12-062022-10-032020-05-03
MaintenanceDormantDormantDormant
Setup difficultyeasyeasyeasy
Complexity2/52/51/5
Audienceops devopsvibe coderops devops

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

how do i run it?

Difficulty · easy time til it works · 5min

Requires setting an appropriate fetch depth on the checkout step so the action has enough git history to compare against.

The license terms are not specified in the provided explanation.

in plain english

Changed-files is a GitHub Action that figures out which files were added, modified, deleted, or renamed when someone pushes code or opens a pull request. Instead of running your entire test suite or rebuilding your whole project every time, you can use it to only run steps that are relevant to the files that actually changed. At a high level, it compares the current state of your code against the previous commit or the target branch of a pull request. You can ask it for a simple list of everything that changed, or you can filter by specific folders and file patterns. For example, you could tell it to only watch the "docs" folder, and it will return a true/false flag indicating whether anything in that folder was touched. It runs fast, typically in under two seconds, and works across Linux, macOS, and Windows. This is most useful for teams managing automated workflows on GitHub, especially those working with larger repositories or monorepos where different parts of the project live in the same repo. A practical example: if you have a monorepo with separate frontend and backend folders, you could use this action to only run frontend tests when files in the frontend folder change, skipping the backend tests entirely. That saves time and compute resources on every commit. It also supports filtering with glob patterns, so you can target something like "all YAML files in the config directory." The action provides a wide range of outputs, you can get lists of files grouped by change type (added, copied, modified, deleted, renamed, and so on), or simple boolean flags for whether specific files you care about were touched. It works with GitHub-hosted runners, self-hosted runners, and GitHub Enterprise Server. The README includes a usage example showing how to drop it into a workflow file alongside the standard checkout step, with a note that you need to set an appropriate fetch depth so the action has enough git history to compare against.

prompts (copy fr)

prompt 1
Write a GitHub Actions workflow step using the changed-files action that outputs a boolean true/false flag indicating whether any files in the docs folder were modified in the pull request.
prompt 2
Create a monorepo CI workflow using changed-files that runs frontend tests only when the frontend folder changes and backend tests only when the backend folder changes.
prompt 3
Show me how to configure the changed-files GitHub Action with the correct checkout fetch depth so it can detect renamed and deleted files across commits.
prompt 4
Generate a GitHub Actions workflow that uses changed-files to filter for all modified YAML files in the config directory and runs a validation step on them.

Frequently asked questions

what is changed-files fr?

A GitHub Action that detects which files changed in a commit or pull request, letting you skip unnecessary work and run only the tests or builds relevant to those specific files.

Is changed-files actively maintained?

Dormant — no commits in 2+ years (last push 2022-12-06).

What license does changed-files use?

The license terms are not specified in the provided explanation.

How hard is changed-files to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is changed-files for?

Mainly ops devops.

peek the repo → explain another one

This repo across BitVibe Labs

double-check against the repo, no cap.