Using the GitHub package

The /whisk.system/github package offers a convenient way to use the GitHub APIs.

The package includes the following feed:

Entity	Type	Parameters	Description
/whisk.system/github	package	username, repository, accessToken	Interact with the GitHub API
/whisk.system/github/webhook	feed	events, username, repository, accessToken	Fire trigger events on GitHub activity

Creating a package binding with the username, repository, and accessToken values is suggested. With binding, you don't need to specify the values each time that you use the feed in the package.

Firing a trigger event with GitHub activity

The /whisk.system/github/webhook feed configures a service to fire a trigger when there is activity in a specified GitHub repository. The parameters are as follows:

• username: The user name of the GitHub repository.
• repository: The GitHub repository.
• accessToken: Your GitHub personal access token. When you create your token, be sure to select the repo:status and public_repo scopes. Also, make sure that you don't have any webhooks already defined for your repository.
• events: The GitHub event type of interest.

The following is an example of creating a trigger that will be fired each time that there is a new commit to a GitHub repository.

1. Generate a GitHub personal access token.

The access token will be used in the next step.

2. Create a package binding that is configured for your GitHub repository and with your access token.

wsk package bind /whisk.system/github myGit \
  --param username myGitUser \
  --param repository myGitRepo \
  --param accessToken aaaaa1111a1a1a1a1a111111aaaaaa1111aa1a1a

3. Create a trigger for the GitHub push event type by using your myGit/webhook feed.

wsk trigger create myGitTrigger --feed myGit/webhook --param events push

A commit to the GitHub repository by using a git push causes the trigger to be fired by the webhook. If there is a rule that matches the trigger, then the associated action will be invoked. The action receives the GitHub webhook payload as an input parameter. Each GitHub webhook event has a similar JSON schema, but is a unique payload object that is determined by its event type. For more information about the payload content, see the GitHub events and payload API documentation.