Allow repository to be used in GitHub Actions

README.md

@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ This project includes a rudimentary CLI tool that reads a Terraform module folde
 The tool accepts a single argument specifying the path to a Terraform module folder. It will read the module folder using Terraform Docs, parse the variable definitions using this library, and write the output to a `README.md` file in the module folder.
 
 ```bash
-./tfdocs-extra /path/to/TerraformModules/aws/route53
+./tfdocs-extras /path/to/TerraformModules/aws/route53
 ```
 
 The README requires specific markers to identify where to insert the generated documentation. The generated markdown will be inserted between the following markers:
@@ -165,6 +165,139 @@ The README requires specific markers to identify where to insert the generated d
 <!-- TFDOCS_EXTRAS_END -->
 ```
 
+### JSON Output
+
+Pass the `-json` flag to print a JSON representation of the parsed module manifest to stdout instead of updating the README. This is useful for piping the output into other tools or for debugging.
+
+```bash
+./tfdocs-extras -json /path/to/TerraformModules/aws/route53
+```
+
+## Usage as a GitHub Action
+
+This repository is also published as a GitHub Action. It automatically downloads the appropriate binary for the runner's OS and architecture, scans the specified directories for `README.md` files containing both the `TFDOCS_EXTRAS_START`/`TFDOCS_EXTRAS_END` markers, and processes each one.
+
+Each entry in `directories` is either an explicit path or a glob pattern:
+
+| Pattern | Behavior |
+|---|---|
+| `./modules/aws/vpc` | Process this single directory. |
+| `./modules/aws/*` | Process every direct subdirectory of `aws/`. |
+| `./modules/**` | Recursively process all subdirectories. |
+
+Directories that do not contain a `README.md` with both the `TFDOCS_EXTRAS_START`/`TFDOCS_EXTRAS_END` markers are silently skipped.
+
+```yaml
+- uses: FriendsOfTerraform/tfdocs-extras@main
+  with:
+    directories: |
+      ./modules/aws/vpc
+      ./modules/aws/s3
+      ./modules/gcp/*
+      ./modules/azure/**
+```
+
+### Inputs
+
+| Input | Required | Default | Description |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| `directories` | Yes | | Newline-separated list of Terraform module directories to process. Supports `*` and `**` glob patterns. |
+| `version` | No | `latest` | Version of tfdocs-extras to download (e.g. `v0.1.0`). |
+| `token` | No | `github.token` | GitHub token used to download the release binary. |
+| `commit` | No | `false` (boolean) | Commit any README.md changes after processing. Mutually exclusive with `fail_on_diff`. |
+| `commit_message` | No | `chore: update tfdocs-extras documentation` | Commit message. Only used when `commit` is `true`. |
+| `commit_author` | No | `github-actions[bot] <github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>` | Commit author in `Name <email>` format. Only used when `commit` is `true`. |
+| `commit_branch` | No | Current branch | Branch to push the commit to. Only used when `commit` is `true`. |
+| `fail_on_diff` | No | `false` (boolean) | Exit with a non-zero status if any README.md files were modified. Mutually exclusive with `commit`. |
+| `json_output_file` | No | | Path to write the aggregated JSON output. Use this for large outputs that exceed GitHub Actions' output size limit. |
+
+### Outputs
+
+| Output | Description |
+|---|---|
+| `result` | JSON array of module manifests, one object per processed directory. Only set if the total size is below ~1MB (GitHub Actions output limit). For larger outputs, use the `json_output_file` input to write to a file instead. |
+
+### Examples
+
+#### Auto-commit updated documentation
+
+Automatically regenerate and commit documentation whenever Terraform files change on the main branch.
+
+```yaml
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [main]
+    paths: ['**.tf']
+
+jobs:
+  docs:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: FriendsOfTerraform/tfdocs-extras@main
+        with:
+          directories: |
+            ./modules/aws/vpc
+            ./modules/aws/s3
+          commit: true
+          commit_author: 'github-actions[bot] <github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>'
+```
+
+#### Enforce up-to-date documentation in pull requests
+
+Fail the CI check if a pull request contains Terraform changes without updated documentation.
+
+```yaml
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    paths: ['**.tf']
+
+jobs:
+  docs:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: FriendsOfTerraform/tfdocs-extras@main
+        with:
+          directories: |
+            ./modules/aws/vpc
+            ./modules/aws/s3
+            ./modules/azure/*
+            ./modules/vault/*
+          fail_on_diff: true
+```
+
+#### Use the JSON output in a downstream step
+
+```yaml
+- uses: actions/checkout@v6
+- uses: FriendsOfTerraform/tfdocs-extras@main
+  id: tfdocs
+  with:
+    directories: ./modules/aws/vpc
+- run: echo '${{ steps.tfdocs.outputs.result }}'
+```
+
+#### Write JSON output to a file for large module sets
+
+When processing many modules or modules with large manifests, the aggregated JSON may exceed GitHub Actions' output size limit (~1MB). Use `json_output_file` to write the output to a file instead.
+
+```yaml
+- uses: actions/checkout@v6
+- uses: FriendsOfTerraform/tfdocs-extras@main
+  with:
+    directories: |
+      ./modules/**
+    json_output_file: ./tfdocs-manifests.json
+- name: Upload manifest
+  uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
+  with:
+    name: tfdocs-manifests
+    path: ./tfdocs-manifests.json
+```
+
 ## Documentation Specification
 
 > [!IMPORTANT]

action.yml

@@ -0,0 +1,242 @@
+name: 'tfdocs-extras'
+description: 'Generate Terraform object() type documentation in README.md files using tfdocs-extras'
+author: 'Vladimir "allejo" Jimenez'
+
+branding:
+  icon: 'book-open'
+  color: 'purple'
+
+inputs:
+  directories:
+    description: |
+      Newline-separated list of Terraform module directories to process. Each directory
+      will be checked for a README.md containing TFDOCS_EXTRAS_START/TFDOCS_EXTRAS_END
+      markers and processed if found.
+    required: true
+  version:
+    description: 'Version of tfdocs-extras to download (e.g. "v0.1.0"). Defaults to the latest release.'
+    required: false
+    default: 'latest'
+  token:
+    description: 'GitHub token used to download the release binary and avoid API rate limits.'
+    required: false
+    default: ${{ github.token }}
+  commit:
+    description: 'Commit any README.md changes after processing.'
+    required: false
+    default: 'false'
+  commit_message:
+    description: 'Commit message to use when commit is true.'
+    required: false
+    default: 'chore: update tfdocs-extras documentation'
+  commit_author:
+    description: 'Author identity for the commit in "Name <email>" format. Only used when commit is true.'
+    required: false
+    default: 'github-actions[bot] <github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>'
+  commit_branch:
+    description: 'Branch to push the commit to. Only used when commit is true. Defaults to the current branch.'
+    required: false
+    default: ''
+  fail_on_diff:
+    description: 'Exit with a non-zero status if any README.md files were modified. Mutually exclusive with commit.'
+    required: false
+    default: 'false'
+  json_output_file:
+    description: 'Path to write the aggregated JSON output. If not specified, JSON is only written to the step output (subject to size limits).'
+    required: false
+    default: ''
+
+outputs:
+  result:
+    description: 'JSON array of module manifests, one object per processed directory.'
+    value: ${{ steps.collect-json.outputs.result }}
+
+runs:
+  using: composite
+  steps:
+    - name: Validate inputs
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        if ${{ fromJSON(inputs.commit) }} && ${{ fromJSON(inputs.fail_on_diff) }}; then
+          echo "::error::commit and fail_on_diff are mutually exclusive"
+          exit 1
+        fi
+
+    - name: Download tfdocs-extras
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        GH_TOKEN: ${{ inputs.token }}
+        VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
+      run: |
+        # Detect OS
+        case "${{ runner.os }}" in
+          Linux)   BINARY_OS="linux" ;;
+          macOS)   BINARY_OS="darwin" ;;
+          Windows) BINARY_OS="windows" ;;
+          *) echo "::error::Unsupported OS: ${{ runner.os }}"; exit 1 ;;
+        esac
+
+        # Detect architecture
+        case "${{ runner.arch }}" in
+          X64)   BINARY_ARCH="amd64" ;;
+          ARM64) BINARY_ARCH="arm64" ;;
+          *) echo "::error::Unsupported architecture: ${{ runner.arch }}"; exit 1 ;;
+        esac
+
+        # Resolve 'latest' to the actual version tag
+        if [ "$VERSION" = "latest" ]; then
+          # Prefer the latest stable release; gh release view only returns a
+          # release marked "latest" on GitHub, which is never a pre-release.
+          VERSION=$(gh release view \
+            --repo FriendsOfTerraform/tfdocs-extras \
+            --json tagName \
+            --jq '.tagName' 2>/dev/null) || true
+
+          if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
+            # No stable release exists; fall back to the most recent pre-release.
+            echo "No stable release found, checking for pre-releases..."
+            VERSION=$(gh release list \
+              --repo FriendsOfTerraform/tfdocs-extras \
+              --json tagName,isPrerelease \
+              --jq '[.[] | select(.isPrerelease)] | first | .tagName')
+
+            if [ -z "$VERSION" ] || [ "$VERSION" = "null" ]; then
+              echo "::error::No stable release or pre-release found"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+            echo "Resolved latest pre-release: $VERSION"
+          else
+            echo "Resolved latest stable release: $VERSION"
+          fi
+        fi
+
+        # Build binary name matching the release asset naming convention
+        EXT=""
+        [ "$BINARY_OS" = "windows" ] && EXT=".exe"
+        BINARY_NAME="tfdocs-extras-${VERSION}-${BINARY_OS}-${BINARY_ARCH}${EXT}"
+        DEST="${RUNNER_TEMP}/tfdocs-extras${EXT}"
+
+        echo "Downloading $BINARY_NAME..."
+        gh release download "$VERSION" \
+          --repo FriendsOfTerraform/tfdocs-extras \
+          --pattern "$BINARY_NAME" \
+          --output "$DEST"
+        chmod +x "$DEST"
+
+        echo "TFDOCS_EXTRAS_BIN=$DEST" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+
+    - name: Process README.md files
+      id: collect-json
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        DIRECTORIES: ${{ inputs.directories }}
+        JSON_OUTPUT_FILE: ${{ inputs.json_output_file }}
+      run: |
+        # globstar enables ** for recursive matching; nullglob silently drops
+        # patterns that match nothing rather than treating them as literals
+        shopt -s globstar nullglob
+
+        MARKER_START="<!-- TFDOCS_EXTRAS_START -->"
+        MARKER_END="<!-- TFDOCS_EXTRAS_END -->"
+        PROCESSED=0
+        JSON_ITEMS=""
+
+        while IFS= read -r pattern; do
+          # Skip blank/whitespace-only lines
+          [ -z "$(echo "$pattern" | tr -d '[:space:]')" ] && continue
+
+          # Expand the pattern into an array so paths with spaces are preserved
+          dirs=( $pattern )
+
+          for dir in "${dirs[@]}"; do
+            [ -d "$dir" ] || continue
+
+            readme="${dir}/README.md"
+            [ -f "$readme" ] || continue
+            grep -qF "$MARKER_START" "$readme" || continue
+            grep -qF "$MARKER_END" "$readme" || continue
+
+            echo "Processing: $dir"
+            "$TFDOCS_EXTRAS_BIN" "$dir"
+
+            JSON=$("$TFDOCS_EXTRAS_BIN" -json "$dir")
+            [ -n "$JSON_ITEMS" ] && JSON_ITEMS+=","
+            JSON_ITEMS+="$JSON"
+
+            PROCESSED=$((PROCESSED + 1))
+          done
+        done <<< "$DIRECTORIES"
+
+        echo "Done: processed $PROCESSED director(ies)"
+
+        # Build the final JSON array
+        FINAL_JSON="[${JSON_ITEMS}]"
+
+        # Write to file if path is specified
+        if [ -n "$JSON_OUTPUT_FILE" ]; then
+          echo "Writing JSON output to: $JSON_OUTPUT_FILE"
+          echo "$FINAL_JSON" > "$JSON_OUTPUT_FILE"
+        fi
+
+        # GitHub Actions outputs have a size limit of ~1MB. Only set the output
+        # if the JSON is below this threshold.
+        JSON_SIZE=${#FINAL_JSON}
+        MAX_OUTPUT_SIZE=1000000  # ~1MB
+
+        if [ $JSON_SIZE -lt $MAX_OUTPUT_SIZE ]; then
+          {
+            echo 'result<<EOF'
+            echo "$FINAL_JSON"
+            echo 'EOF'
+          } >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        else
+          echo "::warning::JSON output size ($JSON_SIZE bytes) exceeds GitHub Actions output limit (~1MB). Output not set. Use json_output_file input to write to a file instead."
+        fi
+
+    - name: Commit changes
+      if: ${{ fromJSON(inputs.commit) }}
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        COMMIT_MESSAGE: ${{ inputs.commit_message }}
+        COMMIT_AUTHOR: ${{ inputs.commit_author }}
+        COMMIT_BRANCH: ${{ inputs.commit_branch }}
+      run: |
+        if git diff --quiet; then
+          echo "No changes to commit"
+          exit 0
+        fi
+
+        AUTHOR_NAME="${COMMIT_AUTHOR% <*}"
+        AUTHOR_EMAIL="${COMMIT_AUTHOR#*<}"; AUTHOR_EMAIL="${AUTHOR_EMAIL%>}"
+        git config user.name "$AUTHOR_NAME"
+        git config user.email "$AUTHOR_EMAIL"
+        git add -u
+        git commit -m "$COMMIT_MESSAGE"
+
+        if [ -n "$COMMIT_BRANCH" ]; then
+          BRANCH="$COMMIT_BRANCH"
+        else
+          BRANCH="$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)"
+          if [ "$BRANCH" = "HEAD" ]; then
+            # Detached HEAD; try to derive a branch name from GitHub context
+            if [ -n "${{ github.head_ref }}" ]; then
+              BRANCH="${{ github.head_ref }}"
+            elif [ -n "${{ github.ref_name }}" ]; then
+              BRANCH="${{ github.ref_name }}"
+            else
+              echo "::error::Cannot determine branch to push to (detached HEAD and no commit_branch, github.head_ref, or github.ref_name)"
+              exit 1
+            fi
+          fi
+        fi
+
+        git push origin "$BRANCH"
+
+    - name: Check for diff
+      if: ${{ fromJSON(inputs.fail_on_diff) }}
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        if ! git diff --quiet; then
+          echo "::error::README.md files have uncommitted changes after processing"
+          exit 1
+        fi