How to retrieve the `outcome` from previous (or target specific) steps ID

[mochadwi]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Is it possible to retrieve the outcome steps inside .github/slack.yml

Describe the solution you'd like

    - type: section
    fields:
      - type: mrkdwn
        text: "${{ fromJson(steps.get-step-detail.outputs.result).name }}" # how to retrieve it w/o having to looping(?)
      - type: mrkdwn
        text: 'URL: ${{ steps.build-and-publish.outputs.internal-sharing-app-url }}' # similar

Describe alternatives you've considered
A clear and concise description of any alternative solutions or features you've considered.

Additional context
Add any other context or screenshots about the feature request here.

[satterly]

I think set-output could be what you're looking for, though I haven't used it myself. Give it a go and let me know. Thanks.

https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/workflow-commands-for-github-actions#setting-an-output-parameter

[mochadwi]

We're currently using the set-output as of now.

And actually not sure if the retrieval is possible inside https://github.com/act10ns/slack/blob/master/.github/slack-workflow.yml as it only support following template variable mentioned in the README.md,

or is it possible to acccess the ${{ github.event.repository.name }} in case we want to access github variable/context as alternative other than supported template variable? 🙏

[satterly]

The slack config YAML supports Handlebars templates with access to the following context variables:

Variable	Description	Example
jobSteps	Step outcomes keyed by step id	{{jobSteps.build.outcome}}
payload	Full GitHub event payload (github.event)	{{payload.repository.name}}
env	All environment variables	{{env.MY_VAR}}
jobName	Current job name	{{jobName}}
jobStatus	Current job status	{{jobStatus}}
eventName	GitHub event name	{{eventName}}
workflow	Workflow name	{{workflow}}
repositoryName	Repository (owner/repo)	{{repositoryName}}
actor	User who triggered the workflow	{{actor}}
ref	Branch or tag ref	{{ref}}
sha / shortSha	Commit SHA	{{shortSha}}

So for your use case, you can access a specific step's outcome directly:

- type: section
  fields:
    - type: mrkdwn
      text: "Build: {{jobSteps.build-and-publish.outcome}}"

And repository name via:

text: "Repo: {{payload.repository.name}}"

Step outputs are not currently passed through to the template context — only outcome and conclusion are available. If you need step outputs, pass them as environment variables via env on the slack action step and reference them with {{env.MY_OUTPUT}}.

Closing as this is working as designed. The template variables could be better documented in the README.

[satterly]

The template variables documentation has been expanded in #295 with a full reference table including descriptions and usage examples.

For your specific use case, you can access step outcomes directly in the slack config YAML:

- type: section
  fields:
    - type: mrkdwn
      text: "Build: {{jobSteps.build-and-publish.outcome}}"

And GitHub event data via the payload variable:

text: "Repo: {{payload.repository.name}}"

For step outputs that aren't in the template context, pass them as env vars on the slack action step and reference with {{env.MY_OUTPUT}}.