Basics

Node Types

Actionforge has two types of nodes: execution nodes and data nodes. Execution nodes control the flow of the execution within the graph, while data nodes are solely responsible for providing data to nodes that they are connected to.

Execution Order

The order of execution determines when nodes are executed and data is processed. When a node has completed its task, it sends an execution signal to the next connected node. This signal triggers the next node to start its operation.

Once a subsequent node is triggered, it gathers the necessary data inputs from the connected nodes to execute its task.

Scope

Each node in the action graph has its own scope. This means that each node runs in its own environment and does not share data with other nodes, unless their ports are explicitly connected. Each node has its own set of environment variables and modifying them does not affect other or subsequent nodes.

Scope in GitHub Actions workflows

The following statement is only valid for action graphs running in GitHub Actions workflows. As stated in the paragraph above, each node in the action graph has its own scope and environment. However, when running in GitHub Actions, the environment variables can be shared with subsequently executed nodes using GITHUB_ENV and GITHUB_PATH.