fix: align common behaviour with GitHub's runner (#1413)

Closes differences from GitHub's runner that common workflows hit:

- `ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG` set as a repository variable enables debug output as on GitHub, where a secret of the same name still takes precedence. `runner.debug` and `RUNNER_DEBUG` are now also set inside composite actions, which lost the secret.
- `github.env` and `github.path` hold the file-command paths instead of being empty, so `echo "A=1" >> "${{ github.env }}"` works.
- Remote composite actions only get a pre stage when they nest actions. That stage evaluated `with:` before earlier steps ran, so an input like `${{ fromJSON(steps.meta.outputs.json).v }}` failed the job.
- `ports` on a job container are published, they were ignored while service ports worked.
- Dockerfile action build output reaches the job log. It was logged at debug and dropped, so a failing `RUN` showed only the final error.
- Local Docker actions honor their `.dockerignore`, as `docker build` does.
- Cancelling or timing out a host-mode step sends SIGINT, then SIGTERM after 7.5 seconds and SIGKILL after 2.5 more, as GitHub's runner does, so `trap` handlers and shutdown hooks run.
- `.sh` job hooks fall back to `sh` where bash is missing, and `.ps1` hooks to `powershell` where pwsh is missing, as on GitHub.

_Written by Claude (Opus 5.5)._

Reviewed-on: https://gitea.com/gitea/runner/pulls/1413
Reviewed-by: bircni <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: silverwind <[email protected]>

act/container/container_types.go

@@ -152,6 +152,8 @@ type NewDockerBuildExecutorInput struct {
 	ContextDir   string
 	Dockerfile   string
 	BuildContext io.Reader
+	Dockerignore []byte // applied to BuildContext as the docker CLI applies it
+	Stdout       io.Writer
 	ImageTag     string
 	Platform     string
 	BuildArgs    map[string]*string

act/container/docker_build.go

@@ -8,10 +8,13 @@ package container
 
 import (
 	"archive/tar"
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"io/fs"
 	"os"
+	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
 	"strings"
@@ -63,7 +66,7 @@ func NewDockerBuildExecutor(input NewDockerBuildExecutorInput) common.Executor {
 		}
 		var buildContext io.ReadCloser
 		if input.BuildContext != nil {
-			buildContext = io.NopCloser(input.BuildContext)
+			buildContext, err = filterBuildContext(input.BuildContext, input.Dockerignore, input.Dockerfile)
 		} else {
 			buildContext, err = createBuildContext(ctx, input.ContextDir, input.Dockerfile)
 		}
@@ -78,10 +81,97 @@ func NewDockerBuildExecutor(input NewDockerBuildExecutorInput) common.Executor {
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		return logDockerResponse(logger, resp.Body, false)
+		err = logDockerResponse(logger, resp.Body, func(format string, args ...any) { fmt.Fprintf(input.Stdout, format, args...) })
+		common.FlushWriter(input.Stdout)
+		return err
 	}
 }
 
+func filterBuildContext(buildContext io.Reader, dockerignore []byte, relDockerfile string) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
+	excludes, err := ignorefile.ReadAll(bytes.NewReader(dockerignore))
+	if err != nil || len(excludes) == 0 {
+		return io.NopCloser(buildContext), err
+	}
+	pm, err := patternmatcher.New(excludes)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	reader, writer := io.Pipe()
+	go func() {
+		writer.CloseWithError(writeFilteredBuildContext(writer, buildContext, pm, path.Clean(filepath.ToSlash(relDockerfile))))
+	}()
+	return reader, nil
+}
+
+func writeFilteredBuildContext(w io.Writer, buildContext io.Reader, pm *patternmatcher.PatternMatcher, relDockerfile string) error {
+	spool, err := os.CreateTemp("", "gitea-runner-build-") // excluded content, for a kept hardlink to it
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer os.Remove(spool.Name())
+	defer spool.Close()
+
+	reader := tar.NewReader(buildContext)
+	writer := tar.NewWriter(w)
+	buffer := make([]byte, 32*1024)
+	excluded := map[string]*excludedBuildContextEntry{}
+	for {
+		header, err := reader.Next()
+		if err == io.EOF {
+			return writer.Close()
+		}
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		name := path.Clean(header.Name)
+		var target *excludedBuildContextEntry
+		if header.Typeflag == tar.TypeLink {
+			target = excluded[path.Clean(header.Linkname)]
+		}
+		if name != ".dockerignore" && name != relDockerfile {
+			skip, err := pm.MatchesOrParentMatches(name)
+			if err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			if skip {
+				if target != nil {
+					excluded[name] = target
+				} else if header.Typeflag != tar.TypeDir {
+					offset, err := spool.Seek(0, io.SeekCurrent)
+					if err != nil {
+						return err
+					}
+					excluded[name] = &excludedBuildContextEntry{header: header, offset: offset}
+					if _, err := io.CopyBuffer(spool, reader, buffer); err != nil {
+						return err
+					}
+				}
+				continue
+			}
+		}
+		var content io.Reader = reader
+		if target != nil && target.keptName != "" {
+			header.Linkname = target.keptName
+		} else if target != nil {
+			header.Typeflag, header.Linkname, header.Size = target.header.Typeflag, target.header.Linkname, target.header.Size
+			content = io.NewSectionReader(spool, target.offset, header.Size)
+			target.keptName = header.Name
+		}
+		if err := writer.WriteHeader(header); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if _, err := io.CopyBuffer(writer, content, buffer); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+type excludedBuildContextEntry struct {
+	header   *tar.Header
+	offset   int64
+	keptName string
+}
+
 func createBuildContext(ctx context.Context, contextDir, relDockerfile string) (io.ReadCloser, error) {
 	common.Logger(ctx).Debugf("Creating archive for build context dir '%s' with relative dockerfile '%s'", contextDir, relDockerfile)
 

act/container/docker_build_test.go

@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ package container
 
 import (
 	"archive/tar"
+	"bytes"
+	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
@@ -35,7 +37,7 @@ func TestDockerBuildLabelsImageWithItsTagAndReportsDaemonError(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Setenv("DOCKER_AUTH_CONFIG", "")
 
 	require.ErrorContains(t, NewDockerBuildExecutor(NewDockerBuildExecutorInput{
-		ImageTag: "action:test", Dockerfile: "Dockerfile", BuildContext: strings.NewReader(""),
+		ImageTag: "action:test", Dockerfile: "Dockerfile", BuildContext: strings.NewReader(""), Stdout: io.Discard,
 	})(t.Context()), "build rejected")
 	require.JSONEq(t, `{"com.gitea.runner.image":"action:test"}`, labels)
 }
@@ -72,3 +74,56 @@ func TestCreateBuildContextFollowsDockerignoreAndSymlinkedRootButKeepsDockerfile
 		require.Equal(t, []string{".dockerignore", "a.txt", "build/keep.txt", "empty/", "Dockerfile"}, names, contextDir)
 	}
 }
+
+func TestFilterBuildContextAppliesDockerignoreAndMaterializesHardlinksToExcludedFiles(t *testing.T) {
+	const dockerignore = "*.log\nbuild\n!build/keep.txt\nActionfile\n.dockerignore\n"
+	for _, prefix := range []string{"", "./"} {
+		var archive bytes.Buffer
+		writer := tar.NewWriter(&archive)
+		for _, entry := range []struct {
+			name, body, link string
+			typeflag         byte
+		}{
+			{"Actionfile", "FROM scratch", "", tar.TypeReg},
+			{"output.log", "log", "", tar.TypeReg},
+			{"build/", "", "", tar.TypeDir},
+			{"build/drop.txt", "drop", "", tar.TypeReg},
+			{"build/keep.txt", "keep", "", tar.TypeReg},
+			{"entrypoint", "", prefix + "output.log", tar.TypeLink},
+			{"other-entrypoint", "", prefix + "output.log", tar.TypeLink},
+			{".dockerignore", dockerignore, "", tar.TypeReg},
+		} {
+			require.NoError(t, writer.WriteHeader(&tar.Header{Name: prefix + entry.name, Linkname: entry.link, Typeflag: entry.typeflag, Size: int64(len(entry.body)), Mode: 0o644}))
+			_, err := io.WriteString(writer, entry.body)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+		}
+		require.NoError(t, writer.Close())
+
+		unfiltered, err := filterBuildContext(bytes.NewReader(archive.Bytes()), nil, "Actionfile")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		passedThrough, err := io.ReadAll(unfiltered)
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		require.Equal(t, archive.Bytes(), passedThrough)
+
+		filtered, err := filterBuildContext(bytes.NewReader(archive.Bytes()), []byte(dockerignore), "Actionfile")
+		require.NoError(t, err)
+		var entries []string
+		for reader := tar.NewReader(filtered); ; {
+			header, err := reader.Next()
+			if err == io.EOF {
+				break
+			}
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			body, err := io.ReadAll(reader)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			entries = append(entries, fmt.Sprintf("%s %c %s %s", strings.TrimPrefix(header.Name, prefix), header.Typeflag, strings.TrimPrefix(header.Linkname, prefix), body))
+		}
+		require.Equal(t, []string{
+			"Actionfile 0  FROM scratch",
+			"build/keep.txt 0  keep",
+			"entrypoint 0  log",
+			"other-entrypoint 1 entrypoint ",
+			".dockerignore 0  " + dockerignore,
+		}, entries, prefix)
+	}
+}

act/container/docker_images_test.go

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ func loadScratchImage(t *testing.T, platform string) string {
 	response, err := cli.ImageLoad(t.Context(), &archive)
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 	defer response.Close()
-	require.NoError(t, logDockerResponse(common.Logger(t.Context()), response, false))
+	require.NoError(t, logDockerResponse(common.Logger(t.Context()), response, common.Logger(t.Context()).Debugf))
 	t.Cleanup(func() {
 		_, _ = cli.ImageRemove(context.WithoutCancel(t.Context()), tag, mobyclient.ImageRemoveOptions{Force: true})
 	})

act/container/docker_logger.go

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ package container
 
 import (
 	"bufio"
+	"cmp"
 	"encoding/json/v2"
 	"errors"
 	"io"
@@ -26,10 +27,7 @@ type dockerMessage struct {
 	Progress string `json:"progress"`
 }
 
-func logDockerResponse(logger *logging.Logger, dockerResponse io.ReadCloser, isError bool) error {
-	if dockerResponse == nil {
-		return nil
-	}
+func logDockerResponse(logger *logging.Logger, dockerResponse io.ReadCloser, log func(string, ...any)) error {
 	defer dockerResponse.Close()
 
 	scanner := bufio.NewScanner(dockerResponse)
@@ -38,41 +36,28 @@ func logDockerResponse(logger *logging.Logger, dockerResponse io.ReadCloser, isE
 		line := scanner.Bytes()
 		var msg dockerMessage
 		if err := json.Unmarshal(line, &msg); err != nil {
-			writeLog(logger, false, "Unable to unmarshal line [%s] ==> %v", string(line), err)
+			logger.Debugf("Unable to unmarshal line [%s] ==> %v", string(line), err)
 			continue
 		}
 
-		if msg.Error != "" {
-			writeLog(logger, isError, "%s", msg.Error)
-			return errors.New(msg.Error)
-		}
-
-		if msg.ErrorDetail.Message != "" {
-			writeLog(logger, isError, "%s", msg.ErrorDetail.Message)
-			return errors.New(msg.ErrorDetail.Message)
+		if message := cmp.Or(msg.Error, msg.ErrorDetail.Message); message != "" {
+			log("%s", message)
+			return errors.New(message)
 		}
 
 		switch {
 		case msg.Status != "":
 			if msg.Progress != "" {
-				writeLog(logger, isError, "%s :: %s :: %s\n", msg.Status, msg.ID, msg.Progress)
+				log("%s :: %s :: %s\n", msg.Status, msg.ID, msg.Progress)
 			} else {
-				writeLog(logger, isError, "%s :: %s\n", msg.Status, msg.ID)
+				log("%s :: %s\n", msg.Status, msg.ID)
 			}
 		case msg.Stream != "":
-			writeLog(logger, isError, "%s", msg.Stream)
+			log("%s", msg.Stream)
 		default:
-			writeLog(logger, false, "Unable to handle line: %s", string(line))
+			logger.Debugf("Unable to handle line: %s", string(line))
 		}
 	}
 
 	return scanner.Err()
 }
-
-func writeLog(logger *logging.Logger, isError bool, format string, args ...any) {
-	if isError {
-		logger.Errorf(format, args...)
-	} else {
-		logger.Debugf(format, args...)
-	}
-}

act/container/docker_pull.go

@@ -61,11 +61,10 @@ func NewDockerPullExecutor(input NewDockerPullExecutorInput) common.Executor {
 		// stream rather than on the call itself, so both have to be checked
 		pullOnce := func(opts client.ImagePullOptions) error {
 			reader, err := cli.ImagePull(ctx, imageRef, opts)
-			streamErr := logDockerResponse(logger, reader, err != nil)
 			if err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-			return streamErr
+			return logDockerResponse(logger, reader, logger.Debugf)
 		}
 
 		err = pullOnce(imagePullOptions)

act/container/docker_pull_test.go

@@ -95,15 +95,16 @@ func TestIsPinnedImage(t *testing.T) {
 // The pull path reports a failure the daemon sent mid-stream, so it must carry the reason
 // whichever of the two shapes the daemon used.
 func TestLogDockerResponseError(t *testing.T) {
-	logger := logging.New(logtest.New())
+	logger, hook := logtest.NewLogger()
 	streamErr := func(line string) error {
-		return logDockerResponse(logger, io.NopCloser(strings.NewReader(line)), false)
+		return logDockerResponse(logger, io.NopCloser(strings.NewReader(line)), logger.Infof)
 	}
 	require.EqualError(t, streamErr(`{"error":"toomanyrequests: rate limit exceeded"}`), "toomanyrequests: rate limit exceeded")
 	require.EqualError(t, streamErr(`{"errorDetail":{"message":"unexpected EOF"}}`), "unexpected EOF")
 	require.NoError(t, streamErr(`{"status":"Downloading"}`))
 	require.NoError(t, streamErr(`{"stream":"`+strings.Repeat("x", 70000)+`"}`))
+	assert.Equal(t, logging.LevelInfo, hook.LastRecord().Level)
 	require.ErrorIs(t, logDockerResponse(logger, io.NopCloser(io.MultiReader(
 		strings.NewReader(`{"status":"Downloading"}`+"\n"), iotest.ErrReader(io.ErrUnexpectedEOF),
-	)), false), io.ErrUnexpectedEOF)
+	)), logger.Infof), io.ErrUnexpectedEOF)
 }

act/container/host_environment.go

@@ -283,6 +283,7 @@ func (e *HostEnvironment) exec(ctx context.Context, command []string, cmdline st
 	// wait, so an orphan holding cmd's stdout pipe cannot hang cmd.Wait().
 	treeKill := process.NewTreeKill(cmd)
 	treeKill.KeepLeftovers = !tracked
+	treeKill.GracefulCancel = true
 
 	var ppty *os.File
 	var tty *os.File

act/runner/action.go

@@ -346,8 +346,10 @@ func execAsDocker(ctx context.Context, step actionStep, actionName, actionDir, b
 					ImageTag:   image,
 					Platform:   rc.Config.ContainerArchitecture,
 					BuildArgs:  rc.proxyBuildArgs(),
+					Stdout:     common.NewLineWriter(rawLogLine(ctx)),
 				}
 				if localAction {
+					input.Dockerignore, _ = readSingleFileFromContainerArchive(ctx, rc.JobContainer, contextDir+"/.dockerignore", 1<<20)
 					buildContext, err := rc.JobContainer.GetContainerArchive(ctx, contextDir+"/.")
 					if err != nil {
 						return err
@@ -587,7 +589,8 @@ func shouldRunPreStep(step actionStep) common.Conditional {
 func hasPreStep(step actionStep) common.Conditional {
 	return func(ctx context.Context) bool {
 		action := step.getActionModel()
-		return action.Runs.Using.IsComposite() ||
+		// a pre stage evaluates `with` before earlier steps run, so only a composite nesting actions gets one
+		return (action.Runs.Using.IsComposite() && slices.ContainsFunc(action.Runs.Steps, func(compositeStep model.Step) bool { return compositeStep.Uses != "" })) ||
 			(action.Runs.Using.IsNode() &&
 				action.Runs.Pre != "") ||
 			(action.Runs.Using.IsDocker() &&

act/runner/action_test.go

@@ -751,12 +751,15 @@ func TestExecAsDockerStageEntrypoint(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestDockerActionHasPreAndPostStep(t *testing.T) {
+func TestActionHasPreAndPostStep(t *testing.T) {
 	newStep := func(runs model.ActionRuns) actionStep {
 		return &stepActionRemote{action: &model.Action{Runs: runs}}
 	}
 	ctx := t.Context()
 
+	assert.False(t, hasPreStep(newStep(model.ActionRuns{Using: "composite", Steps: []model.Step{{Run: "true"}}}))(ctx))
+	assert.True(t, hasPreStep(newStep(model.ActionRuns{Using: "composite", Steps: []model.Step{{Run: "true"}, {Uses: "actions/cache@v4"}}}))(ctx))
+
 	assert.False(t, hasPreStep(newStep(model.ActionRuns{Using: "docker", Image: "Dockerfile"}))(ctx))
 	assert.False(t, hasPostStep(newStep(model.ActionRuns{Using: "docker", Image: "Dockerfile"}))(ctx))
 

act/runner/job_hooks.go

@@ -44,7 +44,11 @@ func (rc *RunContext) runJobHook(ctx context.Context, hookPath, name string) err
 	rc.CurrentStep = ""
 	defer func() { rc.CurrentStep = previousStep }()
 
-	cmd, shell := hookCommand(hookPath)
+	env := rc.mergeEnv(rc.caEnv, rc.containerSpec.Env, rc.GetEnv())
+	rc.withGithubEnv(ctx, rc.getGithubContext(ctx), env)
+	rc.ApplyExtraPath(ctx, &env)
+
+	cmd, shell := hookCommand(hookPath, func(preferred, fallback string) string { return rc.shellOrFallback(ctx, env, preferred, fallback) })
 	rawLogger := common.Logger(ctx).With(rawOutputField, true)
 	rawLogger.Infof("A %s hook has been configured by the runner administrator", name)
 	rawLogger.Infof("::group::Run '%s'", EscapeCommandData(hookPath))
@@ -53,10 +57,6 @@ func (rc *RunContext) runJobHook(ctx context.Context, hookPath, name string) err
 	}
 	rawLogger.Infof("::endgroup::")
 
-	env := rc.mergeEnv(rc.caEnv, rc.containerSpec.Env, rc.GetEnv())
-	rc.withGithubEnv(ctx, rc.getGithubContext(ctx), env)
-	rc.ApplyExtraPath(ctx, &env)
-
 	err := rc.setupHookFileCommands(ctx, env)
 	if err == nil {
 		err = rc.runWithCommands(ctx, env, func(ctx context.Context) error {
@@ -104,12 +104,14 @@ func (rc *RunContext) processHookFileCommands(ctx context.Context) error {
 // gives `run:` steps — a hook sets its own. See docs/adrs/1751-runner-job-hooks.md there.
 // The second return value is how the invocation is shown in the log, empty when the file is
 // executed directly.
-func hookCommand(hookPath string) (cmd []string, shell string) {
+func hookCommand(hookPath string, shellOrFallback func(preferred, fallback string) string) (cmd []string, shell string) {
 	switch strings.ToLower(path.Ext(hookPath)) {
 	case ".sh":
-		return []string{"bash", "-e", hookPath}, "bash -e {0}"
+		shellName := shellOrFallback("bash", "sh")
+		return []string{shellName, "-e", hookPath}, shellName + " -e {0}"
 	case ".ps1":
-		return []string{"pwsh", "-command", ". '" + expressionStringEscape(hookPath) + "'"}, `pwsh -command ". '{0}'"`
+		shellName := shellOrFallback("pwsh", "powershell")
+		return []string{shellName, "-command", ". '" + expressionStringEscape(hookPath) + "'"}, shellName + ` -command ". '{0}'"`
 	default:
 		return []string{hookPath}, ""
 	}

act/runner/job_hooks_test.go

@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ func TestRunJobHook(t *testing.T) {
 		rc, ctx := newHookRunContext(jobContainer, &Config{JobStartedHook: "/hooks/started.sh"})
 
 		require.ErrorContains(t, rc.runJobStartedHook(ctx), "boom")
-		assert.Nil(t, jobContainer.cmd)
+		assert.NotContains(t, jobContainer.cmd, "/hooks/started.sh")
 		assert.NotContains(t, rc.Env, "STALE")
 	})
 
@@ -242,17 +242,26 @@ func TestRunJobHook(t *testing.T) {
 // actions/runner deliberately runs a hook without the flags it gives `run:` steps, and an
 // executable without a known extension speaks for itself through its shebang.
 func TestHookCommand(t *testing.T) {
-	for hookPath, want := range map[string]struct {
-		cmd   []string
-		shell string
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		hookPath string
+		hasShell bool
+		cmd      []string
+		shell    string
 	}{
-		"/hooks/started.sh":            {[]string{"bash", "-e", "/hooks/started.sh"}, "bash -e {0}"},
-		"/hooks/started.PS1":           {[]string{"pwsh", "-command", ". '/hooks/started.PS1'"}, `pwsh -command ". '{0}'"`},
-		"/hooks/started":               {[]string{"/hooks/started"}, ""},
-		`C:\hooks\O'Brien\started.ps1`: {[]string{"pwsh", "-command", `. 'C:\hooks\O''Brien\started.ps1'`}, `pwsh -command ". '{0}'"`},
+		{"/hooks/started.sh", true, []string{"bash", "-e", "/hooks/started.sh"}, "bash -e {0}"},
+		{"/hooks/started.sh", false, []string{"sh", "-e", "/hooks/started.sh"}, "sh -e {0}"},
+		{"/hooks/started.PS1", true, []string{"pwsh", "-command", ". '/hooks/started.PS1'"}, `pwsh -command ". '{0}'"`},
+		{"/hooks/started.PS1", false, []string{"powershell", "-command", ". '/hooks/started.PS1'"}, `powershell -command ". '{0}'"`},
+		{"/hooks/started", false, []string{"/hooks/started"}, ""},
+		{`C:\hooks\O'Brien\started.ps1`, true, []string{"pwsh", "-command", `. 'C:\hooks\O''Brien\started.ps1'`}, `pwsh -command ". '{0}'"`},
 	} {
-		cmd, shell := hookCommand(hookPath)
-		assert.Equal(t, want.cmd, cmd, hookPath)
-		assert.Equal(t, want.shell, shell, hookPath)
+		cmd, shell := hookCommand(tc.hookPath, func(preferred, fallback string) string {
+			if tc.hasShell {
+				return preferred
+			}
+			return fallback
+		})
+		assert.Equal(t, tc.cmd, cmd, tc.hookPath)
+		assert.Equal(t, tc.shell, shell, tc.hookPath)
 	}
 }

act/runner/run_context.go

@@ -655,6 +655,11 @@ func (rc *RunContext) startJobContainer() common.Executor {
 			rc.serviceContainers = append(rc.serviceContainers, &serviceContainer{name: serviceID, image: input.Image, container: newContainer(input)})
 		}
 
+		exposedPorts, portBindings, err := nat.ParsePortSpecs(rc.containerSpec.Ports)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to parse container ports: %w", err)
+		}
+
 		ext := container.LinuxContainerEnvironmentExtensions{}
 		containerInput := &container.NewContainerInput{
 			Entrypoint:      []string{"sleep", strconv.FormatInt(int64(rc.Config.ContainerMaxLifetime.Round(time.Second).Seconds()), 10)},
@@ -666,6 +671,8 @@ func (rc *RunContext) startJobContainer() common.Executor {
 			Env:             envList,
 			NetworkMode:     networkName,
 			NetworkAliases:  []string{rc.Name},
+			ExposedPorts:    exposedPorts,
+			PortBindings:    portBindings,
 			Stdout:          logWriter,
 			Stderr:          logWriter,
 			Privileged:      rc.Config.Privileged,
@@ -1635,7 +1642,7 @@ func (rc *RunContext) getRunnerContext(ctx context.Context) map[string]any {
 	runnerContext["name"] = rc.Config.RunnerName
 	runnerContext["environment"] = "self-hosted"
 	runnerContext["workspace"] = parentDir(rc.githubWorkspace())
-	if rc.Config.RunnerDebug() {
+	if rc.topLevelRunContext().Config.RunnerDebug() { // a composite's config has no secrets
 		runnerContext["debug"] = "1"
 	}
 	return runnerContext
@@ -1679,7 +1686,9 @@ func (rc *RunContext) getGithubContext(ctx context.Context) *model.GithubContext
 		Workspace:        rc.githubWorkspace(),
 	}
 	if rc.JobContainer != nil {
-		ghc.EventPath = rc.JobContainer.GetActPath() + "/workflow/event.json"
+		actPath := rc.JobContainer.GetActPath()
+		ghc.EventPath = actPath + "/workflow/event.json"
+		ghc.Env, ghc.Path = container.JoinPath(actPath, envFileCommand), container.JoinPath(actPath, pathFileCommand)
 	}
 
 	ghc.RunnerTrackingID = rc.runnerTrackingID()
@@ -1687,6 +1696,7 @@ func (rc *RunContext) getGithubContext(ctx context.Context) *model.GithubContext
 	if preset := rc.Config.PresetGitHubContext; preset != nil {
 		merged := *preset
 		merged.Workflow, merged.Job, merged.Workspace, merged.EventPath = ghc.Workflow, ghc.Job, ghc.Workspace, ghc.EventPath
+		merged.Env, merged.Path = ghc.Env, ghc.Path
 		merged.Action, merged.ActionPath, merged.ActionRepository, merged.ActionRef = ghc.Action, ghc.ActionPath, ghc.ActionRepository, ghc.ActionRef
 		merged.RunnerPerflog, merged.RunnerTrackingID = ghc.RunnerPerflog, ghc.RunnerTrackingID
 		*ghc = merged
@@ -1841,7 +1851,7 @@ func (rc *RunContext) withGithubEnv(ctx context.Context, github *model.GithubCon
 	if workspace := parentDir(github.Workspace); workspace != "" {
 		env["RUNNER_WORKSPACE"] = workspace
 	}
-	if rc.Config.RunnerDebug() {
+	if rc.topLevelRunContext().Config.RunnerDebug() {
 		env["RUNNER_DEBUG"] = "1"
 	}
 

act/runner/run_context_test.go

@@ -342,6 +342,7 @@ jobs:
     container:
       image: node:20
       credentials: {username: "${{ env.REG_USER }}", password: pass}
+      ports: ["8080:80"]
     services:
       redis:
         image: redis:latest
@@ -351,6 +352,7 @@ jobs:
 `, &Config{Vars: map[string]string{"REG_USER": "user", "TEXT": "${{ 'literal' }}"}})
 	redis, job = inputs[0], inputs[1]
 	require.Equal(t, "user", job.Username)
+	require.Equal(t, "8080", job.PortBindings["80/tcp"][0].HostPort)
 	require.Equal(t, "user", redis.Username)
 	require.Equal(t, []string{"TEXT=${{ 'literal' }}"}, redis.Env)
 	require.Equal(t, "--volumes-from "+job.Name, redis.WorkflowOptions)
@@ -1781,23 +1783,33 @@ func TestRunContextGetRunnerContext(t *testing.T) {
 		assert.NotContains(t, runnerContext, "debug")
 	})
 
-	t.Run("reports debug when step debugging is on", func(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Run("reports debug from the secret, else the variable, also in composites", func(t *testing.T) {
 		rc := createRunsOnRunContext(t, "ubuntu-latest")
 		rc.Config.Secrets = map[string]string{"ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG": "true"}
-
 		assert.Equal(t, "1", rc.getRunnerContext(ctx)["debug"])
+		assert.Equal(t, "1", (&RunContext{Parent: rc, Config: &Config{}}).getRunnerContext(ctx)["debug"])
+
+		rc.Config.Secrets = map[string]string{}
+		rc.Config.Vars = map[string]string{"ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG": "true"}
+		assert.Equal(t, "1", rc.getRunnerContext(ctx)["debug"])
+
+		rc.Config.Secrets = map[string]string{"ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG": "false"}
+		assert.NotContains(t, rc.getRunnerContext(ctx), "debug")
 	})
 
 	t.Run("keeps the execution environment values", func(t *testing.T) {
 		rc := createRunsOnRunContext(t, "ubuntu-latest")
 		rc.Config.Workdir = "/host/work/owner/repo"
-		rc.JobContainer = &container.HostEnvironment{Workdir: rc.Config.Workdir, Path: "/container/work/owner/repo", TmpDir: "/tmp/act", ToolCache: "/tmp/tool_cache"}
+		rc.JobContainer = &container.HostEnvironment{Workdir: rc.Config.Workdir, Path: "/container/work/owner/repo", TmpDir: "/tmp/act", ToolCache: "/tmp/tool_cache", ActPath: "/tmp/act-files"}
 
 		runnerContext := rc.getRunnerContext(ctx)
 		assert.Equal(t, "/tmp/act", runnerContext["temp"])
 		assert.Equal(t, "/tmp/tool_cache", runnerContext["tool_cache"])
 		assert.Equal(t, "/container/work/owner", runnerContext["workspace"])
-		assert.Equal(t, "/container/work/owner/repo", rc.getGithubContext(ctx).Workspace)
+		githubContext := rc.getGithubContext(ctx)
+		assert.Equal(t, "/container/work/owner/repo", githubContext.Workspace)
+		assert.Equal(t, "/tmp/act-files/workflow/envs.txt", githubContext.Env)
+		assert.Equal(t, "/tmp/act-files/workflow/pathcmd.txt", githubContext.Path)
 		assert.NotEmpty(t, runnerContext["os"])
 	})
 }

act/runner/runner.go

@@ -100,7 +100,11 @@ type Config struct {
 
 // RunnerDebug reports whether debug logging is on, exposed as `runner.debug` and RUNNER_DEBUG.
 func (c Config) RunnerDebug() bool {
-	return c.Secrets["ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG"] == "true" || c.Env["ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG"] == "true"
+	stepDebug, ok := c.Secrets["ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG"]
+	if !ok {
+		stepDebug = c.Vars["ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG"]
+	}
+	return stepDebug == "true" || c.Env["ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG"] == "true"
 }
 
 // GetToken: Adapt to Gitea

act/runner/step.go

@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@ import (
 	"gitea.dev/actionslib/pkg/model"
 )
 
+const (
+	pathFileCommand = "workflow/pathcmd.txt"
+	envFileCommand  = "workflow/envs.txt"
+)
+
 type step interface {
 	pre() common.Executor
 	main() common.Executor
@@ -149,10 +154,7 @@ func runStepExecutor(step step, stage stepStage, executor common.Executor) commo
 		stateFileCommand := path.Join("workflow", "statecmd.txt")
 		(*step.getEnv())["GITHUB_STATE"] = container.JoinPath(actPath, stateFileCommand)
 
-		pathFileCommand := path.Join("workflow", "pathcmd.txt")
 		(*step.getEnv())["GITHUB_PATH"] = container.JoinPath(actPath, pathFileCommand)
-
-		envFileCommand := path.Join("workflow", "envs.txt")
 		(*step.getEnv())["GITHUB_ENV"] = container.JoinPath(actPath, envFileCommand)
 
 		// Per-step summary file. Composite sub-steps share the outer job step's index

act/runner/step_run.go

@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"maps"
-	"runtime"
 	"slices"
 	"strings"
 
@@ -358,29 +357,29 @@ func (sr *stepRun) setupShell(ctx context.Context, eval *expressionEvaluator) (b
 
 	implicitShell := step.Shell == ""
 	if implicitShell {
-		shellWithFallback := []string{"bash", "sh"}
+		preferred, fallback := "bash", "sh"
+		if rc.isWindowsHost() {
+			preferred, fallback = "pwsh", "powershell" // Don't use bash on windows by default, if not using a docker container
+		}
 		env := maps.Clone(sr.env)
 		rc.ApplyExtraPath(ctx, &env)
-		if _, ok := rc.JobContainer.(*container.HostEnvironment); ok {
-			// Don't use bash on windows by default, if not using a docker container
-			if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
-				shellWithFallback = []string{"pwsh", "powershell"}
-			}
-			step.Shell = shellWithFallback[0]
-			_, err := lookpath.LookPath2(shellWithFallback[0], env)
-			if err != nil {
-				step.Shell = shellWithFallback[1]
-			}
-		} else {
-			step.Shell = shellWithFallback[0]
-			if !rc.containerHasBash(ctx, env) {
-				step.Shell = shellWithFallback[1]
-			}
-		}
+		step.Shell = rc.shellOrFallback(ctx, env, preferred, fallback)
 	}
 	return implicitShell, nil
 }
 
+// shellOrFallback probes a container only for bash.
+func (rc *RunContext) shellOrFallback(ctx context.Context, env map[string]string, preferred, fallback string) string {
+	if _, ok := rc.JobContainer.(*container.HostEnvironment); ok {
+		if _, err := lookpath.LookPath2(preferred, env); err != nil {
+			return fallback
+		}
+	} else if preferred == "bash" && !rc.containerHasBash(ctx, env) {
+		return fallback
+	}
+	return preferred
+}
+
 // containerHasBash probes once per job, else every implicit-shell step pays for an exec.
 func (rc *RunContext) containerHasBash(ctx context.Context, env map[string]string) bool {
 	top := rc.topLevelRunContext()