Composite actions in GitHub workflows

[rozyczko]

For repeated tasks across GitHub workflows, we use composite actions. These actions are part of the organization templates and are added to each project together with the full CI workflow structure.

📁 PROJECT
└── 📁 .github/
    ├── 📁 actions/
    └── 📁 workflows/

Updates to composite actions (e.g., behavior changes, version bumps, or bug fixes) are applied by running the associated Pixi task (see the templates README.md for more details). This approach avoids silent updates and ensures that each project has explicit control over when CI-related changes are adopted.

Advantages

• Maintainability – Common changes can be implemented in one place and then propagated in a controlled way.
• Consistency – Ensures uniform behavior across all workflows and repositories.
• Reusability – Actions can be reused in new workflows and across different projects.
• Readability – Workflows become shorter and more focused on project-specific logic.
• Cross-project sharing – Centralizing actions in easyscience/templates allows all EasyScience projects to benefit from shared improvements.

Implemented Actions

• download-artifact – Downloads workflow artifacts generated in previous jobs or runs.
• upload-artifact – Uploads build outputs or intermediate results as workflow artifacts.
• upload-codecov – Uploads coverage reports to Codecov in a standardized way.
• github-script – Runs reusable GitHub API scripts.
• setup-easyscience-bot – Authenticates the EasyScience GitHub App and provides a token for CI automation.
• setup-pixi – Installs and configures Pixi.

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Links to the related discussions: #38, #46