GitHub Actions Importer converts ADO pipeline parameters into inputs but do not change the references

[felipe-leon-NTT]

Converting Azure DevOps pipelines into GitHub Actions workflows and I am finding that the parameters of the ADO pipeline are correctly translated into inputs (in this case in on.workflow_dispatch) but the references to these inputs along the converted workflow were left in ADO format.

For the following ADO pipeline:

trigger: none

parameters:
  - name: zipFile
    displayName: "ZIP file name"
    type: string
    default: ""
  - name: username
    displayName: "Username"
    type: string
    default: ""
  - name: password
    displayName: "Password"
    type: string
    default: ""
...

The Importer generates the following GHA workflow definition:

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      zipFile:
        description: ZIP file name
        default: ''
        type: string
        required: false
      username:
        description: Username
        default: ''
        type: string
        required: false
      password:
        description: Password
        default: ''
        type: string
        required: false
  pull_request:
    branches:
    - main
...

At this point, all is going well. The thing is that along the ADO pipeline there are references to the parameters and those have to be converted in the GHA workflow too.

Example of a step in an ADO pipeline:

    - script: |
        echo "Installing zip tool..."
        sudo apt-get update
        sudo apt-get install -y zip

        zip "${{ parameters.zipFile }}" secret.txt
      displayName: "ZIP"

Step converted into GHA format:

    - name: ZIP
      run: |-
        echo "Installing zip tool..."
        sudo apt-get update
        sudo apt-get install -y zip

        zip "${{ parameters.zipFile }}" secret.txt

The reference to the parameter in GHA must be: ${{ inputs.zipFile }}.

[tomm1990]

importer mapped ADO parameters: → on.workflow_dispatch.inputs but left the body on ADO syntax. ${{ parameters.zipFile }} is not valid Actions - that should be ${{ inputs.zipFile }} for workflow_dispatch (and ${{ inputs.* }} inside a reusable workflow that declares on.workflow_call.inputs).

so the conversion is half-done: inputs block OK, references not rewritten.

do this first (workaround) after gh actions-importer / dry-run output:

# review the diff - then rewrite ADO parameter refs to GHA inputs
sed -i 's/\${{ parameters\./${{ inputs./g' .github/workflows/*.yml

or the same replace in your editor across the generated workflow(s). watch for any ADO template expressions you don’t want touched (rare if this file is fully converted).

also: don’t put secrets like password in workflow_dispatch inputs long-term - prefer Actions secrets / environments once you’re off ADO.

worth filing/👍 an importer bug if there isn’t one already: “parameters → inputs created, but ${{ parameters.* }} in run: / other steps not rewritten to ${{ inputs.* }}.” community can’t fix the converter; the sed pass unblocks you today.

[felipe-leon-NTT]

Thanks, @tomm1990! I have opened this discussion because I cannot open an issue in the repo to report the bug. If you know more about the bug reporting process I would like to know about it too.

[tomm1990]

@felipe-leon-NTT yeah - this repo has issues disabled, so you’re not missing a hidden “New issue” button.

public report path = what you already did: Discussions → Feedback (this thread). maintainers watch that.

if you need a staff/SLA ticket (esp. with a paid GitHub plan): https://support.github.com - point them at this discussion + a minimal ADO snippet that still emits ${{ parameters.* }} after import.

for the conversion itself, the parameters. → inputs. replace still unblocks you while the importer gap is open.

[tomm1990]

@felipe-leon-NTT checking in - if rewriting ${{ parameters.* }} to ${{ inputs.* }} (or the sed pass) unblocked the converted workflow, please mark this comment as the answer so the half-converted importer output is easy to find.