Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer

This repository contains a GitHub Action that runs PSScriptAnalyzer on your code. The action analyzes PowerShell scripts using a hashtable-based settings file to customize rule selection, severity filtering, and custom rule inclusion.

Dependencies

• This action.
• PSScriptAnalyzer module.
• Invoke-Pester action
• Pester module
• GitHub-Script action
• GitHub module

Inputs

Input	Description	Required	Default
Path	The path to the code to test.	false	'.'
SettingsFilePath	The path to the settings file.	false	.github/linters/.powershell-psscriptanalyzer.psd1
Debug	Enable debug output.	false	'false'
Verbose	Enable verbose output.	false	'false'
Version	Specifies the version of the PSScriptAnalyzer module to install (NuGet range).	false
Prerelease	Allow prerelease versions of the PSScriptAnalyzer module if available.	false	'false'
PesterVersion	Specifies the version of the Pester module to install (NuGet range).	false
PesterPrerelease	Allow prerelease versions of the Pester module if available.	false	'false'
GitHubVersion	Specifies the version of the GitHub module to install (NuGet range).	false
GitHubPrerelease	Allow prerelease versions of the GitHub module if available.	false	'false'
WorkingDirectory	The working directory where the script runs.	false	'.'
ReportAsJson	Output generated reports in JSON format in addition to the configured format.	false	'true'
Notice_Mode	Controls when to show notices for test completion.	false	'Failed'
StepSummary_Enabled	Controls if a GitHub step summary should be shown.	false	'true'
StepSummary_ShowTestOverview	Controls whether to show the test overview table in the GitHub step summary.	false	'true'
StepSummary_ShowTests	Controls which tests to show in the GitHub step summary (Full/Failed/None).	false	'Failed'
StepSummary_ShowConfiguration	Controls whether to show the configuration details in the GitHub step summary.	false	'false'
Run_ExcludePath	Directories or files to be excluded from the run.	false
Run_Exit	Exit with non-zero exit code when the test run fails.	false
Run_Throw	Throw an exception when test run fails.	false
Run_SkipRun	Runs the discovery phase but skips run.	false
Run_SkipRemainingOnFailure	Skips remaining tests after failure (None/Run/Container/Block).	false
CodeCoverage_Enabled	Enable CodeCoverage.	false
CodeCoverage_OutputFormat	Format to use for code coverage report (JaCoCo/CoverageGutters/Cobertura).	false
CodeCoverage_OutputPath	Path relative to the current directory where code coverage report is saved.	false
CodeCoverage_OutputEncoding	Encoding of the output file.	false
CodeCoverage_Path	Directories or files to be used for code coverage.	false
CodeCoverage_ExcludeTests	Exclude tests from code coverage.	false
CodeCoverage_RecursePaths	Will recurse through directories in the Path option.	false
CodeCoverage_CoveragePercentTarget	Target percent of code coverage that you want to achieve.	false
CodeCoverage_UseBreakpoints	EXPERIMENTAL: Use Profiler based tracer instead of breakpoints when false.	false
CodeCoverage_SingleHitBreakpoints	Remove breakpoint when it is hit.	false
TestResult_Enabled	Enable TestResult.	false
TestResult_OutputFormat	Format to use for test result report (NUnitXml/NUnit2.5/NUnit3/JUnitXml).	false
TestResult_OutputPath	Path relative to the current directory where test result report is saved.	false
TestResult_OutputEncoding	Encoding of the output file.	false
TestResult_TestSuiteName	Set the name assigned to the root 'test-suite' element.	false	PSScriptAnalyzer
Should_ErrorAction	Controls if Should throws on error. Use 'Stop' or 'Continue'.	false
Debug_ShowFullErrors	Show full errors including Pester internal stack.	false
Debug_WriteDebugMessages	Write Debug messages to screen.	false
Debug_WriteDebugMessagesFrom	Write Debug messages from a given source.	false
Debug_ShowNavigationMarkers	Write paths after every block and test, for easy navigation.	false
Debug_ReturnRawResultObject	Returns unfiltered result object, for development only.	false
Output_Verbosity	The verbosity of output (None/Normal/Detailed/Diagnostic).	false
Output_StackTraceVerbosity	The verbosity of stacktrace output (None/FirstLine/Filtered/Full).	false
Output_CIFormat	The CI format of error output (None/Auto/AzureDevops/GithubActions).	false
Output_CILogLevel	The CI log level in build logs (Error/Warning).	false
Output_RenderMode	The mode used to render console output (Auto/Ansi/ConsoleColor/Plaintext).	false
TestDrive_Enabled	Enable TestDrive.	false
TestRegistry_Enabled	Enable TestRegistry.	false

Outputs

The action provides the following outputs:

Output	Description
Outcome	The outcome of the test run (success/failure)
Conclusion	The conclusion of the test run (success/failure)
Executed	Whether tests were executed (True/False)
Result	Overall result of the test run (Passed/Failed)
FailedCount	Number of failed tests
FailedBlocksCount	Number of failed blocks
FailedContainersCount	Number of failed containers
PassedCount	Number of passed tests
SkippedCount	Number of skipped tests
InconclusiveCount	Number of inconclusive tests
NotRunCount	Number of tests not run
TotalCount	Total count of tests

How It Works

1. Set a Path Choose a path for your code to test into the Path input. This can be a directory or a file.

2. Configure settings file (Optional) Create a custom settings file to customize the analysis. The settings file is a hashtable that defines the rules to include, exclude, or customize. The settings file is in the format of a .psd1 file.

   Settings File Precedence:

   The action determines which settings to use in the following order:

   1. Custom Path: If you provide a SettingsFilePath input, the action uses that file.
   2. Default Action Path: If no SettingsFilePath is provided, the action looks for a settings file at: .github/linters/.powershell-psscriptanalyzer.psd1
   3. PSScriptAnalyzer Defaults: If no settings file is found in either location, the action uses the default settings from the Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer cmdlet (all built-in rules with default severity).

   Example configurations:

   # Use a custom settings file
   - uses: PSModule/Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer@v2with:
   Path: srcSettingsFilePath: config/custom-rules.psd1# Use the default action path (.github/linters/.powershell-psscriptanalyzer.psd1)
   - uses: PSModule/Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer@v2with:
   Path: src# Use PSScriptAnalyzer defaults (no settings file)
   - uses: PSModule/Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer@v2with:
   Path: srcSettingsFilePath: ''# Explicitly skip settings file

   For more info on how to create a settings file, see the Settings Documentation file.

3. Run the Action The tests import the settings file and use Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer to analyze the code. Each rule is evaluated, and if a rule violation is found, the test will fail for that rule. Rules that are marked to be skipped (via exclusions in the settings file) are automatically skipped in the test.

   To be clear; the action follows the settings file to determine which rules to skip.

4. View the Results The action outputs the results of the tests to both logs and step summary. If the tests pass, the actions outcome will be success. If the tests fail, the actions outcome will be failure. To make the workflow continue even if the tests fail, you can set the continue-on-error option to true. Use this built-in feature to stop the workflow from failing so that you can aggregate the status of tests across multiple jobs.

   An example of how this is done can be seen in the Action-Test workflow file.

Example Workflow

Below is an example workflow configuration using this action:

name: Analyze PowerShell Codeon: [push, pull_request]jobs:
lint:
runs-on: ubuntu-lateststeps:
- name: Checkout codeuses: actions/checkout@v2
- name: Invoke PSScriptAnalyzeruses: PSModule/Invoke-ScriptAnalyzer@v2with:
Path: srcSettingsFilePath: .github/linters/.powershell-psscriptanalyzer.psd1

References and Links

• PSScriptAnalyzer Documentation
• PSScriptAnalyzer Module Overview
• PSScriptAnalyzer Rules
• PSScriptAnalyzer GitHub Repository
• Custom Rules in PSScriptAnalyzer
• GitHub Super-Linter