Guide: Automated Updates

Overview

The oh-my-agent GitHub Action (first-fluke/oma-update-action@v1) automatically updates your project's agent skills by running oma update in CI. It supports two modes: creating a pull request for review, or committing directly to a branch.

Quick Setup

Add this file to your project as .github/workflows/update-oh-my-agent.yml:

name: Update oh-my-agent

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 9 * * 1'  # Every Monday at 9am UTC
  workflow_dispatch:        # Allow manual trigger

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  update:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: first-fluke/oma-update-action@v1

That is the minimal configuration. It creates a PR with default settings when a new version is available.

All Action Inputs

Input	Type	Required	Default	Description
`mode`	string	No	`"pr"`	How to apply changes. `"pr"` creates a pull request. `"commit"` pushes directly to the base branch.
`base-branch`	string	No	`"main"`	Base branch for the PR (in `pr` mode) or the target branch for direct commits (in `commit` mode).
`force`	string	No	`"false"`	Pass `--force` to `oma update`. When `"true"`, overwrites user-customized config files (`oma-config.yaml`, `mcp.json`) and `stack/` directories. Normally these are preserved.
`pr-title`	string	No	`"chore(deps): update oh-my-agent skills"`	Custom title for the pull request. Only used in `pr` mode.
`pr-labels`	string	No	`"dependencies,automated"`	Comma-separated labels to add to the PR. Only used in `pr` mode.
`commit-message`	string	No	`"chore(deps): update oh-my-agent skills"`	Custom commit message. Used in both modes — as the PR commit message or the direct commit message.
`token`	string	No	`${{ github.token }}`	GitHub token for creating PRs. Use a Personal Access Token (PAT) if you need the PR to trigger other workflows (the default `GITHUB_TOKEN` does not trigger workflow runs on PRs it creates).

All Action Outputs

Output	Type	Description	Available
`updated`	string	`"true"` if changes were detected after running `oma update`. `"false"` if already up to date.	Always
`version`	string	The oh-my-agent version after the update. Read from `.agents/skills/_version.json`.	When `updated` is `"true"`
`pr-number`	string	The pull request number.	Only in `pr` mode when a PR is created
`pr-url`	string	The full URL of the created pull request.	Only in `pr` mode when a PR is created

Detailed Examples

Example 1: Default PR Mode

The most common setup. Creates a PR every Monday if updates are available.

name: Update oh-my-agent

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 9 * * 1'
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  update:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: first-fluke/oma-update-action@v1
        id: update

      - name: Summary
        if: steps.update.outputs.updated == 'true'
        run: |
          echo "Updated to version ${{ steps.update.outputs.version }}"
          echo "PR: ${{ steps.update.outputs.pr-url }}"

What happens:

Checks out the repository.
Installs Bun, then installs oh-my-agent globally.
Runs oma update --ci.
Checks if .agents/ or .claude/ have changes.
If changes exist, uses peter-evans/create-pull-request@v8 to create a PR on branch chore/update-oh-my-agent.
The PR is labeled dependencies,automated and includes the new version number in the body.

Example 2: Direct Commit Mode with PAT

For teams that want updates applied immediately without a PR review step. Uses a PAT so the commit can trigger downstream workflows.

name: Update oh-my-agent (Direct)

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 6 * * *'  # Daily at 6am UTC
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  contents: write

jobs:
  update:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.OH_MY_AGENT_PAT }}

      - uses: first-fluke/oma-update-action@v1
        with:
          mode: commit
          token: ${{ secrets.OH_MY_AGENT_PAT }}
          commit-message: "chore: auto-update oh-my-agent skills"
          base-branch: develop

What happens:

Checks out develop branch using a PAT.
Runs oma update --ci.
If changes exist, configures git as github-actions[bot] and commits directly to develop.
The PAT ensures the commit triggers any workflows that listen for pushes on develop.

Important: Use secrets.OH_MY_AGENT_PAT (a Fine-Grained PAT with Contents: Write permission) instead of github.token. The default GITHUB_TOKEN creates commits that do not trigger other workflows, which can break CI pipelines that expect push events.

Example 3: Conditional Notification

Update with Slack notification when a new version is available.

name: Update oh-my-agent

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 9 * * 1'
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  update:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: first-fluke/oma-update-action@v1
        id: update

      - name: Notify Slack
        if: steps.update.outputs.updated == 'true'
        uses: slackapi/slack-github-action@v2
        with:
          webhook: ${{ secrets.SLACK_WEBHOOK }}
          webhook-type: incoming-webhook
          payload: |
            {
              "text": "oh-my-agent updated to v${{ steps.update.outputs.version }}. PR: ${{ steps.update.outputs.pr-url }}"
            }

      - name: Skip notification
        if: steps.update.outputs.updated == 'false'
        run: echo "Already up to date, no notification needed."

Key pattern: Use steps.update.outputs.updated == 'true' to conditionally run downstream steps only when an actual update occurred. This prevents noise from "no changes" runs.

Example 4: Force Mode with Custom Labels

For projects that want to reset all config files to defaults on update.

name: Update oh-my-agent (Force)

on:
  workflow_dispatch:  # Manual trigger only for force updates

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  update:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: first-fluke/oma-update-action@v1
        with:
          force: 'true'
          pr-title: "chore(deps): force-update oh-my-agent skills (reset configs)"
          pr-labels: "dependencies,automated,force-update"
          commit-message: "chore(deps): force-update oh-my-agent skills"

Warning: Force mode overwrites oma-config.yaml, mcp.json, and stack/ directories. Use this only when you want to reset all customizations to defaults. For regular updates, omit the force input.

How It Works Under the Hood

The action is a composite action defined in action/action.yml. It executes 4 steps:

Step 1: Setup Bun

- uses: oven-sh/setup-bun@v2

Installs the Bun runtime, which is required to run the oh-my-agent CLI.

Step 2: Install oh-my-agent

bun install -g oh-my-agent

Installs the CLI globally from the npm registry. This gives access to the oma command.

Step 3: Run oma update

FLAGS="--ci"
if [ "${{ inputs.force }}" = "true" ]; then
  FLAGS="$FLAGS --force"
fi
oma update $FLAGS

The --ci flag runs the update in non-interactive mode (skips all prompts, outputs plain text instead of spinner animations). The --force flag, when enabled, overwrites user-customized config files.

What oma update --ci does internally:

Fetches prompt-manifest.json from the main branch to get the latest version number.
Compares with the local version in .agents/skills/_version.json.
If versions match, exits with "Already up to date."
If a new version is available, downloads and extracts the latest tarball.
Preserves user-customized files (unless --force): oma-config.yaml, mcp.json, stack/ directories.
Copies new files over the existing .agents/ directory.
Restores preserved files.
Updates vendor adaptations (hooks, settings, agent definitions) for all vendors.
Refreshes CLI symlinks.

Step 4: Check for Changes

if [ -n "$(git status --porcelain .agents/ .claude/ 2>/dev/null)" ]; then
  echo "updated=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
  VERSION=$(jq -r '.version' .agents/skills/_version.json)
  echo "version=$VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
else
  echo "updated=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
fi

Checks if oma update actually changed any files in .agents/ or .claude/. Sets the updated and version outputs accordingly.

After this, depending on the mode input:

pr mode: Uses peter-evans/create-pull-request@v8 to create a PR on branch chore/update-oh-my-agent. The PR includes the new version number, a link to the oh-my-agent repo, and the configured labels. If the branch already exists (from a previous unclosed PR), it updates the existing PR.
commit mode: Configures git as github-actions[bot], stages .agents/ and .claude/, commits with the configured message, and pushes to the base branch.

Overview​

Quick Setup​

All Action Inputs​

All Action Outputs​

Detailed Examples​

Example 1: Default PR Mode​

Example 2: Direct Commit Mode with PAT​

Example 3: Conditional Notification​

Example 4: Force Mode with Custom Labels​

How It Works Under the Hood​

Step 1: Setup Bun​

Step 2: Install oh-my-agent​

Step 3: Run oma update​

Step 4: Check for Changes​