`with.repository` parameter is unable to access external repository: "The requested URL returned error: 403"

[cwboden]

Use Case

I am attempting to use jekyll-deploy-actions for the following use case:

• I have a private repository that I use for taking notes and writing blog posts using Jekyll
• I want to publish using GitHub pages, though don't want to pay for the premium subscription (required for publishing from a private repository)
• Instead, I'd like to use this action and the with.repository argument to push the pages bundle to a public repository that can then publish via GitHub pages for free

Workflow Definition

Here is the definition of my GitHub workflow (from the private repository), which is configured according to the README:

name: Deploy Github Pages

on:
    push:
        branches:
            - main
        paths:
            - .github/workflows/build-jekyll.yml
            - Website/**

jobs:
    build-and-deploy:
        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
        steps:
            - uses: actions/checkout@v2

            - uses: jeffreytse/jekyll-deploy-action@master
              with:
                  branch: main
                  provider: github
                  repository: cwboden/website
                  token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

When this Workflow runs, it completes the build / bundling process successfully, but fails when attempting to push to my public repo:

remote: Permission to cwboden/website.git denied to github-actions[bot].
fatal: unable to access 'https://github.com/cwboden/website.git/': The requested URL returned error: 403

I initially thought this was a problem with the secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN, so I also added a PAT to the repository under the secret GH_TOKEN (as outlined in the README):

However, I end up with the same error :cry: I'm curious if the with.repository parameter is only supported by SSH authentication?

Other Troubleshooting Attempts

I also tried a few other things, such as replacing the with.token parameter with $GH_TOKEN (though then the build step cannot complete), using a Legacy GitHub PAT rather than the granular ones, and by removing the authorization headers, according to this Stack Overflow post.

None of these have helped, though I can update this section as I continue troubleshooting the problem. My next step will be to take a look at how GH_TOKEN is used within the plugin source code. Perhaps I'm missing something there.

[jeffreytse]

Hi @cwboden

Thanks for the issue, for your case, you should follow below steps:

• Set up this action in your private repository.
• Set with.repository to your public repository.
• Create a new secret GH_TOKEN in your public repository.
• Set with.token to ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }} or set with.ssh_private_key to ${{ secrets.SSH_PRIV_KEY }}.
• Try to build again

Thanks & Regards

[cwboden]

Thanks for the prompt response! Looks like this one was user error -- I must have misconfigured my PAT token so that it didn't have the correct permissions. I walked through your steps above and everything is working now. Appreciate the help!