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gh run list should report in a predictable order #6678

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gh run list should report in a predictable order#6678
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blockedcoreThis issue is not accepting PRs from outside contributorsenhancementa request to improve CLIgh-runrelating to the gh run commandplatformProblems with the GitHub platform rather than the CLI client

Description

@nedbat
nedbat
opened on Dec 1, 2022

Describe the feature or problem you’d like to solve

If I use gh run list twice to check up on progress, the order of the runs can change. Can the result be sorted, for example by start time, and then workflow name?

Proposed solution

Sort by start time then workflow name so that sequential runs are more understandable.

Activity

  1. nedbat
    added
    enhancementa request to improve CLI
    on Dec 1, 2022
  2. cliAutomation
    added
    needs-triageneeds to be reviewed
    on Dec 1, 2022

  3. nedbat commented on Dec 1, 2022

    @nedbat
    nedbat
    on Dec 1, 2022
    Author

    Sorry, more information: I use a git alias to format the output the way I want. The plain gh run list output order is different than my alias' order. The alias order can shift around. I'm not sure what determines the ordering:

    % gh run list --limit 6
STATUS  TITLE                                                         WORKFLOW  BRANCH                                             EVENT  ID          ELAPSED  AGE
*       fix: when checking source existence for remapping, zipfil...  Quality   nedbat/limit-implicit-combine-recursion-w-metacov  push   3593979659  1m23s    1m
*       fix: when checking source existence for remapping, zipfil...  Coverage  nedbat/limit-implicit-combine-recursion-w-metacov  push   3593979655  1m23s    1m
*       fix: when checking source existence for remapping, zipfil...  Tests     nedbat/limit-implicit-combine-recursion-w-metacov  push   3593979653  1m23s    1m
✓       fix: when checking source existence for remapping, zipfil...  Quality   nedbat/limit-implicit-combine-recursion-w-metacov  push   3593536538  6m32s    53m
✓       fix: when checking source existence for remapping, zipfil...  Tests     nedbat/limit-implicit-combine-recursion-w-metacov  push   3593536535  41m47s   53m
✓       fix: when checking source existence for remapping, zipfil...  Coverage  nedbat/limit-implicit-combine-recursion-w-metacov  push   3593536529  23m35s   53m
% git runs 6
STATUS       RESULT   WORKFLOW  STARTED         COMMIT
in_progress           Quality   1 minute ago    fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593979659
queued                Tests     1 minute ago    fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593979653
queued                Coverage  1 minute ago    fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593979655
completed    success  Quality   53 minutes ago  fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593536538
completed    success  Coverage  53 minutes ago  fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593536529
completed    success  Tests     53 minutes ago  fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593536535

    The (wildly over-engineered) git alias is:

        runs = "!f() { \
        gh run list \
            --limit ${1:-10} \
            --branch $(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD) \
            --json status,conclusion,url,startedAt,workflowName,displayTitle \
            --template '\
                {{- tablerow \"STATUS\" \"RESULT\" \"WORKFLOW\" \"STARTED\" \"COMMIT\" \"\" -}} \
                {{- range . -}} \
                {{- $ccolor := \"green+b\" -}} \
                {{- if eq .conclusion \"failure\"}}{{ $ccolor = \"red+b\" }}{{ end -}} \
                {{- tablerow \
                    .status \
                    (.conclusion | color $ccolor) \
                    (.workflowName | truncate 15 | color \"white+b\") \
                    (timeago .startedAt) \
                    (.displayTitle | truncate 35 | color \"white\") \
                    (.url | color \"blue+d\") \
                    -}}\
                {{- end }}'; \
    }; f"

  4. nedbat commented on Dec 1, 2022

    @nedbat
    nedbat
    on Dec 1, 2022
    Author

    Here are two consecutive runs of my alias:

    % git runs 6
STATUS       RESULT   WORKFLOW  STARTED         COMMIT
queued                Coverage  16 minutes ago  fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593979655
completed    success  Quality   16 minutes ago  fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593979659
in_progress           Tests     16 minutes ago  fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593979653
completed    success  Coverage  1 hour ago      fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593536529
completed    success  Quality   1 hour ago      fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593536538
completed    success  Tests     1 hour ago      fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593536535

% git runs 6
STATUS       RESULT   WORKFLOW  STARTED         COMMIT
completed    success  Quality   17 minutes ago  fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593979659
in_progress           Tests     17 minutes ago  fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593979653
in_progress           Coverage  17 minutes ago  fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593979655
completed    success  Quality   1 hour ago      fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593536538
completed    success  Coverage  1 hour ago      fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593536529
completed    success  Tests     1 hour ago      fix: when checking source existe...  https://github.com/nedbat/coveragepy/actions/runs/3593536535

    Notice that even the three completed runs have changed order!

  5. mislav commented on Dec 1, 2022

    @mislav
    mislav
    on Dec 1, 2022
    Contributor

    Thanks for reporting! We use this API endpoint which doesn't have an explicit parameter to specify a desired order. I must admit I do not know exactly what the default order is on (I presume some kind of createdAt key). I can ask, but in general, I would not rely on the order being stable in these results. The list of latest runs, even when filtered per-branch, can be is highly volatile.

  6. mislav
    added
    needs-investigationCLI team needs to investigate
    and removed
    needs-triageneeds to be reviewed
    on Dec 1, 2022

  7. nedbat commented on Dec 1, 2022

    @nedbat
    nedbat
    on Dec 1, 2022
    Author

    Thanks, is there anything I can do to sort them myself? The Golang templates can do a lot, but maybe not that much...

  8. mislav commented on Dec 1, 2022

    @mislav
    mislav
    on Dec 1, 2022
    Contributor

    Right now we don't have any template helpers to perform sorting based on a custom key, sorry. Would that be a useful thing to add?

  9. mislav commented on Dec 1, 2022

    @mislav
    mislav
    on Dec 1, 2022
    Contributor

    @nedbat I've checked with Hubbers who work on the platform side and our best guess so far is:

    1. Specifying --branch filter makes the query go to Elastic Search index (instead of to a database);
    2. The ES index has default sort created desc;
    3. Depending on the granularity of the created field, if two items were created within the same second (or same millisecond, which is also possible), then the stability of their order is not guaranteed.

    I understand that this doesn't help you right now, but I just wanted to note this here for posterity.

  10. nedbat commented on Dec 1, 2022

    @nedbat
    nedbat
    on Dec 1, 2022
    Author

    It's at least comforting my engineer's brain to have a reason, if not a solution :D

  11. samcoe
    added
    coreThis issue is not accepting PRs from outside contributors
    blocked
    platformProblems with the GitHub platform rather than the CLI client
    and removed
    needs-investigationCLI team needs to investigate
    on Sep 1, 2023
  12. williammartin
    added
    gh-runrelating to the gh run command
    on Oct 3, 2023
  13. bolinfest
    added a commit that references this issue on Sep 24, 2025

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    fix: add tolerance for ambiguous behavior in `gh run list` (openai#4162)

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    fix: add tolerance for ambiguous behavior in `gh run list` (#4162)

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