Fix shell quoting in coverage-comment workflow#845
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mjp41 merged 1 commit intomicrosoft:mainfrom May 7, 2026
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The "Resolve PR number" step embedded the event JSON via
`<<<'${{ toJson(github.event) }}'`. Actions performs the `${{...}}`
interpolation *before* bash parses the script, so the single-quoted
heredoc string contained the entire raw event payload inline. As
soon as the payload contained a single quote — e.g. an apostrophe
in a commit message, branch name, or any string field — bash's
'...' quoting closed early and the rest of the step's body became
malformed, producing the GitHub-Actions error:
syntax error near unexpected token `else`
(reported against the assembled temp script's line number, not the
workflow file's). The first PR opened after the coverage workflow
landed happened to have such a quote.
Pass the JSON via an environment variable instead. The shell sees
only `"$EVENT_JSON"`, which is safe regardless of what characters
the payload contains. Add a comment recording the failure mode so
no future maintainer reintroduces the inline-interpolation pattern.
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The "Resolve PR number" step embedded the event JSON via
<<<'${{ toJson(github.event) }}'. Actions performs the${{...}}interpolation before bash parses the script, so the single-quoted heredoc string contained the entire raw event payload inline. As soon as the payload contained a single quote — e.g. an apostrophe in a commit message, branch name, or any string field — bash's '...' quoting closed early and the rest of the step's body became malformed, producing the GitHub-Actions error:syntax error near unexpected token
else(reported against the assembled temp script's line number, not the workflow file's). The first PR opened after the coverage workflow landed happened to have such a quote.
Pass the JSON via an environment variable instead. The shell sees only
"$EVENT_JSON", which is safe regardless of what characters the payload contains. Add a comment recording the failure mode so no future maintainer reintroduces the inline-interpolation pattern.