Question 1

How do I customize the welcome message for issues and pull requests in first-interaction?

Accepted Answer

In your GitHub Actions workflow YAML, use the `issue_message` and `pr_message` inputs with markdown content. The README shows an example with multi-line strings for easy formatting and customization.

Question 2

First interaction action vs other GitHub welcome bots – which should I use?

Accepted Answer

First Interaction is a lightweight, focused action for basic greetings, while bots like Probot offer more features like labeling and assigning. Choose First Interaction for simplicity, or Probot for extensive automation needs.

Question 3

Can first-interaction action handle reopened issues or pull requests?

Accepted Answer

No, it only triggers on 'opened' events as per the default configuration. To handle reopened events, you would need to modify the workflow triggers or use a different action.

Question 4

How does first-interaction detect if someone is a first-time contributor?

Accepted Answer

It checks the user's previous interactions with the repository via GitHub's API, filtering based on whether they have opened issues or pull requests before in that specific repo.

Question 5

Is there a way to exclude certain users from getting the welcome message?

Accepted Answer

The action does not natively support user exclusions; it welcomes all first-time contributors. For exclusions, you might need custom workflow logic or a different tool.

Question 6

What permissions are needed for first-interaction to work correctly?

Accepted Answer

It requires `issues: write` and `pull-requests: write` permissions to post comments, as specified in the usage example in the README to ensure proper functionality.

Question 7

How can I test first-interaction action before deploying it to my main repo?

Accepted Answer

Create a test repository or use a sandbox environment to trigger dummy issues and pull requests, then verify the messages appear as expected without affecting your production project.

first-interaction

What is first-interaction?

Overview

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