Create Deployment API - REST allows SHA, GraphQL only RefID?

[romangarcia]

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I'm building a custom Github Action that detects changes and creates a deployment. I'm trying to only use the GraphQL API createDeployment which expects a RefID. I wanted to allow users to inform both a REF or a SHA, but it looks like only the REST API allows creating a deployment with a SHA. Is that correct? Is there a way I can call the GraphQL API with a SHA?

[gabrielfrimodig]

Yes, there is indeed a difference between the REST and GraphQL APIs when it comes to creating deployments.

With the REST API, you can create a deployment using either a Git reference (like branch or tag) or directly with a commit SHA. However, GraphQL API's createDeployment mutation only accepts a RefID, which is the ID of a Git ref object, not a raw SHA.

Since GraphQL API requires a RefID, one way to handle this is by mapping the commit SHA to a corresponding Ref object that points to that SHA. Another approach could be to use the GraphQL API to find the Ref associated with the commit SHA. Here is an example of how you might use the repository query to get a ref object:

query ($owner: String!, $repo: String!, $sha: GitObjectID!) {
  repository(owner: $owner, name: $repo) {
    object(expression: $sha) {
      ... on Commit {
        associatedPullRequests(first: 1) {
          edges {
            node {
              baseRef {
                id
              }
            }
          }
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

This query attempts to find the Ref ID from any associated pull requests for the given commit.

[romangarcia]

Thank you @gabrielfrimodig I realized there was a link to PR refs... But that wouldn't work for commits on branches without a PR right?
The goal for us would be to allow deployments on a dev/sandbox environment from any commit without a PR associated. Does that make sense?

[gabrielfrimodig]

Yeah, you are right. The query I shared only works for commits with an associated pull request.

To create a deployment from a specific commit, you'll need to find a branch or Ref that points to that commit. This GraphQL query will get all branches:

query ($owner: String!, $repo: String!) {
  repository(owner: $owner, name: $repo) {
    refs(refPrefix: "refs/heads/", first: 100) {
      nodes {
        id
        name
        target {
          oid
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

From this, you can then check which one points to your commit.

If you are okay with using REST API then you could create a deployment directly from a commit SHA which avoids the need to find a RefID.

[romangarcia]

Thank you @gabrielfrimodig for your help! I guess there's no other direct way to create a deployment for a SHA than going thru the REST API (searching for refs in branches means there still needs to be a REF associated to a SHA).

I'm just wondering if this is a debt on the GraphQL API side? or is it an undocumented improvement over the initial REST API? Or am I missing something? What would be the explanation for the GraphQL API to have a different semantic? 🤔

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