download-artifact/docs/MIGRATION.md

# Migration

- [Migration](#migration)
  - [Multiple uploads to the same named Artifact](#multiple-uploads-to-the-same-named-artifact)
  - [Overwriting an Artifact](#overwriting-an-artifact)
  - [Merging multiple artifacts](#merging-multiple-artifacts)

Several behavioral differences exist between Artifact actions `v3` and below vs `v4`. This document outlines common scenarios in `v3`, and how they would be handled in `v4`.

## Multiple uploads to the same named Artifact

In `v3`, Artifacts are _mutable_ so it's possible to write workflow scenarios where multiple jobs upload to the same Artifact like so:

```yaml
jobs:
  upload:
    strategy:
      matrix:
        runs-on: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.runs-on }}
    steps:
      - name: Create a File
        run: echo "hello from ${{ matrix.runs-on }}" > file-${{ matrix.runs-on }}.txt
      - name: Upload Artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: my-artifact # NOTE: same artifact name
          path: file-${{ matrix.runs-on }}.txt
  download:
    needs: upload
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Download All Artifacts
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: my-artifact
          path: my-artifact
      - run: ls -R my-artifact
```

This results in a directory like so:

```
my-artifact/
  file-macos-latest.txt
  file-ubuntu-latest.txt
  file-windows-latest.txt
```

In v4, Artifacts are immutable (unless deleted). So you must change each of the uploaded Artifacts to have a different name and filter the downloads by name to achieve the same effect:

```diff
jobs:
  upload:
    strategy:
      matrix:
        runs-on: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.runs-on }}
    steps:
    - name: Create a File
      run: echo "hello from ${{ matrix.runs-on }}" > file-${{ matrix.runs-on }}.txt
    - name: Upload Artifact
-     uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+     uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
      with:
-       name: my-artifact
+       name: my-artifact-${{ matrix.runs-on }}
        path: file-${{ matrix.runs-on }}.txt
  download:
    needs: upload
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - name: Download All Artifacts
-     uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
+     uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
      with:
-       name: my-artifact
        path: my-artifact
+       pattern: my-artifact-*
+       merge-multiple: true
    - run: ls -R my-artifact
```

In `v4`, the new `pattern:` input will filter the downloaded Artifacts to match the name specified. The new `merge-multiple:` input will support downloading multiple Artifacts to the same directory. If the files within the Artifacts have the same name, the last writer wins.

## Overwriting an Artifact

In `v3`, the contents of an Artifact were mutable so something like the following was possible:

```yaml
jobs:
  upload:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Create a file
        run: echo "hello world" > my-file.txt
      - name: Upload Artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: my-artifact # NOTE: same artifact name
          path: my-file.txt
  upload-again:
    needs: upload
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Create a different file
        run: echo "goodbye world" > my-file.txt
      - name: Upload Artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: my-artifact # NOTE: same artifact name
          path: my-file.txt
```

The resulting `my-file.txt` in `my-artifact` will have "goodbye world" as the content.

In `v4`, Artifacts are immutable unless deleted. To achieve this same behavior, you can use `overwrite: true` to delete the Artifact before a new one is created:

```diff
jobs:
  upload:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Create a file
        run: echo "hello world" > my-file.txt
      - name: Upload Artifact
-       uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+       uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: my-artifact # NOTE: same artifact name
          path: my-file.txt
  upload-again:
    needs: upload
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Create a different file
        run: echo "goodbye world" > my-file.txt
      - name: Upload Artifact
-       uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
+       uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: my-artifact # NOTE: same artifact name
          path: my-file.txt
+         overwrite: true
```

Note that this will create an _entirely_ new Artifact, with a different ID from the previous.

## Merging multiple artifacts

In `v3`, multiple uploads from multiple jobs could be done to the same Artifact. This would result in a single archive, which could be useful for sending to upstream systems outside of Actions via API or UI downloads.

```yaml
jobs:
  upload:
    strategy:
      matrix:
        runs-on: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.runs-on }}
    steps:
      - name: Create a File
        run: echo "hello from ${{ matrix.runs-on }}" > file-${{ matrix.runs-on }}.txt
      - name: Upload Artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: all-my-files # NOTE: same artifact name
          path: file-${{ matrix.runs-on }}.txt
```

The single `all-my-files` artifact would contain the following:

```
.
  ∟ file-ubuntu-latest.txt
  ∟ file-macos-latest.txt
  ∟ file-windows-latest.txt
```

To achieve the same in `v4` you can change it like so:

```diff
jobs:
  upload:
    strategy:
      matrix:
        runs-on: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.runs-on }}
    steps:
      - name: Create a File
        run: echo "hello from ${{ matrix.runs-on }}" > file-${{ matrix.runs-on }}.txt
      - name: Upload Artifact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
-         name: all-my-files
+         name: my-artifact-${{ matrix.runs-on }}
          path: file-${{ matrix.runs-on }}.txt
+ merge:
+   runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+   needs: upload
+   steps:
+     - name: Merge Artifacts
+       uses: actions/upload-artifact/merge@v4
+       with:
+         name: all-my-files
+         pattern: my-artifact-*
```

Note that this will download all artifacts to a temporary directory and reupload them as a single artifact. For more information on inputs and other use cases for `actions/upload-artifact/merge@v4`, see [the action documentation](../merge/README.md).