Behavior of branches filter on existing branches #42813

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Additional Details:

It is evident that the master branch is an exception to this. Details:

I had an existing branch named docs/doc-build-test with a workflow starting with this:

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master
      - 'release/*'

Then I added this additional item to the branches filter: - 'docs/*' to make it:

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master
      - 'release/*'
      - 'docs/*'

and NOTHING I did on the existing docs/doc-build-test branch triggered the workflow. On a hunch I tried changes on a branch docs/doc_build_test_2 (using underscores) and that worked exactly as predicted, and finally, I deleted the original docs/doc-build-test branch and created a new one from the current master branch with the exact same name AFTER the workflow update was in place, and THEN AND ONLY THEN did changes on that branch trigger the workflow.

My conclusion was that the branch is flagged as eligible upon branch creation based on existing workflows, not as a result of adding or modifying the workflow. Whether this is a correct conclusion or not, I don't know. But now you have the details.

If my conclusion was correct, then I can only guess that the master (or default) branch is somehow excluded from this.

Kind regards,
Vic

@vwheeler63 Thanks for letting us know! I'm going to have to check with our engineers and make sure this isn't a bug, but if it's working as intended, it does look like a caveat we would want to include.

@vwheeler63 Thanks for letting us know! I'm going to have to check with our engineers and make sure this isn't a bug, but if it's working as intended, it does look like a caveat we would want to include.

Agreed! Looking forward to what the engineers have to say.

A stale label has been added to this issue, because it has been open for 30 days with no activity. If you think this issue should remain open, please add a new comment.

Not stale.

A stale label has been added to this issue, because it has been open for 30 days with no activity. If you think this issue should remain open, please add a new comment.

not stale

A stale label has been added to this issue, because it has been open for 30 days with no activity. If you think this issue should remain open, please add a new comment.