Persistent "Invalid workflow file" / YAML parsing error in GitHub Actions for React App deployment

[superdupershaun]

Why are you starting this discussion?

Bug

What GitHub Actions topic or product is this about?

Misc

Discussion Details

Hey everyone,

I'm encountering an extremely persistent and frustrating issue with GitHub Actions workflows in my repository (superdupershaun/GymClientPortal) that I'm using to deploy a React application to Firebase Hosting. Despite extensive troubleshooting, I consistently get an Invalid workflow file error with a YAML syntax error on a specific line (e.g., line 16 or 18), even when the YAML appears perfectly valid.

The Problem:
My GitHub Actions workflows fail immediately with an Invalid workflow file error, pointing to a YAML syntax issue. Here's a typical error message:

This error occurs regardless of whether the file is firebase-hosting-merge.yml (auto-generated by Firebase CLI) or a manually created manual-deploy.yml / test-workflow.yml.

Context:

• Repository: https://github.com/superdupershaun/GymClientPortal
• App: React application (created with Create React App principles).
• Deployment: Firebase Hosting.

Troubleshooting Steps Already Taken (and consistently failing):

1. Firebase CLI Initialization:

   • Ran firebase init hosting multiple times, selecting an existing project, build for the public directory, single-page app, and GitHub Actions integration.
   • Successfully logged in via firebase login --reauth, ensuring GitHub permissions were granted.

2. **package.json Build Script Variations (last tried):

   {
     "name": "checkin",
     "version": "0.1.0",
     "private": true,
     "dependencies": {
       "@testing-library/dom": "^10.4.0",
       "@testing-library/jest-dom": "^6.6.3",
       "@testing-library/react": "^16.3.0",
       "@testing-library/user-event": "^13.5.0",
       "firebase": "^11.9.0",
       "react": "^19.1.0",
       "react-dom": "^19.1.0",
       "react-scripts": "^0.0.0",
       "web-vitals": "^2.1.4"
     },
     "scripts": {
       "start": "react-scripts start",
       "build": "react-scripts build", <-- This is the current build script
       "test": "react-scripts test",
       "eject": "react-scripts eject"
     },
     "eslintConfig": {
       "extends": [
         "react-app",
         "react-app/jest"
       ]
     },
     "browserslist": {
       "production": [
         ">0.2%",
         "not dead",
         "not op_mini all"
       ],
       "development": [
         "last 1 chrome version",
         "last 1 firefox version",
         "last 1 safari version"
       ]
     },
     "devDependencies": {
       "autoprefixer": "^10.4.21",
       "postcss": "^8.5.4",
       "tailwindcss": "^4.1.8"
     }
   }

   • Also tried "build": "node node_modules/react-scripts/scripts/build.js" and "build": "sh -c \"npx react-scripts build\"".

3. GitHub Actions Workflow YAML (Consistently Failing to Parse):
   This is the latest version I've tried to push, and it consistently throws the YAML error. I've also tried simpler versions.

   # Manual workflow to deploy to Firebase Hosting
   name: Manual Firebase Deploy
   
   on:
     workflow_dispatch: # This allows manual triggering from the GitHub Actions tab
   
   jobs:
     build_and_deploy:
       runs-on: ubuntu-latest
       steps:
         - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         - name: Set up Node.js
           uses: actions/setup-node@v4
           with:
             node-version: '20' # Use Node.js version 20
         - name: Debug: List react-scripts in node_modules
           run: ls -al node_modules/react-scripts || echo "react-scripts directory not found"
         - name: Debug: List react-scripts executable in .bin
           run: ls -al node_modules/.bin/react-scripts || echo "react-scripts executable not found in .bin"
         - name: Install Dependencies
           run: npm ci
         - name: Build React App
           run: npm run build
         - uses: FirebaseExtended/action-hosting-deploy@v0
           with:
             repoToken: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
             firebaseServiceAccount: ${{ secrets.FIREBASE_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_GYM_CHECK_IN_D1BF5 }}
             channelId: live
             projectId: gym-check-in-d1bf5

4. Local Environment Checks:

   • cat command locally consistently shows the YAML file with correct newlines and indentation.
   • Set git config --global core.autocrlf input.
   • Performed git reset --hard origin/main and git clean -f -d to clear local state.

5. Direct Editing on github.com:

   • I have tried to create/edit the .github/workflows/manual-deploy.yml (and previously firebase-hosting-merge.yml) file directly in the GitHub web editor, pasting the exact YAML content provided above.
   • Even after directly committing via the web editor, the workflow run triggered by that commit still reports the Invalid workflow file YAML syntax error on line 16 or 18 (as seen in the workflow logs).

This issue is extremely persistent and occurs even when the YAML appears visually correct and is committed directly via the GitHub web interface. It seems like a deeper platform-level parsing issue or file corruption related to this repository.

Any insights or suggestions from the community would be greatly appreciated, as I'm unable to use GitHub Actions due to this fundamental parsing failure.

[github-actions[bot]]

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