Support "multi-choice" input type for manual workflows

**Describe the enhancement** Current set of input types doesn't cover some use-cases for manual workflows We use a single gh-action as an entrypoint of deploying packages from our monorepo, and sometimes we need to manually deploy several packages simultaneously. Up until now we just went with a set of Booleans, so we could tick all the packages we needed to run our CI/CD against via UI. However, we speedily reached a [limit of 10 input values](https://github.com/actions/runner/issues/1928) Introducing an input type that would store a, say, json array could help: ```yaml on: workflow_dispatch: inputs: name: type: multi-choice description: select packages options: - go-service1 - go-service2 - py-service1 ``` ...and in fact would be more logical with less copy-paste overhead for our use-case

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FL score

54

out of 100

Verdict

VALIDATE

high confidence

Competition

8

competitors found, emerging market, funded players

Trend

8 community mentions

A niche problem exists for GitHub Actions manual workflow inputs, but building a direct solution as a solo builder is impossible, and an external wrapper's demand for payment is unproven.

The pain

Heavy users of GitHub Actions' `workflow_dispatch` are frustrated by the 10-input limit for booleans, leading to cumbersome workarounds, increased copy-paste overhead, and inefficiency when deploying multiple monorepo packages.

The gap

While general workflow automation tools are crowded, there isn't a direct solution within GitHub Actions for multi-choice inputs, nor a proven external tool specifically addressing this pain point for GitHub Actions. The gap is in the core platform's functionality.

Build angle

A solo builder cannot implement this as a core GitHub Actions feature. The build angle would need to be an external tool or web service that provides a superior UI for configuring and triggering GitHub Actions workflows, effectively abstracting the input limitation and generating compliant workflow runs.

Strengths

  • The pain point is real and specific, evidenced by a GitHub issue.
  • The target audience (heavy GitHub Actions users) is identifiable.
  • Solves a specific friction point that causes daily frustration for those affected.

Risks

  • A solo builder cannot implement this directly into GitHub Actions, making the core idea unbuildable as described.
  • If built as an external tool, willingness to pay for a solution to a core platform limitation is unproven and potentially low.
  • GitHub could implement this feature themselves, nullifying any external solution's value.
  • The market for this specific problem within GitHub Actions is niche, limiting scalability.
  • Monetization for such a specific feature as a standalone product is challenging; it'd likely need to be part of a larger, more complex tool.

Next steps

  1. Conduct interviews with developers actively hitting the 10-input limit in GitHub Actions to understand their current workarounds and validate if they would pay for an external tool addressing this specific issue.
  2. Research existing GitHub Marketplace apps or custom workflow generators to see if anyone has attempted a similar abstraction, and analyze their success/failure.
  3. Explore if this feature could be developed as an open-source GitHub Action, which could gain adoption and potentially lead to a sponsored project or related paid services, rather than a standalone SaaS.

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