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Use a YAML action template to compose existing actions into a reusable action.

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Template shape

Create a .yml file in your registry templates directory. Define inputs in expects, run actions in steps, and return the final value from returns. 
type: action
definition:
  title: Post message
  description: Post a message to a Slack channel.
  display_group: Slack
  namespace: tools.slack
  name: post_message
  expects:
    channel:
      type: str
      description: The Slack channel ID.
    text:
      type: str
      description: The message text.
  steps:
    - ref: post_message
      action: tools.slack_sdk.call_method
      args:
        sdk_method: chat_postMessage
        params:
          channel: ${{ inputs.channel }}
          text: ${{ inputs.text }}
  returns: ${{ steps.post_message.result }}
  • Start every file with type: action.
  • Use tools.<integration> for the namespace.
  • Set title, description, display_group, namespace, and name in definition.
  • Define inputs in expects.
  • Build the action in steps.
  • Return the final value from returns.

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Expressions

Use ${{ }} for expressions. Use inputs to read the inputs you defined in expects. Use steps to read the result of an earlier step. After a step runs, its output is available at steps.<ref>.result.
Read an input
args:
  channel: ${{ inputs.channel }}
  text: ${{ inputs.text }}
Read an earlier step result
returns: ${{ steps.post_message.result }}
Build one step from another
steps:
  - ref: lookup_user
    action: tools.slack.users.lookup_user_by_email
    args:
      email: ${{ inputs.email }}
  - ref: post_message
    action: tools.slack.chat.post_message
    args:
      channel: ${{ steps.lookup_user.result.id }}
      text: Hello
You can use:
  • inputs
  • steps
  • SECRETS
  • VARS
  • FN.*

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Limitations

  • Template steps only support ref, action, and args.
  • Template steps run in order.
  • Template steps do not support run_if, for_each, join_strategy, start_delay, timeout, or max_attempts.
  • Templates can call tools actions, other templates, and core.script.run_python. Other platform actions are not supported inside templates.
  • If a later step fails, you do not get a final result with earlier step outputs. Keep templates short. In practice, do not build templates with more than 2 steps.

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Example templates

All integrations in Tracecat are open source. Browse template actions for more examples. For concrete examples, browse the Slack templates and CrowdStrike templates.