Introducing GitHub Super Linter: one linter to rule them all
Setting up a new repository with all the right linters for the different types of code can be time consuming and tedious. So many tools and configurations to choose from and often more than one linter is needed to cover all the languages used.
By: Lucas Gravley | GitHub Blog.
The GitHub Super Linter was built out of necessity by the GitHub Services DevOps Engineering team to maintain consistency in our documentation and code while making communication and collaboration across the company a more productive experience. Now we are open sourcing that so everyone can use and improve it!
The Super Linter solves many of these requirements through automation. Some included features:
The Super Linter is a source code repository that is packaged into a Docker container and called by GitHub Actions. This allows for any repository on GitHub.com to call the Super Linter and start utilizing its benefits.
When you’ve set your repository to start running this action, any time you open a pull request, it will start linting the code case and return via the Status API. It will let you know if any of your code changes passed successfully, or if any errors were detected, where they are, and what they are. This then allows the developer to go back to their branch, fix any issues, and create a new push to the open pull request. At that point, the Super Linter will run again and validate the updated code and repeat the process. You can configure your branch protection rules to make sure all code must pass before being able to merge as an additional measure.
There’s a ton of customization with flags and templates that can help you customize the Super Linter to your individual repository. Just follow the detailed directions at the Super Linter repository and the Super Linter wiki.
This tool can also be helpful for any repository where multiple types of code and/or documentation all live together (monorepo).
