how to know which black version executed in Github action

[piramiday]

Is this related to a problem? Please describe.
I am running the latest Github action and the latest PyPi black version.
I realize that the Github action can specify which black version to use, but I don't want to maintain that, too.
I would like to add to the logs which black version is responsible to checking my Python scripts.
How can I accomplish that?

Describe the solution you'd like

I tried executing something similar to black --version in a subsequent step but if was obviously failing due to black not being in the PATH.

Describe alternatives you've considered

I might as well pip install black in my action as opposed to using the official Github action.

[ichard26]

Seems mostly reasonable although this is probably going to be less useful soon-ish as we plan on changing the default so the action version == black version installed. See #3543.

[piramiday]

I'm sorry, I did not know about that...
What will happen when that PR gets merged?
I see a reference to .git_archival.txt but I have no idea what it is and cannot find it in the repo.
Will the action take the version from the project requirements?

In any case, I would suggest:

• print the explicit version in the logs,
• possibly have a variable that could be read in subsequent steps.

[piramiday]

the mentioned PR was merged but I still have no idea on how to proceed.
any suggestions?

[ichard26]

That PR only changes the default version of Black used in the GitHub Action to match the action version. There's still no programmable way of detecting the version of Black used, but it can be inferred in most cases now.

[piramiday]

inferred? how? that is definitely not enough information for me.

nevermind, I'll just stop using black's github action and pip install from my project's dependencies.