Skip Deliver and Deploy when no app artifacts exist

RELEASENOTES.md

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ The `DownloadProjectDependencies` action now downloads app files from URLs speci
 
 - Attempt to start docker service in case it is not running
 - NextMajor (v28) fails when downloading dependencies from NuGet-feed
+- Issue 2126 Deliver and Deploy actions now skip execution when no app artifacts are found, preventing errors on initial commits
 
 ## v8.3
 

Scenarios/DeliveryTargets.md

@@ -294,6 +294,8 @@ Your custom delivery script receives a hash table with the following parameters:
 
 > **Note:** The folder parameters (`*Folder`) may be `$null` if no artifacts of that type were found. The plural versions (`*Folders`) contain arrays of all matching folders across different build modes.
 
+> **Important:** The delivery step is automatically skipped at the workflow level when no app artifacts are available. This means your custom delivery script will not be executed if no app artifacts were built. This behavior prevents errors on initial commits when no apps have been built yet.
+
 ### Branch-Specific Delivery
 
 Configure different delivery targets for different branches:

Templates/AppSource App/.github/workflows/CICD.yaml

@@ -338,6 +338,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Deploy to Business Central
         id: Deploy
+        if: hashFiles('.artifacts/**/*.app') != ''
         uses: microsoft/AL-Go-Actions/Deploy@main
         env:
           Secrets: '${{ steps.ReadSecrets.outputs.Secrets }}'
@@ -348,6 +349,11 @@ jobs:
           type: 'CD'
           deploymentEnvironmentsJson: ${{ needs.Initialization.outputs.deploymentEnvironmentsJson }}
 
+      - name: Deployment skipped
+        if: hashFiles('.artifacts/**/*.app') == ''
+        run: |
+          Write-Host "::Notice::Deployment to environment ${{ matrix.environment }} was skipped because no app artifacts were found"
+
       - name: Deploy to Power Platform
         if: env.type == 'PTE' && env.powerPlatformSolutionFolder != ''
         uses: microsoft/AL-Go-Actions/DeployPowerPlatform@main
@@ -391,6 +397,7 @@ jobs:
           getSecrets: '${{ matrix.deliveryTarget }}Context'
 
       - name: Deliver
+        if: hashFiles('.artifacts/**/*.app') != ''
         uses: microsoft/AL-Go-Actions/Deliver@main
         env:
           Secrets: '${{ steps.ReadSecrets.outputs.Secrets }}'
@@ -401,6 +408,11 @@ jobs:
           deliveryTarget: ${{ matrix.deliveryTarget }}
           artifacts: '.artifacts'
 
+      - name: Delivery skipped
+        if: hashFiles('.artifacts/**/*.app') == ''
+        run: |
+          Write-Host "::Notice::Delivery to ${{ matrix.deliveryTarget }} was skipped because no app artifacts were found"
+
   PostProcess:
     needs: [ Initialization, Build, Deploy, Deliver, DeployALDoc, CodeAnalysisUpload ]
     if: (!cancelled())

Templates/Per Tenant Extension/.github/workflows/CICD.yaml

@@ -352,6 +352,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Deploy to Business Central
         id: Deploy
+        if: hashFiles('.artifacts/**/*.app') != ''
         uses: microsoft/AL-Go-Actions/Deploy@main
         env:
           Secrets: '${{ steps.ReadSecrets.outputs.Secrets }}'
@@ -362,6 +363,11 @@ jobs:
           type: 'CD'
           deploymentEnvironmentsJson: ${{ needs.Initialization.outputs.deploymentEnvironmentsJson }}
 
+      - name: Deployment skipped
+        if: hashFiles('.artifacts/**/*.app') == ''
+        run: |
+          Write-Host "::Notice::Deployment to environment ${{ matrix.environment }} was skipped because no app artifacts were found"
+
       - name: Deploy to Power Platform
         if: env.type == 'PTE' && env.powerPlatformSolutionFolder != ''
         uses: microsoft/AL-Go-Actions/DeployPowerPlatform@main
@@ -405,6 +411,7 @@ jobs:
           getSecrets: '${{ matrix.deliveryTarget }}Context'
 
       - name: Deliver
+        if: hashFiles('.artifacts/**/*.app') != ''
         uses: microsoft/AL-Go-Actions/Deliver@main
         env:
           Secrets: '${{ steps.ReadSecrets.outputs.Secrets }}'
@@ -415,6 +422,11 @@ jobs:
           deliveryTarget: ${{ matrix.deliveryTarget }}
           artifacts: '.artifacts'
 
+      - name: Delivery skipped
+        if: hashFiles('.artifacts/**/*.app') == ''
+        run: |
+          Write-Host "::Notice::Delivery to ${{ matrix.deliveryTarget }} was skipped because no app artifacts were found"
+
   PostProcess:
     needs: [ Initialization, Build, BuildPP, Deploy, Deliver, DeployALDoc, CodeAnalysisUpload ]
     if: (!cancelled())

Workshop/ContinuousDelivery.md

@@ -98,6 +98,12 @@ For detailed step-by-step instructions, configuration examples, and troubleshoot
 
 Custom delivery will be handled in an advanced part of this workshop later.
 
+## Important Note: Automatic Skip Behavior
+
+The Deliver step/action is skipped when no app artifacts are available.
+
+This skip behavior prevents delivery errors and ensures that delivery targets are only invoked when there are actual artifacts to deliver. You'll see the Deliver step/action appear as skipped in the workflow summary when this occurs.
+
 OK, so **CD** stands for **Continuous Delivery**, I thought it was **Continuous Deployment**? Well, it is actually both, so let's talk about **Continuous Deployment**...
 
 ______________________________________________________________________

Workshop/ContinuousDeployment.md

@@ -86,6 +86,12 @@ Paste the value from the clipboard into the "Value" field of the **AuthContext**
 
 AL-Go can also be setup for custom deployment when you want to deploy to non-SaaS environments. More about this in the advanced section.
 
+## Important Note: Automatic Skip Behavior
+
+Deployment jobs automatically skip execution when no app artifacts are available.
+
+This skip behavior prevents deployment errors and ensures that environments are only targeted when there are actual artifacts to deploy. You'll see the deployment step appear as skipped in the workflow summary when this occurs.
+
 This section was about Continuous Deployment, but you might not want to deploy to production environments continuously - how can we publish to production on demand?
 
 ______________________________________________________________________