Add Broken Link Checker - Github Action

[JuanPabloDiaz]

I believe that it will be a great idea to setup a GitHub action that runs periodically and checks for broken links.
It will check all repository links once per day and create an issue in case of errors.

Github action to check for broken links in Markdown, HTML, and text files using Lychee, a fast link checker written in Rust.

Here is a full example of a GitHub workflow file:

It will check all repository links once per day and create an issue in case of errors.

name: Links

on:
  repository_dispatch:
  workflow_dispatch:
  schedule:
    - cron: "00 18 * * *"

jobs:
  linkChecker:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Link Checker
        id: lychee
        uses: lycheeverse/lychee-action@v1

      - name: Create Issue From File
        if: env.lychee_exit_code != 0
        uses: peter-evans/create-issue-from-file@v4
        with:
          title: Link Checker Report
          content-filepath: ./lychee/out.md
          labels: report, automated issue

I'd like to share my experience with Lychee. I came across it yesterday and integrated it into my project. While it was helpful in identifying some broken links, it also generated some false positives (links that appear broken but function correctly). I'm still exploring the tool's functionality to potentially fine-tune its accuracy.

On a separate note, I encountered a permissions issue when trying to open new issues.

Project implementations:

• documentation.breadnet.co.uk ---> GitHub action
• freeForGeeks ---> GitHub action

here is an example from my own project:

I hope this helps

[cgrail]

Thanks a lot. Sounds like a good idea.

[JuanPabloDiaz]

This is what I got when I run the script for the entire repo:

 

I then changed it to run the tests for 2024, 2025 and 2026 folders and got a more reasonable number:

After running the workflow, this issue was created

[nimzco]

Oh that's really cool!
I think we could even go further and only check upcoming conferences. And if an upcoming conference link is broken we could create a PR that removes the conference or create an issue like you did so we can check and fix the broken URL.

[JuanPabloDiaz]

I just want to make sure we're all aligned. Let me explain what I believe the workflow I've set up is designed to do (please correct me if I'm mistaken).

This workflow is designed to automatically check for broken links in JSON files within specific folders of the repository (conferences/(2024/2025/2026)). It triggers under several conditions: 1. on pull requests to the 'main' branch, 2. on manual triggers, and 3. on a scheduled basis. The Link Checker step reads the .lycheeignore file, specified by the --exclude-file .lycheeignore argument, to determine which links or files should be excluded from the checking process. If any broken links are found, the workflow creates or updates a GitHub issue with the details.

[nimzco]

That works for me. We can always tweak if we're unhappy with the results. 👍

[cgrail]

Done with:
#7132
#7134

[JuanPabloDiaz]

Thank you @cgrail, it looks great!

[cgrail]

Yeah. However I have the feeling that we can quite some false negatives.

[JuanPabloDiaz]

Yeah, that's the only thing that is annoying at this point.