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Confusing content: evaluates the expression hash "package-lock.json" to derive the final key npm-d5ea0750 #46499
Description
Code of Conduct
- I have read and agree to the GitHub Docs project's Code of Conduct
What article on docs.github.com is affected?
https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/workflows-and-actions/dependency-caching
What part(s) of the article would you like to see updated?
The document says:
For example, you can create a
keyusing an expression that calculates the hash of an npmpackage-lock.jsonfile. So, when the dependencies that make up thepackage-lock.jsonfile change, the cache key changes and a new cache is automatically created.npm-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}GitHub evaluates the expression
hash "package-lock.json"to derive the final key.npm-d5ea0750
However, https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/workflows-and-actions/expressions does not document any hash expression, and my tests show that hashFiles() produces the full SHA256 value per https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/workflows-and-actions/expressions#hashfiles, not the abbreviated string like d5ea0750.
Additional information
No response
Activity
subatoi commentedon Oct 27, 2026
Thanks for reporting, @adelton—we'll get this reviewed by the appropriate team
darshpatel1052 commentedon Nov 3, 2026
I’d like to take this on. I’d update the cache-key explanation to use
hashFiles('package-lock.json')consistently and make clear that the result is a full hash rather than an eight-character value. I’d check nearby examples for the same mismatch. Would you prefer a full-length illustrative hash, or an explicitly abbreviated value with a note?github-actions commentedon Nov 3, 2026
Please do not open pull requests to address issues opened by other contributors until the issue has been marked with the
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