PMD for Java

action-pmd

This is a GitHub action to run PMD check on your Java code and report status via reviewdog on pull request.

🚨 BREAKING CHANGES (v0.1.0+)

This version includes major updates and breaking changes:

PMD 7.20.0: Upgraded from PMD 6.55.0 to 7.20.0
Java 21: Now using Eclipse Temurin 21 (upgraded from OpenJDK 17)
Reviewdog v0.21.0: Updated from v0.14.1
Default Ruleset Change: category/java/bestpractices.xml (was rulesets/java/quickstart.xml)
PMD CLI Change: Uses pmd check command (PMD 7.x syntax)

Migration Required:

If you explicitly set rulesets_path, update to PMD 7.x compatible paths (see Migration Guide)
Legacy ruleset paths like rulesets/java/basic.xml are no longer supported
Review your custom rulesets for deprecated rules

Version Strategy:

v1.x branch: Uses PMD 6.x (previous version)
v0.1.x: Uses PMD 7.x (current)

Version Information

Component	Version
Java	Eclipse Temurin 21 (LTS)
PMD	7.20.0
Reviewdog	v0.21.0

Example

An example of how the reported pmd violations will look like on pull request is shown below (link to PR):

Inputs

inputs:
  github_token:
    description: 'GITHUB_TOKEN'
    default: '${{ github.token }}'
  workdir:
    description: 'Working directory relative to the root directory.'
    default: '.'
  ### Flags for reviewdog ###
  level:
    description: 'Report level for reviewdog [info,warning,error]'
    default: 'error'
  reporter:
    description: 'Reporter of reviewdog command [github-pr-check,github-pr-review].'
    default: 'github-pr-check'
  filter_mode:
    description: |
      Filtering mode for the reviewdog command [added,diff_context,file,nofilter].
      Default is added.
    default: 'added'
  fail_level:
    description: |
      Fail level for reviewdog [none,any,info,warning,error]
      Default is `none`.
    default: 'none'
  tool_name:
    description: 'Tool name to use for reviewdog reporter'
    default: 'pmd'
  reviewdog_flags:
    description: 'Additional reviewdog flags'
    default: ''
  ### Flags for PMD ###
  src_path:
    description: 'Specify the directory where the sources to be analyzed are stored. Default is `src/main/java`.'
    default: 'src/main/java'
  rulesets_path:
    description: 'Specify the path of the PMD rule set. Default is `category/java/bestpractices.xml`.'
    default: 'category/java/bestpractices.xml'
  pmd_cache:
    description: 'Enable PMD incremental analysis with cache file path (e.g., "/tmp/pmd-cache/pmd.cache"). Must be a file path, not a directory. Leave empty to disable.'
    default: ''

Usage

name: pmd
on: [pull_request]
jobs:
  pmd_job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: PMD job
    steps:
    - name: Checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v3
    - name: Run PMD
      uses: kemsakurai/action-pmd@v0.1.0
      with:
        github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        reporter: 'github-pr-review'
        tool_name: 'pmd_reviewdog'

With PMD Cache (Performance Optimization)

name: pmd
on: [pull_request]
jobs:
  pmd_job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: PMD job with cache
    steps:
    - name: Checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v3
    - name: Run PMD
      uses: kemsakurai/action-pmd@v0.1.0
      with:
        github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        reporter: 'github-pr-review'
        tool_name: 'pmd_reviewdog'
        pmd_cache: '/tmp/pmd-cache/pmd.cache'  # Enable incremental analysis

With Custom Ruleset

name: pmd
on: [pull_request]
jobs:
  pmd_job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: PMD job with custom ruleset
    steps:
    - name: Checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v3
    - name: Run PMD
      uses: kemsakurai/action-pmd@v0.1.0
      with:
        github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        reporter: 'github-pr-check'
        rulesets_path: 'category/java/errorprone.xml'  # Use different built-in ruleset

Migration Guide from PMD 6.x to 7.x

Official Documentation

For comprehensive migration information, please refer to:

Key Breaking Changes

CLI Command Change
- Old: pmd -d <dir> -R <ruleset>
- New: pmd check -d <dir> -R <ruleset>
Ruleset Path Format
- ❌ Removed: rulesets/java/basic.xml, rulesets/java/quickstart.xml
- ✅ Use: category/java/bestpractices.xml, category/java/errorprone.xml
Deprecated Rules Removed
- Many legacy rules have been removed or replaced
- See Removed Rules List
Property Delimiter Change
- Old: Pipe | separator
- New: Comma , separator

Migration Steps

Verify Current Ruleset Compatibility

# Test your current ruleset with PMD 7.x
docker build --build-arg PMD_VERSION=7.20.0 -t action-pmd:test .
docker run -v $(pwd):/workspace action-pmd:test pmd check -d /workspace/src -R category/java/bestpractices.xml

Update Workflow Configuration

# Before (v1.x)
- uses: kemsakurai/action-pmd@v1
  with:
    rulesets_path: 'rulesets/java/quickstart.xml'

# After (v0.1.0)
- uses: kemsakurai/action-pmd@v0.1.0
  with:
    rulesets_path: 'category/java/bestpractices.xml'  # Updated path

Review Custom Rulesets
- Update ruleset references to use category/ prefix
- Remove references to deleted rules
- Test thoroughly before deploying

Recommended Rulesets

PMD 7.x provides category-based rulesets. Here are recommended options:

Ruleset	Description	Use Case
`category/java/bestpractices.xml`	Best practice rules (default)	General code quality
`category/java/errorprone.xml`	Error-prone patterns	Bug prevention
`category/java/codestyle.xml`	Code style conventions	Style enforcement
`category/java/design.xml`	Design principles	Architecture quality
`category/java/performance.xml`	Performance optimizations	Performance-critical code
`category/java/security.xml`	Security vulnerabilities	Security-sensitive applications

Multiple Rulesets Example

- uses: kemsakurai/action-pmd@v0.1.0
  with:
    rulesets_path: 'category/java/bestpractices.xml,category/java/errorprone.xml'

Custom Ruleset Template

Create a custom pmd-ruleset.xml in your repository:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<ruleset name="Custom Ruleset"
         xmlns="http://pmd.sourceforge.net/ruleset/2.0.0"
         xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:schemaLocation="http://pmd.sourceforge.net/ruleset/2.0.0 https://pmd.sourceforge.io/ruleset_2_0_0.xsd">
    
    <description>Custom PMD ruleset for our project</description>
    
    <!-- Include built-in rulesets -->
    <rule ref="category/java/bestpractices.xml"/>
    <rule ref="category/java/errorprone.xml"/>
    
    <!-- Exclude specific rules -->
    <rule ref="category/java/bestpractices.xml">
        <exclude name="UnusedPrivateMethod"/>
    </rule>
    
    <!-- Customize rule properties -->
    <rule ref="category/java/codestyle.xml/LongVariable">
        <properties>
            <property name="minimum" value="30"/>
        </properties>
    </rule>
</ruleset>

Then use it in your workflow:

- uses: kemsakurai/action-pmd@v0.1.0
  with:
    rulesets_path: './pmd-ruleset.xml'

Performance Optimization

PMD Cache

PMD 7.x supports incremental analysis via the --cache option, which can significantly reduce CI execution time for large codebases.

Enable Cache:

- uses: kemsakurai/action-pmd@v0.1.0
  with:
    pmd_cache: '/tmp/pmd-cache/pmd.cache'

Benefits:

Analyzes only changed files
Reduces analysis time by 30-70% for subsequent runs
Automatically managed by PMD

Best Practices:

Use a consistent cache path across workflow runs
Consider using GitHub Actions cache to persist between runs:

- name: Cache PMD results
  uses: actions/cache@v3
  with:
    path: /tmp/pmd-cache
    key: pmd-cache-${{ github.sha }}
    restore-keys: |
      pmd-cache-

- uses: kemsakurai/action-pmd@v0.1.0
  with:
    pmd_cache: '/tmp/pmd-cache/pmd.cache'

Troubleshooting

Common Errors and Solutions

Error: "Ruleset not found"

Symptom:

Error: Unable to load ruleset: rulesets/java/quickstart.xml

Solution: Update to PMD 7.x category-based paths:

rulesets_path: 'category/java/bestpractices.xml'

Error: "Rule not found"

Symptom:

Error: Rule 'SomeRuleName' not found

Solution: The rule may have been removed in PMD 7.x. Check the removed rules list and find alternatives.

Error: "Permission denied" (Cache)

Symptom:

Warning: Failed to create cache directory

Solution: Ensure the cache path is writable. The action automatically sets permissions, but if using a custom path, verify access:

pmd_cache: '/tmp/pmd-cache/pmd.cache'  # /tmp is always writable

Error: "Java version mismatch"

Symptom:

Error: PMD requires Java 8 or later

Solution: This action includes Java 21. If you're building with a different Java version in previous steps, ensure PMD runs in the action's container context.

Getting Help

Custom Docker Build

You can build the Docker image with custom versions of PMD or Reviewdog:

# Build with specific PMD version
docker build --build-arg PMD_VERSION=7.18.0 -t action-pmd:custom .

# Build with specific Reviewdog version
docker build --build-arg REVIEWDOG_VERSION=v0.20.0 -t action-pmd:custom .

# Build with both custom versions
docker build \
  --build-arg PMD_VERSION=7.18.0 \
  --build-arg REVIEWDOG_VERSION=v0.20.0 \
  -t action-pmd:custom .

License

MIT

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PMD for Java

About

Tags

action-pmd

🚨 BREAKING CHANGES (v0.1.0+)

Version Information

Example

Inputs

Usage

With PMD Cache (Performance Optimization)

With Custom Ruleset

Migration Guide from PMD 6.x to 7.x

Official Documentation

Key Breaking Changes

Migration Steps

Recommended Rulesets

Multiple Rulesets Example

Custom Ruleset Template

Performance Optimization

PMD Cache

Troubleshooting

Common Errors and Solutions

Error: "Ruleset not found"

Error: "Rule not found"

Error: "Permission denied" (Cache)

Error: "Java version mismatch"

Getting Help

Custom Docker Build

License

Contributors (1)

Resources

About

Tags

Contributors (1)

Resources

action-pmd

🚨 BREAKING CHANGES (v0.1.0+)

Version Information

Example

Inputs

Usage

With PMD Cache (Performance Optimization)

With Custom Ruleset

Migration Guide from PMD 6.x to 7.x

Official Documentation

Key Breaking Changes

Migration Steps

Recommended Rulesets

Multiple Rulesets Example

Custom Ruleset Template

Performance Optimization

PMD Cache

Troubleshooting

Common Errors and Solutions

Error: "Ruleset not found"

Error: "Rule not found"

Error: "Permission denied" (Cache)

Error: "Java version mismatch"

Getting Help

Custom Docker Build

License

Contributors1 (1)

Resources

About

Tags

Contributors1 (1)

Resources

Contributors (1)

Contributors (1)