From 67afb2e11f5cfec448f77c91a31a3d0c359a92fe Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alexander Holstrup <117829001+aholstrup1@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2025 16:28:35 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 01/11] Write installapps to json file

---
 .../DownloadProjectDependencies.Action.ps1       |  8 ++++++--
 Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1              | 16 ++++++++++++----
 Actions/RunPipeline/action.yaml                  |  8 ++++----
 3 files changed, 22 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/DownloadProjectDependencies.Action.ps1 b/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/DownloadProjectDependencies.Action.ps1
index 9cff002fe9..dc514e8346 100644
--- a/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/DownloadProjectDependencies.Action.ps1
+++ b/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/DownloadProjectDependencies.Action.ps1
@@ -140,8 +140,12 @@ $downloadedDependencies | ForEach-Object {
 OutputMessageAndArray -message "Downloaded dependencies (Apps)" -arrayOfStrings $downloadedApps
 OutputMessageAndArray -message "Downloaded dependencies (Test Apps)" -arrayOfStrings $downloadedTestApps
 
-$DownloadedAppsJson = ConvertTo-Json $DownloadedApps -Depth 99 -Compress
-$DownloadedTestAppsJson = ConvertTo-Json $DownloadedTestApps -Depth 99 -Compress
+# Write the downloaded apps and test apps to temporary JSON files and set them as GitHub Action outputs
+$tempPath = NewTemporaryFolder
+$DownloadedAppsJson = Join-Path $tempPath "DownloadedApps.json"
+$DownloadedTestAppsJson = Join-Path $tempPath "DownloadedTestApps.json"
+ConvertTo-Json $DownloadedApps -Depth 99 -Compress | Out-File -Encoding UTF8 -FilePath $DownloadedAppsJson
+ConvertTo-Json $DownloadedTestApps -Depth 99 -Compress | Out-File -Encoding UTF8 -FilePath $DownloadedTestAppsJson
 
 Add-Content -Encoding UTF8 -Path $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT -Value "DownloadedApps=$DownloadedAppsJson"
 Add-Content -Encoding UTF8 -Path $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT -Value "DownloadedTestApps=$DownloadedTestAppsJson"
diff --git a/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1 b/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1
index 76abf38923..e67b7b738c 100644
--- a/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1
+++ b/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ Param(
     [Parameter(HelpMessage = "Specifies a mode to use for the build steps", Mandatory = $false)]
     [string] $buildMode = 'Default',
     [Parameter(HelpMessage = "A JSON-formatted list of apps to install", Mandatory = $false)]
-    [string] $installAppsJson = '[]',
+    [string] $installAppsJson = '',
     [Parameter(HelpMessage = "A JSON-formatted list of test apps to install", Mandatory = $false)]
-    [string] $installTestAppsJson = '[]',
+    [string] $installTestAppsJson = '',
     [Parameter(HelpMessage = "RunId of the baseline workflow run", Mandatory = $false)]
     [string] $baselineWorkflowRunId = '0',
     [Parameter(HelpMessage = "SHA of the baseline workflow run", Mandatory = $false)]
@@ -187,8 +187,16 @@ try {
     }
 
     $install = @{
-        "Apps" = $settings.installApps + @($installAppsJson | ConvertFrom-Json)
-        "TestApps" = $settings.installTestApps + @($installTestAppsJson | ConvertFrom-Json)
+        "Apps" = $settings.installApps
+        "TestApps" = $settings.installTestApps
+    }
+
+    if ($installAppsJson -and (Test-Path $installAppsJson)) {
+        $install.Apps += @($installAppsJson | Get-Content -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json)
+    }
+
+    if ($installTestAppsJson -and (Test-Path $installTestAppsJson)) {
+        $install.TestApps += @($installTestAppsJson | Get-Content -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json)
     }
 
     # Replace secret names in install.apps and install.testApps
diff --git a/Actions/RunPipeline/action.yaml b/Actions/RunPipeline/action.yaml
index c4aad6861a..cd5003f7b4 100644
--- a/Actions/RunPipeline/action.yaml
+++ b/Actions/RunPipeline/action.yaml
@@ -22,13 +22,13 @@ inputs:
     required: false
     default: 'Default'
   installAppsJson:
-    description: A JSON-formatted list of apps to install
+    description: A path to a JSON-formatted list of apps to install
     required: false
-    default: '[]'
+    default: ''
   installTestAppsJson:
-    description: A JSON-formatted list of test apps to install
+    description: A path to a JSON-formatted list of test apps to install
     required: false
-    default: '[]'
+    default: ''
   baselineWorkflowRunId:
     description: RunId of the baseline workflow run
     required: false

From 33b1ba5840607a8deb9f291dc45dcec576f865d6 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alexander Holstrup <117829001+aholstrup1@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Fri, 28 Nov 2025 17:00:30 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 02/11] update

---
 Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1 | 4 ++--
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1 b/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1
index e67b7b738c..850b9cff60 100644
--- a/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1
+++ b/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1
@@ -192,11 +192,11 @@ try {
     }
 
     if ($installAppsJson -and (Test-Path $installAppsJson)) {
-        $install.Apps += @($installAppsJson | Get-Content -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json)
+        $install.Apps += @(Get-Content -Path $installAppsJson -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json)
     }
 
     if ($installTestAppsJson -and (Test-Path $installTestAppsJson)) {
-        $install.TestApps += @($installTestAppsJson | Get-Content -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json)
+        $install.TestApps += @(Get-Content -Path $installTestAppsJson -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json)
     }
 
     # Replace secret names in install.apps and install.testApps

From 165d3a96b5a9f13ef0d66240c5cc7bc061257ddf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alexander Holstrup <117829001+aholstrup1@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2025 11:32:30 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 03/11] Update doc strings

---
 Actions/RunPipeline/README.md       | 4 ++--
 Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1 | 4 ++--
 2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Actions/RunPipeline/README.md b/Actions/RunPipeline/README.md
index 40bfa84be2..b9b5c794f5 100644
--- a/Actions/RunPipeline/README.md
+++ b/Actions/RunPipeline/README.md
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ Run pipeline in AL-Go repository
 | artifact | | ArtifactUrl to use for the build | settings.artifact |
 | project | | Project name if the repository is setup for multiple projects | . |
 | buildMode | | Specifies a mode to use for the build steps | Default |
-| installAppsJson | | A JSON-formatted list of apps to install | [] |
-| installTestAppsJson | | A JSON-formatted list of test apps to install | [] |
+| installAppsJson | | A path to a JSON-formatted list of apps to install | [] |
+| installTestAppsJson | | A path to a JSON-formatted list of test apps to install | [] |
 | baselineWorkflowRunId | RunId of the baseline workflow run | |
 | baselineWorkflowSHA | SHA of the baseline workflow run | |
 
diff --git a/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1 b/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1
index 850b9cff60..a6bc589f9b 100644
--- a/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1
+++ b/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1
@@ -7,9 +7,9 @@ Param(
     [string] $project = "",
     [Parameter(HelpMessage = "Specifies a mode to use for the build steps", Mandatory = $false)]
     [string] $buildMode = 'Default',
-    [Parameter(HelpMessage = "A JSON-formatted list of apps to install", Mandatory = $false)]
+    [Parameter(HelpMessage = "A path to a JSON-formatted list of apps to install", Mandatory = $false)]
     [string] $installAppsJson = '',
-    [Parameter(HelpMessage = "A JSON-formatted list of test apps to install", Mandatory = $false)]
+    [Parameter(HelpMessage = "A path to a JSON-formatted list of test apps to install", Mandatory = $false)]
     [string] $installTestAppsJson = '',
     [Parameter(HelpMessage = "RunId of the baseline workflow run", Mandatory = $false)]
     [string] $baselineWorkflowRunId = '0',

From 2338eecc3d4040e9dff4baaf3ec3115375486552 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alexander Holstrup <117829001+aholstrup1@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Nov 2025 11:36:03 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 04/11] release notes

---
 RELEASENOTES.md | 1 +
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

diff --git a/RELEASENOTES.md b/RELEASENOTES.md
index de44f3d8d7..0017c92482 100644
--- a/RELEASENOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASENOTES.md
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ Read more at [workflowDefaultInputs](https://aka.ms/algosettings#workflowDefault
 - Issue 2016 Running Update AL-Go system files with branches wildcard `*` tries to update _origin_
 - Issue 1960 Deploy Reference Documentation fails
 - Discussion 1952 Set default values on workflow_dispatch input
+- AL-Go repositories with large amounts of projects may run into issues with too large environment variables
 
 ### Deprecations
 

From c4e5fe6b2fd3d112cd86edd751f3552515c02b33 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alexander Holstrup <117829001+aholstrup1@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2025 11:53:07 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 05/11] Update Actions/RunPipeline/README.md

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 Actions/RunPipeline/README.md | 4 ++--
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Actions/RunPipeline/README.md b/Actions/RunPipeline/README.md
index b9b5c794f5..2a790e94df 100644
--- a/Actions/RunPipeline/README.md
+++ b/Actions/RunPipeline/README.md
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ Run pipeline in AL-Go repository
 | artifact | | ArtifactUrl to use for the build | settings.artifact |
 | project | | Project name if the repository is setup for multiple projects | . |
 | buildMode | | Specifies a mode to use for the build steps | Default |
-| installAppsJson | | A path to a JSON-formatted list of apps to install | [] |
-| installTestAppsJson | | A path to a JSON-formatted list of test apps to install | [] |
+| installAppsJson | | A path to a JSON-formatted list of apps to install | '' |
+| installTestAppsJson | | A path to a JSON-formatted list of test apps to install | '' |
 | baselineWorkflowRunId | RunId of the baseline workflow run | |
 | baselineWorkflowSHA | SHA of the baseline workflow run | |
 

From 76c67e85f9ba4a01eab3c5bdb7a98b8c00c98852 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alexander Holstrup <117829001+aholstrup1@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2025 11:55:03 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 06/11] Update Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1 | 14 ++++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1 b/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1
index a6bc589f9b..9593f33b31 100644
--- a/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1
+++ b/Actions/RunPipeline/RunPipeline.ps1
@@ -192,11 +192,21 @@ try {
     }
 
     if ($installAppsJson -and (Test-Path $installAppsJson)) {
-        $install.Apps += @(Get-Content -Path $installAppsJson -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json)
+        try {
+            $install.Apps += @(Get-Content -Path $installAppsJson -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json)
+        }
+        catch {
+            throw "Failed to parse JSON file at path '$installAppsJson'. Error: $($_.Exception.Message)"
+        }
     }
 
     if ($installTestAppsJson -and (Test-Path $installTestAppsJson)) {
-        $install.TestApps += @(Get-Content -Path $installTestAppsJson -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json)
+        try {
+            $install.TestApps += @(Get-Content -Path $installTestAppsJson -Raw | ConvertFrom-Json)
+        }
+        catch {
+            throw "Failed to parse JSON file at path '$installTestAppsJson'. Error: $($_.Exception.Message)"
+        }
     }
 
     # Replace secret names in install.apps and install.testApps

From 2246edff4a0a8b6d180ce22808d9760a21acc5ac Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alexander Holstrup <117829001+aholstrup1@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2025 09:28:55 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 07/11] Casing

---
 .../DownloadProjectDependencies.Action.ps1       | 16 ++++++++--------
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/DownloadProjectDependencies.Action.ps1 b/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/DownloadProjectDependencies.Action.ps1
index dc514e8346..be9f84fb75 100644
--- a/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/DownloadProjectDependencies.Action.ps1
+++ b/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/DownloadProjectDependencies.Action.ps1
@@ -130,10 +130,10 @@ $downloadedTestApps = @()
 $downloadedDependencies | ForEach-Object {
     # naming convention: app, (testapp)
     if ($_.startswith('(')) {
-        $DownloadedTestApps += $_
+        $downloadedTestApps += $_
     }
     else {
-        $DownloadedApps += $_
+        $downloadedApps += $_
     }
 }
 
@@ -142,10 +142,10 @@ OutputMessageAndArray -message "Downloaded dependencies (Test Apps)" -arrayOfStr
 
 # Write the downloaded apps and test apps to temporary JSON files and set them as GitHub Action outputs
 $tempPath = NewTemporaryFolder
-$DownloadedAppsJson = Join-Path $tempPath "DownloadedApps.json"
-$DownloadedTestAppsJson = Join-Path $tempPath "DownloadedTestApps.json"
-ConvertTo-Json $DownloadedApps -Depth 99 -Compress | Out-File -Encoding UTF8 -FilePath $DownloadedAppsJson
-ConvertTo-Json $DownloadedTestApps -Depth 99 -Compress | Out-File -Encoding UTF8 -FilePath $DownloadedTestAppsJson
+$downloadedAppsJson = Join-Path $tempPath "DownloadedApps.json"
+$downloadedTestAppsJson = Join-Path $tempPath "DownloadedTestApps.json"
+ConvertTo-Json $downloadedApps -Depth 99 -Compress | Out-File -Encoding UTF8 -FilePath $downloadedAppsJson
+ConvertTo-Json $downloadedTestApps -Depth 99 -Compress | Out-File -Encoding UTF8 -FilePath $downloadedTestAppsJson
 
-Add-Content -Encoding UTF8 -Path $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT -Value "DownloadedApps=$DownloadedAppsJson"
-Add-Content -Encoding UTF8 -Path $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT -Value "DownloadedTestApps=$DownloadedTestAppsJson"
+Add-Content -Encoding UTF8 -Path $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT -Value "DownloadedApps=$downloadedAppsJson"
+Add-Content -Encoding UTF8 -Path $env:GITHUB_OUTPUT -Value "DownloadedTestApps=$downloadedTestAppsJson"

From 129237cc123fb93ce245b625aeb8fe4392dd600c Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alexander Holstrup <117829001+aholstrup1@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2025 09:30:56 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 08/11] Docs

---
 Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/README.md   | 4 ++--
 Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/action.yaml | 4 ++--
 2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/README.md b/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/README.md
index 4df0bc14b6..4892918f1f 100644
--- a/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/README.md
+++ b/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/README.md
@@ -37,5 +37,5 @@ The action constructs arrays of paths to .app files, that are dependencies of th
 
 | Name | Description |
 | :-- | :-- |
-| DownloadedApps | A JSON-formatted list of paths to .app files, that dependencies of the apps |
-| DownloadedTestApps | A JSON-formatted list of paths to .app files, that dependencies of the test apps |
+| DownloadedApps | A path to a JSON-formatted list of apps to install |
+| DownloadedTestApps | A path to a JSON-formatted list of test apps to install |
diff --git a/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/action.yaml b/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/action.yaml
index 4c85e1d3a3..befff9c37b 100644
--- a/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/action.yaml
+++ b/Actions/DownloadProjectDependencies/action.yaml
@@ -21,10 +21,10 @@ inputs:
     default: '0'
 outputs:
   DownloadedApps:
-    description: A JSON-formatted array of paths to .app files of the apps that were downloaded
+    description: A path to a JSON-formatted list of apps to install
     value: ${{ steps.DownloadDependencies.outputs.DownloadedApps }}
   DownloadedTestApps:
-    description: A JSON-formatted array of paths to .app files of the test apps that were downloaded
+    description: A path to a JSON-formatted list of test apps to install
     value: ${{ steps.DownloadDependencies.outputs.DownloadedTestApps }}
 runs:
   using: composite

From d79513333a2b807429064dc674bcdde59248f1af Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alexander Holstrup <117829001+aholstrup1@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2025 13:08:44 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 09/11] Add note about issues with large environment variables

---
 RELEASENOTES.md | 3 +++
 1 file changed, 3 insertions(+)

diff --git a/RELEASENOTES.md b/RELEASENOTES.md
index 3d36f7f5d5..950f38702f 100644
--- a/RELEASENOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASENOTES.md
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+### Issues
+- AL-Go repositories with large amounts of projects may run into issues with too large environment variables
+
 ## v8.1
 
 ### Custom AL-Go files

From 27d364e7bc64717ceab12ec909694e6096f40f15 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alexander Holstrup <117829001+aholstrup1@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2025 14:17:59 +0100
Subject: [PATCH 10/11] Apply suggestion from @mazhelez

Co-authored-by: Maria Zhelezova <43066499+mazhelez@users.noreply.github.com>
---
 RELEASENOTES.md | 1 -
 1 file changed, 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/RELEASENOTES.md b/RELEASENOTES.md
index 950f38702f..3db5254581 100644
--- a/RELEASENOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASENOTES.md
@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ Read more at [workflowDefaultInputs](https://aka.ms/algosettings#workflowDefault
 - Issue 2016 Running Update AL-Go system files with branches wildcard `*` tries to update _origin_
 - Issue 1960 Deploy Reference Documentation fails
 - Discussion 1952 Set default values on workflow_dispatch input
-- AL-Go repositories with large amounts of projects may run into issues with too large environment variables
 
 ### Deprecations
 

From baf39036167e1fc53599d50eb6ec66fca5c9a107 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Alexander Holstrup <117829001+aholstrup1@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Dec 2025 13:48:55 +0000
Subject: [PATCH 11/11] pre-commit

---
 RELEASENOTES.md | 1 +
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+)

diff --git a/RELEASENOTES.md b/RELEASENOTES.md
index 3db5254581..609e1dbb2a 100644
--- a/RELEASENOTES.md
+++ b/RELEASENOTES.md
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 ### Issues
+
 - AL-Go repositories with large amounts of projects may run into issues with too large environment variables
 
 ## v8.1