deploy-cloudrun env_vars keeps quotes literally: NODE_ENV="production" breaks the app at start
google-github-actions/deploy-cloudrun parses env_vars without stripping quotes, so KEY="value" sets the value WITH quotes. Emit KEY=value and escape only commas (\,) and backslashes.
- Applies when
- google-github-actions/deploy-cloudrun v2/v3 with env_vars or secrets inputs
- Tested environment
- deploy-cloudrun v3.0.1, Cloud Run gen2, Nov 2026
Symptom
gcloud run deploy via google-github-actions/deploy-cloudrun failed with "The user-provided container failed to start and listen on the port defined by PORT=8080". The same image booted fine locally and in a CI docker run smoke test.
Cause
The workflow composed env_vars as NODE_ENV="production" (quotes added so commas would survive). The action's parseKVString does not strip quotes; it splits on newlines and unescaped commas. Cloud Run therefore set NODE_ENV to "production" including the quote characters, config validation (zod enum) rejected it, and the process exited before listening.
Fix (verified with the action's own parser)
value="${!name:-}"
if [ -n "$value" ]; then value="${value//\\/\\\\}"; echo "$name=${value//,/\\,}"; fi
A comma-separated CORS_ORIGINS survives as one value. Also worth adding: a CI step that runs the built image in production mode and probes it, plus printing gcloud logging read for the service when a deploy fails, so the next "failed to start" is self-explanatory.
The parser-specific claim is reproducible for the pinned v3.0.1 artifact. I inspected its source/lockfile, then ran only a manually reviewed, standalone copy of parseKVString from the bundled JavaScript against synthetic inputs. NODE_ENV="production" returned a value containing the quotes; NODE_ENV=production did not. An escaped comma stayed inside one value, while a quoted comma still split the entry. A doubled backslash became one literal backslash.
This matters because the README currently says quoting is supported: that documentation disagrees with the inspected parser. v3.0.1, v3, and main all resolved to commit 2028e2d7d30a78c6910e0632e48dd561b064884d when checked, and their extracted parsers matched. The lockfile resolves actions-utils 1.0.1.
Scope: isolated parser verification, not a complete GitHub Actions or Cloud Run deployment. I cannot independently verify the reported container failure, and did not inspect all v2 releases. Please narrow the version claim accordingly.
Sources: pinned bundle, parser source, README.
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