UE5-Build-Project

Build, cook, stage, package and archive an Unreal project with RunUAT.

By Sector 9. Tool page | Documentation

Requirements

• A Windows runner. The step uses shell: powershell.
• Unreal Engine installed on that runner, because the action calls the engine's RunUAT.bat. In practice that means a self-hosted runner.
• Your project checked out on the runner, so UPROJECT_PATH points at a real .uproject.

Find RunUAT.bat under Engine\Build\BatchFiles in your engine install.

Usage

RUNUAT_PATH, UPROJECT_PATH and PLATFORM have no default and must be set. With only those, the action cooks and stages a Development build. It does not package or archive.

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: [self-hosted, Windows]
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: Sector9Ltd/UE5-Build-Project@0.3.1
        with:
          RUNUAT_PATH: C:\UE_5.8\Engine\Build\BatchFiles\RunUAT.bat
          UPROJECT_PATH: ${{ github.workspace }}\MyProject\MyProject.uproject
          PLATFORM: Win64

If RunUAT exits with a non-zero code, the step fails.

Inputs

Inputs are set under with:. The action compares each switch to the text true, so only true turns it on. Values are pasted into the script between double quotes, so do not put a " in one.

Name	Required	Default	Description
RUNUAT_PATH	Yes	—	Full path to RunUAT.bat in your engine install.
UPROJECT_PATH	Yes	—	Full path to the .uproject file. The action also uses its folder for the anticheat files and for DELETE_PDB.
BUILD_CONFIG	Yes	Development	Build configuration, such as Development or Shipping. Passed as both -clientconfig and -serverconfig.
PLATFORM	Yes	—	Target platform, passed as -platform. With SERVER: true it is also the -serverplatform.
CLEAN	No	false	true adds -clean.
COOK	No	true	true adds -cook.
STAGE	No	true	true adds -stage.
PACKAGE	No	false	true adds -package.
PAK	No	false	true adds -pak.
SERVER	No	false	true adds -server -serverplatform=<PLATFORM> -noclient. The -noclient flag means this run builds the dedicated server only, not the game client.
ARCHIVE	No	false	true adds -archive with -archivedirectory set to ARCHIVE_PATH.
ARCHIVE_PATH	No	—	Folder to archive into. Read only when ARCHIVE is true; set it then, because the action passes it as given even when empty.
NULLRHI	No	false	true adds -nullrhi, which runs without video output, for example on a machine with no display.
EDITOR	No	true	Compile the editor as well. Any value other than true adds -nocompileeditor.
ENCRYPT_INI	No	false	true adds -encryptinifiles.
RELEASE	No	false	A release version number. Any value other than false adds -createreleaseversion=<value>.
PATCH	No	false	The release version to base a patch on. Any value other than false adds -generatepatch -basedonreleaseversion=<value>.
MAPS	No	true	true builds all maps and passes no -map flag. A comma- or +-separated list of map names, such as MapA,MapB, builds only those maps; commas become +, the separator RunUAT reads. Passed as -map=<list>. See the note below.
DELETE_PDB	No	false	true deletes every .pdb under Saved\StagedBuilds in the project folder after a successful build.
ANTICHEAT_ENABLED	No	false	true writes the two anticheat files before the build. See the note below.
ANTICHEAT_PRIVATE_KEY	No	—	Base64-encoded private key. Written to Build\NoRedist\base_private.key in the project folder when ANTICHEAT_ENABLED is true. Pass it as a repository secret.
ANTICHEAT_PUBLIC_CERT	No	—	Base64-encoded public certificate. Written to Build\NoRedist\base_public.cer in the project folder when ANTICHEAT_ENABLED is true. Pass it as a repository secret.

MAPS: the default true builds every map, so omit it to build all maps. A list of map names, separated by commas or +, builds only those maps; the action turns commas into +, the separator RunUAT reads.

ANTICHEAT_ENABLED: true writes Build\NoRedist\base_private.key and base_public.cer in the project folder from the two Base64 inputs before the build. The keys are never put on the RunUAT command line. Pass them as ${{ secrets.NAME }}.

Outputs

None. The result is the step's pass or fail status and the files RunUAT produces.

Other UE5 Tools

• UE5-Build-Plugin: Build and package an Unreal plugin with RunUAT BuildPlugin.
• UE5-Semantic-Versioning: Work out the version and build number from Git tags and the project or plugin version.
• UE5-EOS-Config: Write Epic Online Services settings into DefaultEngine.ini, with an optional dedicated-server config.

License

See LICENSE.