deployment.yml doesn't use its INPUTS input, and custom workflows share the caller's concurrency group

Found while reviewing #3448 (inputs, concurrency).

Problems

deployment.yml doesn't use its INPUTS input. The Process inputs step only reads it when GITHUB_EVENT_NAME is workflow_call, but in a called workflow that is the caller's event, so the check never matches. It reads the triggering workflow's github.event.inputs instead. The current callers (custom-staging.yml, custom-deploy.yml and deploy.yml) pass those same values as INPUTS, so deployments get the right inputs either way, but the INPUTS plumbing goes unused.
In a called workflow github.workflow is the caller's name, so custom-review.yml, custom-staging.yml and custom-deploy.yml use the calling workflow's concurrency group. A caller that sets the common ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }} group shares it with them, and a single calling workflow that uses two of them on the same ref cancels its own runs. No custom project sets a group today; the headers warn about it instead.

Proposed fix

The attached patch applies on top of #3448 and is untested:

deployment.yml reads only INPUTS. Booleans and numbers from toJSON(inputs) are written as JSON (true, not True), so the outputs match what github.event.inputs gave.
The three custom workflows prefix their concurrency group with their own name, and the header warnings are removed.
After merging, the deadlock paragraph in the CI/CD pipeline guide can go.

To verify: a manual deploy.yml run with CLEAN_INSTALL on and off, a custom-deploy.yml run from a custom project, and a custom-staging.yml push with a deploy entry.

Proposed patch

diff --git a/.github/workflows/custom-deploy.yml b/.github/workflows/custom-deploy.yml
index 5d515de55..7f22451ec 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/custom-deploy.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/custom-deploy.yml
@@ -17,8 +17,7 @@
 # - OR_HOSTNAME           - FQDN of host to deploy to (e.g. demo.openremote.app)
 # - OR_ADMIN_PASSWORD     - The admin password to set for clean installs
 #
-# The calling workflow must be on the default branch before it can be triggered from the GitHub UI, and must not use
-# the same concurrency group as this workflow, GitHub cancels the run as a deadlock.
+# The calling workflow must be on the default branch before it can be triggered from the GitHub UI.
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 name: Custom deploy
@@ -30,7 +29,8 @@ on:
         type: string
 
 concurrency:
-  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  # In a called workflow github.workflow is the caller's name, the prefix keeps this group apart from the caller's
+  group: custom-deploy-${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/custom-review.yml b/.github/workflows/custom-review.yml
index 425c63130..13c10016d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/custom-review.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/custom-review.yml
@@ -7,8 +7,6 @@
 # - Running unit and integration tests
 #
 # Jobs are skipped based on which files changed (see the detect-changes job).
-#
-# The calling workflow must not use the same concurrency group as this workflow, GitHub cancels the run as a deadlock.
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 name: Custom review
@@ -20,7 +18,8 @@ on:
         type: string
 
 concurrency:
-  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  # In a called workflow github.workflow is the caller's name, the prefix keeps this group apart from the caller's
+  group: custom-review-${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/custom-staging.yml b/.github/workflows/custom-staging.yml
index f415dfb49..e461118c4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/custom-staging.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/custom-staging.yml
@@ -8,8 +8,6 @@
 # Without such an entry the deployment job is skipped, use custom-deploy.yml for manual deployments. An entry without
 # an environment, e.g. { "push": { "main": { "deploy": {} } } }, only uses '.ci_cd/env/.env' and secrets without an
 # environment prefix.
-#
-# The calling workflow must not use the same concurrency group as this workflow, GitHub cancels the run as a deadlock.
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 name: Custom staging
@@ -21,7 +19,8 @@ on:
         type: string
 
 concurrency:
-  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  # In a called workflow github.workflow is the caller's name, the prefix keeps this group apart from the caller's
+  group: custom-staging-${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
 jobs:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/deployment.yml b/.github/workflows/deployment.yml
index 455508434..4649db279 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/deployment.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/deployment.yml
@@ -147,24 +147,22 @@ jobs:
           import json
 
           # Overlay all inputs and secrets onto this jobs outputs
-          callerInputs = os.getenv("CALLER_INPUTS")
           inputs = os.getenv("INPUTS")
-          eventName = os.getenv("GITHUB_EVENT_NAME")
 
           if inputs is not None and inputs != '':
             inputs = json.loads(inputs)
-          if eventName == 'workflow_call' and callerInputs is not None and callerInputs != 'null':
-            os.system(f"echo 'Processing caller inputs'")
-            inputs = json.loads(callerInputs)
 
-          if inputs is not None and 'INPUTS' in inputs:
+          if isinstance(inputs, dict) and 'INPUTS' in inputs:
             os.system("echo 'Processing inputs from caller'")
-            inputs = json.loads(inputs['INPUTS'])
+            inputs = json.loads(inputs['INPUTS'] or 'null')
 
           # Iterate over inputs and assign them as outputs on this step
 
-          if inputs is not None and inputs != 'null':
+          if isinstance(inputs, dict):
             for key, value in inputs.items():
+              # Output booleans and numbers as JSON, e.g. 'true' rather than 'True'
+              if not isinstance(value, str):
+                value = json.dumps(value)
               os.system(f"echo 'Outputting input: {key}'")
               lines = len(value.split("\n"))
               if lines > 1:
@@ -172,8 +170,7 @@ jobs:
               else:
                   os.system(f"echo '{key}={value}' >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT")
         env:
-          CALLER_INPUTS: ${{ inputs.INPUTS }}
-          INPUTS: ${{ toJSON(github.event.inputs) }}
+          INPUTS: ${{ inputs.INPUTS }}
 
       - name: Public IP
         id: ip-address

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deployment.yml doesn't use its INPUTS input, and custom workflows share the caller's concurrency group #3474

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deployment.yml doesn't use its INPUTS input, and custom workflows share the caller's concurrency group #3474

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Ekhorn commented on Oct 23, 2026

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