Rewrite readmes (#1085)

* Improve readmes

* Add markdown for default value

Co-authored-by: Sankalp Kotewar <98868223+kotewar@users.noreply.github.com>

---------

Co-authored-by: Sankalp Kotewar <98868223+kotewar@users.noreply.github.com>

README.md

@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
-# cache
+# Cache action
 
 This action allows caching dependencies and build outputs to improve workflow execution time.
 
-In addition to this `cache` action, other two actions are also available
+Two other actions are available in addition to the primary `cache` action:
 
-[Restore action](./restore/README.md)
+* [Restore action](./restore/README.md)
 
-[Save action](./save/README.md)
+* [Save action](./save/README.md)
 
 [![Tests](https://github.com/actions/cache/actions/workflows/workflow.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/actions/cache/actions/workflows/workflow.yml)
 
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ See ["Caching dependencies to speed up workflows"](https://docs.github.com/en/ac
 
 ### v3
 
-* Added support for caching from GHES 3.5.
+* Added support for caching in GHES 3.5+.
 * Fixed download issue for files > 2GB during restore.
 * Updated the minimum runner version support from node 12 -> node 16.
 * Fixed avoiding empty cache save when no files are available for caching.
@@ -28,29 +28,29 @@ See ["Caching dependencies to speed up workflows"](https://docs.github.com/en/ac
 * Fixed the download stuck problem by introducing a timeout of 1 hour for cache downloads.
 * Fix zstd not working for windows on gnu tar in issues.
 * Allowing users to provide a custom timeout as input for aborting download of a cache segment using an environment variable `SEGMENT_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MINS`. Default is 60 minutes.
-* Two new actions available for granular control over caches - [restore](restore/action.yml) and [save](save/action.yml)
+* New actions are available for granular control over caches - [restore](restore/action.yml) and [save](save/action.yml).
 * Support cross-os caching as an opt-in feature. See [Cross OS caching](./tips-and-workarounds.md#cross-os-cache) for more info.
 * Added option to fail job on cache miss. See [Exit workflow on cache miss](./restore/README.md#exit-workflow-on-cache-miss) for more info.
 
-Refer [here](https://github.com/actions/cache/blob/v2/README.md) for previous versions
+See the [v2 README.md](https://github.com/actions/cache/blob/v2/README.md) for older updates.
 
 ## Usage
 
 ### Pre-requisites
 
-Create a workflow `.yml` file in your repositories `.github/workflows` directory. An [example workflow](#example-cache-workflow) is available below. For more information, reference the GitHub Help Documentation for [Creating a workflow file](https://help.github.com/en/articles/configuring-a-workflow#creating-a-workflow-file).
+Create a workflow `.yml` file in your repository's `.github/workflows` directory. An [example workflow](#example-cache-workflow) is available below. For more information, see the GitHub Help Documentation for [Creating a workflow file](https://help.github.com/en/articles/configuring-a-workflow#creating-a-workflow-file).
 
-If you are using this inside a container, a POSIX-compliant `tar` needs to be included and accessible in the execution path.
+If you are using this inside a container, a POSIX-compliant `tar` needs to be included and accessible from the execution path.
 
 If you are using a `self-hosted` Windows runner, `GNU tar` and `zstd` are required for [Cross-OS caching](https://github.com/actions/cache/blob/main/tips-and-workarounds.md#cross-os-cache) to work. They are also recommended to be installed in general so the performance is on par with `hosted` Windows runners.
 
 ### Inputs
 
+* `key` - An explicit key for a cache entry. See [creating a cache key](#creating-a-cache-key).
 * `path` - A list of files, directories, and wildcard patterns to cache and restore. See [`@actions/glob`](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/tree/main/packages/glob) for supported patterns.
-* `key` - An explicit key for restoring and saving the cache. Refer [creating a cache key](#creating-a-cache-key).
 * `restore-keys` - An ordered list of prefix-matched keys to use for restoring stale cache if no cache hit occurred for key.
-* `enableCrossOsArchive` - An optional boolean when enabled, allows Windows runners to save or restore caches that can be restored or saved respectively on other platforms. Default: false
+* `enableCrossOsArchive` - An optional boolean when enabled, allows Windows runners to save or restore caches that can be restored or saved respectively on other platforms. Default: `false`
-* `fail-on-cache-miss` - Fail the workflow if cache entry is not found. Default: false
+* `fail-on-cache-miss` - Fail the workflow if cache entry is not found. Default: `false`
 
 #### Environment Variables
 
@@ -60,13 +60,13 @@ If you are using a `self-hosted` Windows runner, `GNU tar` and `zstd` are requir
 
 * `cache-hit` - A boolean value to indicate an exact match was found for the key.
 
-> Note: `cache-hit` will be set to `true` only when cache hit occurs for the exact `key` match. For a partial key match via `restore-keys` or a cache miss, it will be set to `false`.
+    > **Note** `cache-hit` will only be set to `true` when a cache hit occurs for the exact `key` match. For a partial key match via `restore-keys` or a cache miss, it will be set to `false`.
 
 See [Skipping steps based on cache-hit](#skipping-steps-based-on-cache-hit) for info on using this output
 
 ### Cache scopes
 
-The cache is scoped to the key, [version](#cache-version) and branch. The default branch cache is available to other branches.
+The cache is scoped to the key, [version](#cache-version), and branch. The default branch cache is available to other branches.
 
 See [Matching a cache key](https://help.github.com/en/actions/configuring-and-managing-workflows/caching-dependencies-to-speed-up-workflows#matching-a-cache-key) for more info.
 
@@ -101,9 +101,9 @@ jobs:
       run: /primes.sh -d prime-numbers
 ```
 
-The `cache` action provides one output `cache-hit` which is set to `true` when cache is restored using primary key and `false` when cache is restored using `restore-keys` or no cache is restored.
+The `cache` action provides a `cache-hit` output which is set to `true` when the cache is restored using the primary `key` and `false` when the cache is restored using `restore-keys` or no cache is restored.
 
-#### Using combination of restore and save actions
+#### Using a combination of restore and save actions
 
 ```yaml
 name: Caching Primes
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ jobs:
 
 ## Caching Strategies
 
-With introduction of two new actions `restore` and `save`, a lot of caching use cases can now be achieved. Please refer the [caching strategies](./caching-strategies.md) document for understanding how you can use the actions strategically to achieve the desired goal.
+With the introduction of the `restore` and `save` actions, a lot of caching use cases can now be achieved. Please see the [caching strategies](./caching-strategies.md) document for understanding how you can use the actions strategically to achieve the desired goal.
 
 ## Implementation Examples
 
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ A repository can have up to 10GB of caches. Once the 10GB limit is reached, olde
 
 ## Skipping steps based on cache-hit
 
-Using the `cache-hit` output, subsequent steps (such as install or build) can be skipped when a cache hit occurs on the key.  It is recommended to install the missing/updated dependencies in case of a partial key match when the key is dependent on the `hash` of the package file.
+Using the `cache-hit` output, subsequent steps (such as install or build) can be skipped when a cache hit occurs on the key.  It is recommended to install missing/updated dependencies in case of a partial key match when the key is dependent on the `hash` of the package file.
 
 Example:
 
@@ -235,13 +235,13 @@ steps:
     run: /install.sh
 ```
 
-> Note: The `id` defined in `actions/cache` must match the `id` in the `if` statement (i.e. `steps.[ID].outputs.cache-hit`)
+> **Note** The `id` defined in `actions/cache` must match the `id` in the `if` statement (i.e. `steps.[ID].outputs.cache-hit`)
 
 ## Cache Version
 
-Cache version is a hash [generated](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/blob/500d0b42fee2552ae9eeb5933091fe2fbf14e72d/packages/cache/src/internal/cacheHttpClient.ts#L73-L90) for a combination of compression tool used (Gzip, Zstd, etc. based on the runner OS) and the `path` of directories being cached. If two caches have different versions, they are identified as unique caches while matching. This for example, means that a cache created on `windows-latest` runner can't be restored on `ubuntu-latest` as cache `Version`s are different.
+Cache version is a hash [generated](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/blob/500d0b42fee2552ae9eeb5933091fe2fbf14e72d/packages/cache/src/internal/cacheHttpClient.ts#L73-L90) for a combination of compression tool used (Gzip, Zstd, etc. based on the runner OS) and the `path` of directories being cached. If two caches have different versions, they are identified as unique caches while matching. This, for example, means that a cache created on a `windows-latest` runner can't be restored on `ubuntu-latest` as cache `Version`s are different.
 
-> Pro tip: [List caches](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/actions/cache#list-github-actions-caches-for-a-repository) API can be used to get the version of a cache. This can be helpful to troubleshoot cache miss due to version.
+> Pro tip: The [list caches](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/actions/cache#list-github-actions-caches-for-a-repository) API can be used to get the version of a cache. This can be helpful to troubleshoot cache miss due to version.
 
 <details>
   <summary>Example</summary>
@@ -297,7 +297,7 @@ jobs:
 
 ## Known practices and workarounds
 
-Following are some of the known practices/workarounds which community has used to fulfill specific requirements. You may choose to use them if suits your use case. Note these are not necessarily the only or the recommended solution.
+There are a number of community practices/workarounds to fulfill specific requirements. You may choose to use them if they suit your use case. Note these are not necessarily the only solution or even a recommended solution.
 
 * [Cache segment restore timeout](./tips-and-workarounds.md#cache-segment-restore-timeout)
 * [Update a cache](./tips-and-workarounds.md#update-a-cache)
@@ -307,11 +307,11 @@ Following are some of the known practices/workarounds which community has used t
 
 ### Windows environment variables
 
-Please note that Windows environment variables (like `%LocalAppData%`) will NOT be expanded by this action. Instead, prefer using `~` in your paths which will expand to HOME directory. For example, instead of `%LocalAppData%`, use `~\AppData\Local`. For a list of supported default environment variables, see [this](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/environment-variables) page.
+Please note that Windows environment variables (like `%LocalAppData%`) will NOT be expanded by this action. Instead, prefer using `~` in your paths which will expand to the HOME directory. For example, instead of `%LocalAppData%`, use `~\AppData\Local`. For a list of supported default environment variables, see the [Learn GitHub Actions: Variables](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/variables#default-environment-variables) page.
 
 ## Contributing
 
-We would love for you to contribute to `actions/cache`, pull requests are welcome! Please see the [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for more information.
+We would love for you to contribute to `actions/cache`. Pull requests are welcome! Please see the [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for more information.
 
 ## License
 

caching-strategies.md

@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 # Caching Strategies
 
-This document lists some of the strategies (and example workflows if possible) which can be used
+This document lists some of the strategies (and example workflows if possible) which can be used to ...
 
-- to use an effective cache key and/or path
+- use an effective cache key and/or path
-- to solve some common use cases around saving and restoring caches
+- solve some common use cases around saving and restoring caches
-- to leverage the step inputs and outputs more effectively
+- leverage the step inputs and outputs more effectively
 
 ## Choosing the right key
 
@@ -118,7 +118,7 @@ Home directory (`~/`) = `C:\Users\runneradmin`
 `process.env['RUNNER_TEMP']` = `D:\a\_temp`
 `process.cwd()` = `D:\a\repo\repo`
 
-#### MacOS Paths
+#### macOS Paths
 
 Home directory (`~/`) = `/Users/runner`
 `${{ github.workspace }}` = `/Users/runner/work/repo/repo`

examples.md

@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ With `actions/cache@v3` you can now exclude unwanted packages with [exclude patt
 ```
 
 Or you could move the cache folder like below.
->Note: This workflow does not work for projects that require files to be placed in user profile package folder
+> **Note** This workflow does not work for projects that require files to be placed in user profile package folder
 
 ```yaml
 env:
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ We cache the elements of the Cabal store separately, as the entirety of `~/.caba
 
 ## Java - Gradle
 
->Note: Ensure no Gradle daemons are running anymore when your workflow completes. Creating the cache package might fail due to locks being held by Gradle. Refer to the [Gradle Daemon documentation](https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/gradle_daemon.html) on how to disable or stop the Gradle Daemons.
+> **Note** Ensure no Gradle daemons are running anymore when your workflow completes. Creating the cache package might fail due to locks being held by Gradle. Refer to the [Gradle Daemon documentation](https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/gradle_daemon.html) on how to disable or stop the Gradle Daemons.
 
 ```yaml
 - uses: actions/cache@v3
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ For npm, cache files are stored in `~/.npm` on Posix, or `~\AppData\npm-cache` o
 If using `npm config` to retrieve the cache directory, ensure you run [actions/setup-node](https://github.com/actions/setup-node) first to ensure your `npm` version is correct.
 After [deprecation](https://github.blog/changelog/2022-10-11-github-actions-deprecating-save-state-and-set-output-commands/) of save-state and set-output commands, the correct way to set output is using `${GITHUB_OUTPUT}`. For linux, we can use `${GITHUB_OUTPUT}` whereas for windows we need to use `${env:GITHUB_OUTPUT}` due to two different default shells in these two different OS ie `bash` and `pwsh` respectively.
 
->Note: It is not recommended to cache `node_modules`, as it can break across Node versions and won't work with `npm ci`
+> **Note** It is not recommended to cache `node_modules`, as it can break across Node versions and won't work with `npm ci`
 
 ### **Get npm cache directory using same shell**
 ### Bash shell
@@ -508,7 +508,7 @@ jobs:
 
 ### Using pip to get cache location
 
-> Note: This requires pip 20.1+
+> **Note** This requires pip 20.1+
 ```yaml
 - name: Get pip cache dir
   id: pip-cache

restore/README.md

@@ -1,25 +1,27 @@
 # Restore action
 
-The restore action, as the name suggest, restores a cache. It acts similar to the `cache` action except that it doesn't have a post step to save the cache. This action can provide you a granular control to only restore a cache without having to necessarily save it.  It accepts the same set of inputs as the `cache` action.
+The restore action restores a cache. It works similarly to the `cache` action except that it doesn't have a post step to save the cache. This action provides granular ability to restore a cache without having to save it. It accepts the same set of inputs as the `cache` action.
 
-## Inputs
+## Documentation
 
-* `path` - A list of files, directories, and wildcard patterns to cache and restore. See [`@actions/glob`](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/tree/main/packages/glob) for supported patterns.
+### Inputs
-* `key` - String used while saving cache for restoring the cache
+
+* `key` - An explicit key for a cache entry. See [creating a cache key](../README.md#creating-a-cache-key).
+* `path` - A list of files, directories, and wildcard patterns to restore. See [`@actions/glob`](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/tree/main/packages/glob) for supported patterns.
 * `restore-keys` - An ordered list of prefix-matched keys to use for restoring stale cache if no cache hit occurred for key.
 * `fail-on-cache-miss` - Fail the workflow if cache entry is not found. Default: false
 
-## Outputs
+### Outputs
 
 * `cache-hit` - A boolean value to indicate an exact match was found for the key. 
 * `cache-primary-key` - Cache primary key passed in the input to use in subsequent steps of the workflow.
-* `cache-matched-key` -  Key of the cache that was restored, it could either be the primary key on cache-hit or a partial/complete match of one of the restore keys.
+* `cache-matched-key` - Key of the cache that was restored, it could either be the primary key on cache-hit or a partial/complete match of one of the restore keys.
 
 > **Note**
 `cache-hit` will be set to `true` only when cache hit occurs for the exact `key` match. For a partial key match via `restore-keys` or a cache miss, it will be set to `false`.
 
 ### Environment Variables
-* `SEGMENT_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MINS` - Segment download timeout (in minutes, default `60`) to abort download of the segment if not completed in the defined number of minutes. [Read more](https://github.com/actions/cache/blob/main/workarounds.md#cache-segment-restore-timeout)
+* `SEGMENT_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MINS` - Segment download timeout (in minutes, default `60`) to abort download of the segment if not completed in the defined number of minutes. [Read more](https://github.com/actions/cache/blob/main/tips-and-workarounds.md#cache-segment-restore-timeout)
 
 ## Use cases
 
@@ -27,7 +29,7 @@ As this is a newly introduced action to give users more control in their workflo
 
 ### Only restore cache
 
-In case you are using another workflow to create and save your cache that can be reused by other jobs in your repository, this action will take care of your restore only needs.
+If you are using separate jobs to create and save your cache(s) to be reused by other jobs in a repository, this action will take care of your cache restoring needs.
 
 ```yaml
 steps:
@@ -50,11 +52,11 @@ steps:
     run: /publish.sh
 ```
 
-Once the cache is restored, this action won't run any post step to do post-processing like `actions/cache` and the rest of the workflow will run as usual.
+Once the cache is restored, unlike `actions/cache`, this action won't run a post step to do post-processing, and the rest of the workflow will run as usual.
 
 ### Save intermediate private build artifacts
 
-In case of multi-module projects, where the built artifact of one project needs to be reused in subsequent child modules, the need of rebuilding the parent module again and again with every build can be eliminated. The `actions/cache` or `actions/cache/save` action can be used to build and save the parent module artifact once, and restored multiple times while building the child modules.
+In case of multi-module projects, where the built artifact of one project needs to be reused in subsequent child modules, the need to rebuild the parent module again and again with every build can be eliminated. The `actions/cache` or `actions/cache/save` action can be used to build and save the parent module artifact once, and it can be restored multiple times while building the child modules.
 
 
 #### Step 1 - Build the parent module and save it
@@ -96,7 +98,9 @@ steps:
 
 ### Exit workflow on cache miss
 
-You can use `fail-on-cache-miss: true` to exit the workflow on a cache miss. This way you can restrict your workflow to only initiate the build when a cache is matched. Also, if you want to fail if cache did not match primary key, additionally leave `restore-keys` empty!
+You can use `fail-on-cache-miss: true` to exit a workflow on a cache miss. This way you can restrict your workflow to only build when there is a `cache-hit`.
+
+To fail if there is no cache hit for the primary key, leave `restore-keys` empty!
 
 ```yaml
 steps:
@@ -118,7 +122,7 @@ steps:
 
 #### Reusing primary key and restored key in the save action
 
-Usually you may want to use same `key` in both `actions/cache/restore` and `actions/cache/save` action. To achieve this, use `outputs` from the restore action to reuse the same primary key (or the key of the cache that was restored).
+Usually you may want to use the same `key` with both `actions/cache/restore` and `actions/cache/save` actions. To achieve this, use `outputs` from the `restore` action to reuse the same primary key (or the key of the cache that was restored).
 
 #### Using restore action outputs to make save action behave just like the cache action
 

save/README.md

@@ -1,14 +1,16 @@
 # Save action
 
-The save action, as the name suggest, saves a cache. It acts similar to the `cache` action except that it doesn't necessarily first do a restore. This action can provide you a granular control to only save a cache without having to necessarily restore it, or to do a restore anywhere in the workflow job and not only in post phase.
+The save action saves a cache. It works similarly to the `cache` action except that it doesn't first do a restore. This action provides granular ability to save a cache without having to restore it, or to do a save at any stage of the workflow job -- not only in post phase.
 
-## Inputs
+## Documentation
 
-* `key` - 'An explicit key for saving the cache'
+### Inputs
-* `path` - 'A list of files, directories, and wildcard patterns to cache'
-* `upload-chunk-size` - 'The chunk size used to split up large files during upload, in bytes'
 
-## Outputs
+* `key` - An explicit key for a cache entry. See [creating a cache key](../README.md#creating-a-cache-key).
+* `path` - A list of files, directories, and wildcard patterns to cache. See [`@actions/glob`](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/tree/main/packages/glob) for supported patterns.
+* `upload-chunk-size` - The chunk size used to split up large files during upload, in bytes
+
+### Outputs
 
 This action has no outputs.
 
@@ -17,7 +19,7 @@ This action has no outputs.
 
 ### Only save cache
 
-In case you are using separate jobs for generating common artifacts and sharing them across different jobs, this action will help you with your save only needs.
+If you are using separate jobs for generating common artifacts and sharing them across jobs, this action will take care of your cache saving needs.
 
 ```yaml
 steps:
@@ -39,9 +41,11 @@ steps:
 
 ### Re-evaluate cache key while saving
 
-With save action, the key can now be re-evaluated while executing the action. This helps in cases where the lockfiles are generated during the build.
+With this save action, the key can now be re-evaluated while executing the action. This helps in cases where lockfiles are generated during the build.
 
-Let's say we have a restore step that computes key at runtime
+Let's say we have a restore step that computes a key at runtime.
+
+#### Restore a cache
 
 ```yaml
 uses: actions/cache/restore@v3
@@ -50,14 +54,15 @@ with:
     key: cache-${{ hashFiles('**/lockfiles') }}
 ```
 
-Case 1: Where an user would want to reuse the key as it is
+#### Case 1 - Where a user would want to reuse the key as it is
 ```yaml
 uses: actions/cache/save@v3
 with:
     key: ${{ steps.restore-cache.outputs.cache-primary-key }}
 ```
 
-Case 2: Where the user would want to re-evaluate the key
+#### Case 2 - Where the user would want to re-evaluate the key
+
 ```yaml
 uses: actions/cache/save@v3
 with:
@@ -66,7 +71,7 @@ with:
 
 ### Always save cache
 
-There are instances where some flaky test cases would fail the entire workflow and users would get frustrated because the builds would run for hours and the cache couldn't get saved as the workflow failed in between. For such use-cases, users would now have the ability to use `actions/cache/save` action to save the cache by using `if: always()` condition. This way the cache will always be saved if generated, or a warning will be thrown that nothing is found on the cache path. Users can also use the `if` condition to only execute the `actions/cache/save` action depending on the output of the previous steps. This way they get more control on when to save the cache.
+There are instances where some flaky test cases would fail the entire workflow and users would get frustrated because the builds would run for hours and the cache couldn't be saved as the workflow failed in between. For such use-cases, users now have the ability to use the `actions/cache/save` action to save the cache by using an `if: always()` condition. This way the cache will always be saved if generated, or a warning will be generated that nothing is found on the cache path. Users can also use the `if` condition to only execute the `actions/cache/save` action depending on the output of previous steps. This way they get more control of when to save the cache.
 
 ```yaml
 steps: