diff --git a/.ci/diff-report.sh b/.ci/diff-report.sh
index 4786980a26fc..cd691cc57581 100755
--- a/.ci/diff-report.sh
+++ b/.ci/diff-report.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
+set -x
 
 source ./.ci/util.sh
 
@@ -12,6 +13,7 @@ download-files)
 
   # check for projects link from PR, if not found use default from contribution repo
   LINK="${LINK_FROM_PR:-$DEFAULT_PROJECTS_LINK}"
+  echo "LINK: $LINK"
 
   # get projects file
   curl --fail-with-body -X GET "${LINK}" \
diff --git a/.github/workflows/diff-report.yml b/.github/workflows/diff-report.yml
index d2b5dfb7416a..9f8981da8089 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/diff-report.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/diff-report.yml
@@ -75,32 +75,37 @@ jobs:
       - name: Parsing content of PR description
         id: parse
         run: |
-          grep "^Diff Regression projects:" text | cat > temp
-          sed 's/Diff Regression projects: //' temp > projects_link
-          ./.ci/append-to-github-output.sh "projects_link" "$(cat projects_link)"
+          PROJECTS_LINK=$(grep "^Diff Regression projects:" text | cat \
+            | sed 's/Diff Regression projects: //')
+          echo "projects_link=${PROJECTS_LINK}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-          grep "^Diff Regression config:" text | cat > temp
-          sed 's/Diff Regression config: //' temp > config_link
-          ./.ci/append-to-github-output.sh "config_link" "$(cat config_link)"
+          CONFIG_LINK=$(grep "^Diff Regression config:" text | cat \
+            | sed 's/Diff Regression config: //')
+          echo "config_link=${CONFIG_LINK}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-          grep "^New module config:" text | cat > temp
-          sed 's/New module config: //' temp > new_module_config_link
-          ./.ci/append-to-github-output.sh "new_module_config_link" "$(cat new_module_config_link)"
+          NEW_MODULE_CONFIG_LINK=$(grep "^New module config:" text | cat \
+            | sed 's/New module config: //')
+          echo "new_module_config_link=${NEW_MODULE_CONFIG_LINK}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-          grep "^Diff Regression patch config:" text | cat > temp
-          sed 's/Diff Regression patch config: //' temp > patch_config_link
-          ./.ci/append-to-github-output.sh "patch_config_link" "$(cat patch_config_link)"
+          PATCH_CONFIG_LINK=$(grep "^Diff Regression patch config:" text | cat \
+            | sed 's/Diff Regression patch config: //')
+          echo "patch_config_link=${PATCH_CONFIG_LINK}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-          grep "^Report label:" text | cat > temp
-          sed 's/Report label: //' temp > report_label
-          ./.ci/append-to-github-output.sh "report_label" "$(cat report_label)"
+          REPORT_LABEL=$(grep "^Report label:" text | cat \
+            | sed 's/Report label: //')
+          echo "report_label=${REPORT_LABEL}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+          echo "GITHUB_OUTPUT:"
+          # need to 'echo' to see output in Github CI
+          # shellcheck disable=SC2005
+          echo "$(cat "$GITHUB_OUTPUT")"
 
       - name: Set branch
         id: branch
         run: |
-          ./.ci/append-to-github-output.sh "ref" "$(cat branch)"
+          echo "ref=$(cat branch)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           # shellcheck disable=SC2002
-          ./.ci/append-to-github-output.sh "commit_sha" "$(cat commit_sha | cut -c 1-7)"
+          echo "commit_sha=$(cat commit_sha | cut -c 1-7)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
           echo "GITHUB_OUTPUT:"
           # need to 'echo' to see output in Github CI