Github Actions

GitHub Actions Skill

This skill helps write and modify GitHub Actions workflows and custom actions.

Workflow Basics

Workflows are YAML files stored in .github/workflows/. They define automated processes triggered by events.

Minimal Workflow Structure

name: CI                          # Optional: Display name
on: push                          # Trigger event(s)
jobs:
  build:                          # Job ID (must be unique)
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest        # Runner environment
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v5 # Use an action
      - run: echo "Hello"         # Run a command

Triggers (on:)

Common Events

on: push                              # Any push
on: [push, pull_request]              # Multiple events
on:
  push:
    branches: [main, 'releases/**']   # Branch filter
    paths: ['src/**']                 # Path filter
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]      # Activity types
  workflow_dispatch:                  # Manual trigger
    inputs:
      environment:
        description: 'Deploy target'
        required: true
        type: choice
        options: [dev, staging, prod]
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 0 * * *'               # Daily at midnight UTC

Key Events Reference

Jobs

Job Dependencies and Outputs

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      version: ${{ steps.version.outputs.value }}
    steps:
      - id: version
        run: echo "value=1.0.0" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"

  deploy:
    needs: build                      # Depends on build job
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: echo "Deploying ${{ needs.build.outputs.version }}"

Job Conditions

jobs:
  deploy:
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

Matrix Strategy

jobs:
  test:
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]
        node: [18, 20]
        exclude:
          - os: windows-latest
            node: 18
        include:
          - os: ubuntu-latest
            node: 20
            coverage: true
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node }}

Steps

Using Actions

steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v5           # Public action (owner/repo@ref)
  - uses: actions/checkout@8f4b7f84...  # Pin to commit SHA (most secure)
  - uses: ./.github/actions/my-action   # Local action
  - uses: docker://alpine:3.8           # Docker image

Running Commands

steps:
  - run: npm install
  - run: |
      echo "Multi-line"
      echo "commands"
    shell: bash
    working-directory: ./app

Step Conditions

steps:
  - run: echo "Always runs"
    if: always()

  - run: echo "On failure"
    if: failure()

  - run: echo "Main branch only"
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'

  - run: echo "Not cancelled"
    if: ${{ !cancelled() }}

Expressions and Contexts

Expression Syntax

Use ${{ expression }} to evaluate expressions. In if: conditions, ${{ }} is optional.

Common Contexts

Useful Expressions

# Context access
${{ github.event_name }}
${{ github.ref_name }}
${{ github.sha }}
${{ github.actor }}

# Conditionals
${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' }}
${{ contains(github.event.head_commit.message, '[skip ci]') }}
${{ startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/') }}

# Default values
${{ github.head_ref || github.run_id }}

# JSON manipulation
${{ toJSON(github.event) }}
${{ fromJSON(needs.job1.outputs.matrix) }}

Built-in Functions

Secrets and Variables

Accessing Secrets

steps:
  - run: echo "Token: $TOKEN"
    env:
      TOKEN: ${{ secrets.MY_TOKEN }}

  - uses: some-action@v1
    with:
      api-key: ${{ secrets.API_KEY }}

Environment Variables

env:                              # Workflow-level
  NODE_ENV: production

jobs:
  build:
    env:                          # Job-level
      CI: true
    steps:
      - run: echo $MY_VAR
        env:                      # Step-level
          MY_VAR: value

Setting Outputs

steps:
  - id: set-output
    run: echo "result=success" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"

  - run: echo "${{ steps.set-output.outputs.result }}"

Runners

Common labels: ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest. Self-hosted: runs-on: [self-hosted, linux, x64]. See references/RUNNERS.md for full specs.

Permissions

permissions:
  contents: read
  pull-requests: write
  id-token: write         # Required for OIDC

# Or disable all
permissions: {}

Concurrency

concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

Artifacts and Caching

Upload/Download Artifacts

- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
  with:
    name: build-output
    path: dist/

- uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
  with:
    name: build-output

Dependency Caching

- uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: ~/.npm
    key: ${{ runner.os }}-npm-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
    restore-keys: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-npm-

Environments

jobs:
  deploy:
    environment:
      name: production
      url: https://example.com
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

Reusable Workflows

Calling a Reusable Workflow

jobs:
  call-workflow:
    uses: owner/repo/.github/workflows/reusable.yml@main
    with:
      input1: value
    secrets:
      token: ${{ secrets.TOKEN }}

Creating a Reusable Workflow

on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      environment:
        required: true
        type: string
    secrets:
      token:
        required: true

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: echo "Deploying to ${{ inputs.environment }}"
        env:
          TOKEN: ${{ secrets.token }}

Common Patterns

Checkout and Setup

steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v5
  - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
    with:
      node-version: '20'
      cache: 'npm'
  - run: npm ci

Conditional on File Changes

on:
  push:
    paths:
      - 'src/**'
      - '!src/**/*.md'

Run on Tag Push

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'

Workflow Commands Quick Reference

# Step outputs (use in later steps via steps.<id>.outputs.<name>)
echo "name=value" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"

# Set environment variable for subsequent steps
echo "VAR_NAME=value" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"

# Job summary (supports markdown)
echo "### Build Results :rocket:" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
echo "| Test | Status |" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
echo "| --- | --- |" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"
echo "| Unit | Passed |" >> "$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY"

# Add to PATH for subsequent steps
echo "/path/to/tool" >> "$GITHUB_PATH"

# Log annotations
echo "::error file=app.js,line=10::Something failed"
echo "::warning::Deprecation notice"
echo "::notice::FYI message"

# Mask a value from logs
echo "::add-mask::$SECRET_VALUE"

See references/WORKFLOW-COMMANDS.md for full details including ::group::, ::debug::, multiline values, and GITHUB_STATE.

Key Limits

See references/LIMITS.md for full limits including API rates and storage quotas.

Troubleshooting

1. Workflow not triggering: Check branch/path filters, verify file is in .github/workflows/
2. Permission denied: Add required permissions: block
3. Secret not found: Verify secret name matches exactly (case-sensitive)
4. Step output empty: Ensure using >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT" (not deprecated set-output)
5. Matrix job failing: Check exclude/include syntax and values
6. Debug logging: Re-run workflow with ACTIONS_RUNNER_DEBUG: true or ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG: true

References

Core:

• references/WORKFLOW-SYNTAX.md - Full workflow YAML syntax
• references/EXPRESSIONS.md - Contexts, functions, operators
• references/TRIGGERS.md - Event types and filtering
• references/WORKFLOW-COMMANDS.md - GITHUB_OUTPUT, GITHUB_ENV, annotations, job summaries
• references/LIMITS.md - Time limits, quotas, rate limits by plan

Build and deploy:

• references/ACTIONS.md - Creating custom actions (JS, Docker, composite)
• references/RUNNERS.md - Runner specs, self-hosted configuration
• references/PATTERNS.md - Common workflow patterns
• references/LANGUAGE-CI.md - CI setup per language (Node, Python, Java, Go, Rust, Ruby, .NET, Swift)
• references/PUBLISHING.md - Publish to npm, PyPI, Docker Hub, GHCR, Maven Central
• references/CLOUD-DEPLOYMENTS.md - Deploy to AWS, Azure, GCP with OIDC

Security and ops:

• references/SECURITY.md - Secrets, OIDC (AWS/Azure/GCP), attestations, script injection
• references/MIGRATION.md - Migrate from Jenkins, Travis CI, CircleCI, GitLab, Azure DevOps
• references/ENTERPRISE.md - ARC, runner groups, larger runners, billing, private networking