laurigates GitHub Actions FinOps
Analyze GitHub Actions usage, costs, and efficiency across organizations and repositories.
When to Use This Skill
| Use this skill when... | Use X instead when... |
|---|---|
| Analyzing CI/CD costs and billing | Debugging a specific failed workflow -- use gh-workflow-monitoring |
| Identifying wasted workflow runs | Setting up new workflows -- use github-actions-workflows |
| Investigating workflow trigger patterns | Managing cache keys -- use github-actions-cache-optimization |
| Comparing efficiency across repos | Monitoring a single run -- use gh-workflow-monitoring |
Context
- Current repo URL: !
git remote -v - Workflow files: !
find . -path '*/.github/workflows/*' -maxdepth 3 -name '*.yml' -o -name '*.yaml' - Active workflows: !
gh workflow list --json id,name,state
Execution
Execute this GitHub Actions FinOps analysis:
Step 1: Determine scope
Read the Context values above. Parse $OWNER and $REPO from the current repo URL (e.g., https://github.com/OWNER/REPO.git). Run gh api repos/$OWNER/$REPO --jq '.owner.type' to determine if the owner is an "Organization" or "User". If Organization, set $GITHUB_ORG to the repo owner for org-level billing queries.
If no repo context is available, ask the user for the target organization or repository.
Step 2: Gather billing, run, and waste data
Run the deterministic data-gathering script. It fetches org-level Actions billing, groups workflow runs and aggregates per-workflow durations, counts the waste indicators (skipped / bot-triggered / high-frequency), compares them against the red-flag thresholds, and emits a static fix suggestion per flagged pattern:
bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/github-actions-finops.sh" --home-dir "$HOME" --project-dir "$(pwd)"
Pass --repo $OWNER/$REPO (and --org $GITHUB_ORG) when the script can't infer
the target from the current checkout. Parse STATUS= and ISSUES: from the
output — STATUS=WARN plus the SEVERITY=WARN TYPE=... rows are the flagged
waste patterns with their suggested fixes. BILLING_AVAILABLE=false means the
usage endpoint returned nothing — either the admin:org scope is missing or the
org has no Actions usage in the returned window (not an error either way).
Step 3: Analyze workflow files
Read each workflow file from .github/workflows/ and check for:
- Missing
concurrency:groups - Missing
paths:filters on push/PR triggers - Missing bot-trigger guards (
if: github.event.sender.type != 'Bot')
Step 4: Report findings
Synthesize a summary from the script output (Step 2) and the workflow-file findings (Step 3):
- Billing summary (if
BILLING_AVAILABLE=true):BILLING_MINUTES, plusBILLING_NET_USD(what is actually billed) andBILLING_GROSS_USD(exposure before the public-repo discount). Quote net as the spend — a public repo can show a large gross and cost nothing - Workflow run counts: from the
WORKFLOW_RUNS=/WORKFLOW_DURATION_SECONDS=lines - Waste indicators: the
SEVERITY=WARN TYPE=...rows (skipped ratio, bot triggers, high-frequency) plus the workflow-file gaps from Step 3 (missing concurrency / path filters / bot guards) - Recommendations: the script's per-pattern fix suggestions, plus the workflow-YAML fixes you identified by reading the files
API Reference
| Endpoint | Purpose | Admin Required |
|---|---|---|
/orgs/{org}/settings/billing/usage |
Actions minutes, packages, storage — all products, as per-repo line items | Yes |
/orgs/{org}/actions/cache/usage |
Org cache stats | No |
/repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/runs |
Workflow runs | No |
/repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/workflows |
Workflow definitions | No |
Agentic Optimizations
| Context | Command |
|---|---|
| Org billing | gh api "/orgs/$ORG/settings/billing/usage" --jq '[.usageItems[] | select(.product == "actions")] | {minutes: ([.[].quantity] | add), net: ([.[].netAmount] | add)}' |
| List repos | gh repo list $ORG --json nameWithOwner --limit 100 |
| Workflow runs | gh api "/repos/$O/$R/actions/runs?per_page=100" --jq '.workflow_runs' --jq 'length' |
| Skipped count | `gh api "..." --jq '[.workflow_runs[] |
| Bot triggers | `gh api "..." --jq '[.workflow_runs[] |
See Also
- github-actions-cache-optimization - Cache-specific analysis and cleanup
- gh-workflow-monitoring - Watching individual workflow runs