Github Actions Status

GitHub Actions Status

View, monitor, and manage GitHub Actions workflows and their run statuses using the gh CLI.

When to Use This Skill

• Checking the status of CI/CD pipeline runs
• Debugging failed workflow runs by viewing logs
• Monitoring a run until completion
• Listing all workflows and their recent activity
• Triggering a workflow run manually
• Checking commit-level check run statuses via the API

Prerequisites

• gh CLI must be installed and authenticated with a GitHub account that has access to the target repository.
• Verify authentication: run gh auth status — if not logged in, run gh auth login.
• The --repo <owner>/<repo> flag is used on all commands to target a specific repository.

Core Workflow

Step 1: Identify the Repository

Determine the target repository in owner/repo format. If working in a local git repo, you can extract it with:

git remote get-url origin | sed -E 's|.*:(.+)/(.+)\.git|\1/\2|'

Step 2: List All Workflows

See every workflow file and its last run status:

gh workflow list --repo <owner>/<repo>

This shows each workflow name, ID, state (active/disabled), and the time of its last run.

Step 3: List Recent Workflow Runs

View the most recent runs across all workflows:

gh run list --repo <owner>/<repo> --limit 20

Use --status to filter by state (pending, in_progress, completed, cancelled, failed, skipped, success, neutral, timed_out, action_required):

gh run list --repo <owner>/<repo> --status failed --limit 10
gh run list --repo <owner>/<repo> --status in_progress --limit 10

Step 4: Inspect a Specific Run

View detailed information about a single run:

gh run view <run-id> --repo <owner>/<repo>

This shows the workflow name, status, conclusion, duration, trigger, branch, commit message, and a summary of each job.

Step 5: View Run Logs

For debugging a failed run, fetch the full logs:

gh run view <run-id> --repo <owner>/<repo> --log --job <job-id>

If no --job is specified, all job logs are shown. To list jobs within a run:

gh run view <run-id> --repo <owner>/<repo> --jobs

Step 6: Monitor a Run in Real-Time

Watch a run's progress until it completes (useful for long-running pipelines):

gh run watch <run-id> --repo <owner>/<repo>

This polls the run status and prints updates. It exits with a non-zero code if the run fails.

Step 7: Check Commit-Level Check Runs

Query check runs for a specific commit via the GitHub API:

gh api repos/<owner>/<repo>/commits/<sha>/check-runs

This returns check suites and individual check runs, including their conclusions and detailed output.

Step 8: Trigger a Workflow Run

Manually trigger a workflow:

gh workflow run <workflow-name> --repo <owner>/<repo> --ref <branch-or-tag>

The --ref flag specifies which branch/tag to run against (defaults to the default branch).

Reference

All Commands

| Action | Command |

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Constraints

MUST DO

• Implement all core functionality with explicit error handling and validation at every boundary
• Document the purpose and expected inputs/outputs of each public interface in docstrings or comments
• Use consistent naming conventions that clearly communicate intent — variable names should describe what they represent, not how they are used

MUST NOT DO

• Do not implement features without considering edge cases, error states, and failure modes
• Avoid accepting unvalidated input at any API or interface boundary
• Never use magic numbers or hardcoded strings that obscure the purpose of configuration values