# Adaptive Enforcement Lab Claude Skills Work Avoidance In Github Actions > Work Avoidance in GitHub Actions - Skill: `tomevault-io/adaptive-enforcement-lab-claude-skills-work-avoidance-in-git` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/adaptive-enforcement-lab-claude-skills-work-avoidance-in-git` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/adaptive-enforcement-lab-claude-skills-work-avoidance-in-git/raw - Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS) - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/adaptive-enforcement-lab-claude-skills-work-avoidance-in-git --- # Work Avoidance in GitHub Actions ## When to Use This Skill Apply [work avoidance patterns](../../../../patterns/efficiency/work-avoidance/index.md) to skip unnecessary CI/CD operations. > **Skip Before Execute** > > Detect unchanged content, cached builds, and irrelevant paths before running expensive operations. > --- ## When to Apply Work avoidance is valuable in GitHub Actions when: - **Distribution workflows** push files to many repositories - **Release automation** bumps versions without content changes - **Scheduled jobs** run regardless of whether work exists - **Monorepo builds** trigger on any change but only need subset builds --- ## Implementation | Pattern | Operator Manual | Engineering Pattern | | --------- | ----------------- | --------------------- | | Skip version-only changes | [Content Comparison](content-comparison.md) | [Volatile Field Exclusion](../../../../patterns/efficiency/work-avoidance/techniques/volatile-field-exclusion.md) | | Skip unchanged paths | [Path Filtering](path-filtering.md) | N/A (native GitHub feature) | | Skip cached builds | [Cache-Based Skip](cache-based-skip.md) | [Cache-Based Skip](../../../../patterns/efficiency/work-avoidance/techniques/cache-based-skip.md) | --- ## Techniques ### Implementation Patterns | Pattern | Operator Manual | Engineering Pattern | | --------- | ----------------- | --------------------- | | Skip version-only changes | [Content Comparison](content-comparison.md) | [Volatile Field Exclusion](../../../../patterns/efficiency/work-avoidance/techniques/volatile-field-exclusion.md) | | Skip unchanged paths | [Path Filtering](path-filtering.md) | N/A (native GitHub feature) | | Skip cached builds | [Cache-Based Skip](cache-based-skip.md) | [Cache-Based Skip](../../../../patterns/efficiency/work-avoidance/techniques/cache-based-skip.md) | --- ## Anti-Patterns to Avoid Apply [work avoidance patterns](../../../../patterns/efficiency/work-avoidance/index.md) to skip unnecessary CI/CD operations. > **Skip Before Execute** > > Detect unchanged content, cached builds, and irrelevant paths before running expensive operations. > --- ## When to Apply Work avoidance is valuable in GitHub Actions when: - **Distribution workflows** push files to many repositories - **Release automation** bumps versions without content changes - **Scheduled jobs** run regardless of whether work exists - **Monorepo builds** trigger on any change but only need subset builds --- ## Implementation Patterns | Pattern | Operator Manual | Engineering Pattern | | --------- | ----------------- | --------------------- | | Skip version-only changes | [Content Comparison](content-comparison.md) | [Volatile Field Exclusion](../../../../patterns/efficiency/work-avoidance/techniques/volatile-field-exclusion.md) | | Skip unchanged paths | [Path Filtering](path-filtering.md) | N/A (native GitHub feature) | | Skip cached builds | [Cache-Based Skip](cache-based-skip.md) | [Cache-Based Skip](../../../../patterns/efficiency/work-avoidance/techniques/cache-based-skip.md) | --- ## Quick Reference ### Check for Meaningful Changes *See [examples.md](examples.md) for detailed code examples.* ### Path-Based Filtering ```yaml on: push: paths: - 'src/**' - 'package.json' paths-ignore: - '**.md' - 'docs/**' ``` ### Cache-Based Skip *See [examples.md](examples.md) for detailed code examples.* --- ## Related - [Work Avoidance Pattern](../../../../patterns/efficiency/work-avoidance/index.md) - Conceptual pattern and techniques - [File Distribution](../file-distribution/index.md) - Applies these patterns at scale - [Idempotency](../file-distribution/idempotency.md) - Complementary pattern for safe reruns ### When to Apply Work avoidance is valuable in GitHub Actions when: - **Distribution workflows** push files to many repositories - **Release automation** bumps versions without content changes - **Scheduled jobs** run regardless of whether work exists - **Monorepo builds** trigger on any change but only need subset builds --- ### Implementation Patterns | Pattern | Operator Manual | Engineering Pattern | | --------- | ----------------- | --------------------- | | Skip version-only changes | [Content Comparison](content-comparison.md) | [Volatile Field Exclusion](../../../../patterns/efficiency/work-avoidance/techniques/volatile-field-exclusion.md) | | Skip unchanged paths | [Path Filtering](path-filtering.md) | N/A (native GitHub feature) | | Skip cached builds | [Cache-Based Skip](cache-based-skip.md) | [Cache-Based Skip](../../../../patterns/efficiency/work-avoidance/techniques/cache-based-skip.md) | --- ### Quick Reference ### Check for Meaningful Changes *See [examples.md](examples.md) for detailed code examples.* ### Path-Based Filtering ```yaml on: push: paths: - 'src/**' - 'package.json' paths-ignore: - '**.md' - 'docs/**' ``` ### Cache-Based Skip *See [examples.md](examples.md) for detailed code examples.* --- ### Related - [Work Avoidance Pattern](../../../../patterns/efficiency/work-avoidance/index.md) - Conceptual pattern and techniques - [File Distribution](../file-distribution/index.md) - Applies these patterns at scale - [Idempotency](../file-distribution/idempotency.md) - Complementary pattern for safe reruns ## Examples See [examples.md](examples.md) for code examples. ## Related Patterns - Work Avoidance Pattern - File Distribution - Idempotency ## References - [Source Documentation](https://adaptive-enforcement-lab.com/patterns/github-actions/) - [AEL Patterns](https://adaptive-enforcement-lab.com/patterns/) --- > Converted and distributed by [TomeVault](https://tomevault.io/claim/adaptive-enforcement-lab) — claim your Tome and manage your conversions.