Agent skill

GitHub Actions

by sickn33 in sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills

Build, test, and deploy applications using GitHub Actions workflows.

MITAuto-check passedDevOps & Cloud

Install GitHub Actions

skills CLI
$ npx skills add sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill github-actions -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills github-actions --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/github-actions .claude/skills/github-actions && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
github-actions
GitHub stars
47k
Used in
1 other repo
Token cost
~1.9k tokens
SKILL.md length
320 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
1,394
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Build, test, and deploy applications using GitHub Actions workflows.

  • Tasks that involve CI/CD
  • SKILL.md covers When to Use This Skill, Prerequisites, Workflow File Structure and Common Triggers, plus 9 more sections
  • Calls git, curl and kubectl; reaches github.com; needs AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY

What it does

GitHub Actions is an agent skill from sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills. Build, test, and deploy applications using GitHub Actions workflows.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.9k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts. Compatibility notes: Requires the relevant platform CLIs (kubectl, helm, terraform, git, CI runners) and authorized access to the target environment. Docs-only; helper scripts and…

It sits in DevOps & Cloud, covering CI/CD. It works with GitHub Actions, Docker, GitHub and GitLab. The repository describes itself as: AAS Core is the local, agent-first control plane for complete catalog discovery, agent-owned selection, stack validation, and planning, backed by 2,400+ agentic skills. Includes… The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve CI/CD

Example prompts

  • “/github-actions”

Requirements

  • Node.js
  • Docker
  • A credential in AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
  • A credential in STAGING_KEY
  • Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Requires the relevant platform CLIs (kubectl, helm, terraform, git, CI runners) and authorized access to the target environment. Docs-only; helper scripts and templates not bundled.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 1e53ce2. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • git
    • curl
    • kubectl

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:

    • github.com

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

    • AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
    • AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
    • DOCKER_PASSWORD
    • STAGING_KEY

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

  • Compatibility

    Requires the relevant platform CLIs (kubectl, helm, terraform, git, CI runners) and authorized access to the target environment. Docs-only; helper scripts and templates not bundled.

    From compatibility in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

Context cost

GitHub Actions loads about 1.9k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 21 tokens; SKILL.md has 320 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~21
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.9k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills at commit 1e53ce2, republished under its MIT licence (© sickn33). 320 words, ~1,903 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/github-actions/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
github-actions
description
Build, test, and deploy applications using GitHub Actions workflows.
compatibility
Requires the relevant platform CLIs (kubectl, helm, terraform, git, CI runners) and authorized access to the target environment. Docs-only; helper scripts and templates not bundled.
category
devops
risk
critical
source
https://github.com/BagelHole/DevOps-Security-Agent-Skills
source_repo
BagelHole/DevOps-Security-Agent-Skills
source_type
community
date_added
2026-09-20
license
MIT
license_source
https://github.com/BagelHole/DevOps-Security-Agent-Skills/blob/main/LICENSE
metadata.author
devops-skills
metadata.version
1.0

GitHub Actions

Automate software workflows directly in your GitHub repository with GitHub Actions.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

  • Setting up CI/CD pipelines for GitHub repositories
  • Automating build, test, and deployment workflows
  • Creating reusable workflow components
  • Configuring self-hosted runners
  • Managing workflow secrets and variables
  • Debugging failed workflow runs

Prerequisites

  • GitHub repository with write access
  • Understanding of YAML syntax
  • For self-hosted runners: server with Docker (optional)

Workflow File Structure

Workflows are defined in .github/workflows/ directory:

yaml
name: CI Pipeline

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, develop]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test

Common Triggers

Push and Pull Request
yaml
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    paths:
      - 'src/**'
      - 'package.json'
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
Scheduled Runs
yaml
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 2 * * *'  # Daily at 2 AM UTC
Manual Dispatch
yaml
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      environment:
        description: 'Deployment environment'
        required: true
        default: 'staging'
        type: choice
        options:
          - staging
          - production

Job Configuration

Matrix Builds
yaml
jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [18, 20, 22]
        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      - run: npm test
Job Dependencies
yaml
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: npm run build
      
  test:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: npm test
      
  deploy:
    needs: [build, test]
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: ./deploy.sh
Environment Protection
yaml
jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment:
      name: production
      url: https://example.com
    steps:
      - run: ./deploy.sh

Secrets and Variables

Using Secrets
yaml
steps:
  - name: Deploy
    env:
      AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
      AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
    run: aws s3 sync ./dist s3://my-bucket
Using Variables
yaml
steps:
  - name: Build
    env:
      API_URL: ${{ vars.API_URL }}
    run: npm run build

Caching Dependencies

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

Artifacts

Upload Artifacts
yaml
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
  with:
    name: build-output
    path: dist/
    retention-days: 5
Download Artifacts
yaml
- uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
  with:
    name: build-output
    path: dist/

Docker Builds

yaml
jobs:
  docker:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Login to Docker Hub
        uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}
      
      - name: Build and push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          tags: user/app:latest

Reusable Workflows

Define Reusable Workflow
yaml
# .github/workflows/reusable-deploy.yml
name: Reusable Deploy

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

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: ${{ inputs.environment }}
    steps:
      - run: echo "Deploying to ${{ inputs.environment }}"
Call Reusable Workflow
yaml
jobs:
  deploy-staging:
    uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-deploy.yml
    with:
      environment: staging
    secrets:
      deploy_key: ${{ secrets.STAGING_KEY }}

Self-Hosted Runners

Register Runner
bash
# Download runner
mkdir actions-runner && cd actions-runner
curl -o actions-runner-linux-x64.tar.gz -L https://github.com/actions/runner/releases/download/v2.311.0/actions-runner-linux-x64-2.311.0.tar.gz
tar xzf actions-runner-linux-x64.tar.gz

# Configure
./config.sh --url https://github.com/OWNER/REPO --token TOKEN

# Run
./run.sh
Use Self-Hosted Runner
yaml
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: self-hosted
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

Debugging Workflows

Enable Debug Logging

Set repository secrets:

  • ACTIONS_RUNNER_DEBUG: true
  • ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG: true
Debug Step
yaml
- name: Debug
  run: |
    echo "GitHub context: ${{ toJson(github) }}"
    echo "Job context: ${{ toJson(job) }}"

Common Issues

Issue: Workflow Not Triggering

Problem: Workflow doesn't run on push/PR Solution: Check branch filters, path filters, and ensure workflow file is on the default branch

Issue: Permission Denied

Problem: Actions can't push or create PRs Solution: Configure permissions in workflow or update repository settings

yaml
permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write
Issue: Cache Not Restoring

Problem: Cache misses despite existing cache Solution: Verify cache key matches exactly, check runner OS

Best Practices

  • Pin action versions to specific commits or tags
  • Use caching for dependencies to speed up builds
  • Minimize secrets exposure with environment scoping
  • Use matrix builds for cross-platform testing
  • Implement proper error handling with continue-on-error
  • Keep workflows DRY with reusable workflows and composite actions
  • gitlab-ci (gitlab-ci) - GitLab CI/CD alternative
  • docker-management (docker-management) - Container builds
  • semantic-versioning (semantic-versioning) - Automated releases

Limitations

  • Guidance executes against real environments: confirm target, blast radius, and rollback plan before applying anything.
  • Never deploy to production without explicit approval. Docs-only import: upstream scripts and templates not bundled.
Example
bash
git status && git diff --stat
kubectl diff -f manifest.yaml

Adapted from BagelHole/DevOps-Security-Agent-Skills (MIT); frontmatter, When to Use/Limitations, and safety boundaries added for upstream compliance. Docs-only import: helper scripts and templates not bundled.

© sickn33, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/github-actions of sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 1e53ce2

Used in 1 other repository

We found 5 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

GitHub Actions next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

GitHub Actions compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
GitHub Actions this skillsickn33/agentic-awesome-skills47k1 repos~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
CI CDEliasOulkadi/shokunin114—~3.4kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
GitHub ActionsBagelHole/DevOps-Security-Agent-Skills1.1k—~1.7kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Megalinter Checknvuillam/npm-groovy-lint2481 repos~3.9kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Migrate To TeamcityJetBrains/teamcity-cli125—~1.3kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
CI CDahmedasmar/devops-claude-skills203—~3.5kAutomated safety check: PassNone

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  • GitHub Actions

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Categories

Questions about GitHub Actions

What does GitHub Actions do?

Build, test, and deploy applications using GitHub Actions workflows. GitHub Actions is an agent skill from sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills. Build, test, and deploy applications using GitHub Actions workflows.

When should I use GitHub Actions?

GitHub Actions fits situations like: tasks that involve CI/CD.

How do I install GitHub Actions in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill github-actions -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/github-actions in sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills) into .claude/skills/github-actions in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install GitHub Actions in Codex?

Run `npx skills add sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill github-actions -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/github-actions in sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills) into .agents/skills/github-actions in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use GitHub Actions in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills --skill github-actions -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/github-actions, .gemini/skills/github-actions, .github/skills/github-actions and .opencode/skills/github-actions in your project.

What does GitHub Actions need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, GitHub Actions needs the command-line tools its instructions call (git, curl and kubectl) and credentials named AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, DOCKER_PASSWORD and STAGING_KEY. Our summary lists: Node.js; Docker; A credential in AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY; A credential in STAGING_KEY. Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Requires the relevant platform CLIs (kubectl, helm, terraform, git, CI runners) and authorized access to the target environment. Docs-only; helper scripts and templates not bundled..

Does GitHub Actions access the network?

SKILL.md names 1 domain. In commands or code: github.com; the agent is likely to contact it when it follows the instructions. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is GitHub Actions safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does GitHub Actions use?

GitHub Actions is published under the MIT licence (declared in SKILL.md). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does GitHub Actions use?

About 1.9k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 7.6k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to GitHub Actions?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with GitHub Actions: CI CD (EliasOulkadi/shokunin, 114 stars), GitHub Actions (BagelHole/DevOps-Security-Agent-Skills, 1.1k stars), Megalinter Check (nvuillam/npm-groovy-lint, 248 stars) and Migrate To Teamcity (JetBrains/teamcity-cli, 125 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains GitHub Actions?

sickn33 (a GitHub user) maintains it in sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills, which has 47,304 GitHub stars. The repository holds 1,394 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 6, 2026.

Source: sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.