github-actions-advanced

Design, debug, and harden GitHub Actions CI/CD workflows, including reusable workflows, matrix builds, self-hosted runners, OIDC authentication, caching, environments, secrets, and release automation.

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Repository: LiHongwei-cn/lihongwei-cn
Last source activity: June 22, 2026 at 19:55
Detected SKILL.md language: English
Stars: 3
Forks: 0

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# Discover existing workflows in the repo
find .github/workflows -name "*.yml" -o -name "*.yaml" 2>/dev/null | head -20

# Check for composite actions
find .github/actions -name "action.yml" 2>/dev/null

# Detect tech stack (influences runner OS, language setup actions)
ls package.json requirements.txt Gemfile go.mod Cargo.toml pom.xml 2>/dev/null

name: Workflow Name

on:                          # Triggers (see Triggers section)
  push:
    branches: [main]

permissions:                 # Always declare — principle of least privilege
  contents: read

env:                         # Workflow-level env vars
  NODE_VERSION: '20'

concurrency:                 # Prevent duplicate runs
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true   # Cancel older runs for same branch

jobs:
  job-id:
    name: Human-readable name
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04    # Pin OS version — never use -latest in prod
    timeout-minutes: 15      # Always set — prevents runaway jobs
    environment: production  # Links to GitHub Environment (approvals/secrets)

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
      - name: Step name
        run: echo "hello"

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, 'release/**']
    paths-ignore: ['**.md', 'docs/**']   # Skip docs-only changes

  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]
    branches: [main]

  workflow_dispatch:                      # Manual trigger with inputs
    inputs:
      environment:
        description: 'Deploy target'
        required: true
        type: choice
        options: [staging, production]
      dry-run:
        description: 'Dry run only?'
        type: boolean
        default: false

  schedule:
    - cron: '0 2 * * 1'                 # Monday 2am UTC

  workflow_call:                          # Called by other workflows (reusable)
    inputs:
      image-tag:
        type: string
        required: true
    secrets:
      deploy-token:
        required: true

  release:
    types: [published]                   # Trigger only on published releases

  pull_request_target:                   # Runs with repo secrets — use with care!
    types: [labeled]                     # Gate with label + author_association check

jobs:
  call-build:
    uses: ./.github/workflows/_build.yml        # Same-repo reusable
    # uses: org/repo/.github/workflows/build.yml@main  # Cross-repo
    with:
      image-tag: ${{ github.sha }}
    secrets: inherit                             # Pass all caller secrets down
  
  call-test:
    uses: ./.github/workflows/_test.yml
    with:
      node-version: '20'
    secrets:
      NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}       # Explicit secret passing

on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      image-tag:
        type: string
        required: true
      push:
        type: boolean
        default: false
    secrets:
      registry-token:
        required: false
    outputs:
      digest:
        description: "Image digest"
        value: ${{ jobs.build.outputs.digest }}

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    timeout-minutes: 20
    outputs:
      digest: ${{ steps.build.outputs.digest }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
      - id: build
        uses: docker/build-push-action@4f58ea79222b3b9dc2c8bbdd6debcef730109a75  # v6.9.0
        with:
          push: ${{ inputs.push }}
          tags: myapp:${{ inputs.image-tag }}

jobs:
  test:
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false           # Don't cancel others if one fails
      max-parallel: 4            # Limit concurrent runners
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-24.04, windows-2022, macos-14]
        node: ['18', '20', '22']
        exclude:
          - os: windows-2022
            node: '18'
        include:
          - os: ubuntu-24.04
            node: '22'
            experimental: true   # Custom matrix variable

    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    timeout-minutes: 20

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@39370e3970a6d050c480ffad4ff0ed4d3fdee5af  # v4.1.0
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node }}
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test
        continue-on-error: ${{ matrix.experimental == true }}

jobs:
  generate-matrix:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    outputs:
      matrix: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.matrix }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
      - id: set-matrix
        run: |
          SERVICES=$(find services -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d -printf '%f\n' | jq -R -s -c 'split("\n")[:-1]')
          printf 'matrix={"service":%s}\n' "$SERVICES" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"

  build:
    needs: generate-matrix
    strategy:
      matrix: ${{ fromJson(needs.generate-matrix.outputs.matrix) }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    steps:
      - env:
          SERVICE: ${{ matrix.service }}
        run: echo "Building $SERVICE"

# Node.js
- uses: actions/setup-node@39370e3970a6d050c480ffad4ff0ed4d3fdee5af  # v4.1.0
  with:
    node-version: '20'
    cache: 'npm'           # or 'yarn' or 'pnpm'

# Python
- uses: actions/setup-python@0b93645e9fea7318ecaed2b359559ac225c90a2b  # v5.3.0
  with:
    python-version: '3.12'
    cache: 'pip'

# Go
- uses: actions/setup-go@3041bf56c941b39c61721a86cd11f3bb1338122a  # v5.2.0
  with:
    go-version: '1.23'
    cache: true

# Java / Gradle / Maven
- uses: actions/setup-java@7a6d8a8234af8eb26422e24052f73b12b0e46a27  # v4.6.0
  with:
    distribution: 'temurin'
    java-version: '21'
    cache: 'maven'        # or 'gradle'

- uses: actions/cache@6849a6489940f00c2f30c0fb92c6274307ccb58a  # v4.1.2
  id: cache-deps
  with:
    path: |
      ~/.cache/pip
      .venv
    key: ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements*.txt') }}
    restore-keys: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements*.txt') }}
      ${{ runner.os }}-pip-

- name: Install deps (only on cache miss)
  if: steps.cache-deps.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
  run: pip install -r requirements.txt

- uses: docker/build-push-action@4f58ea79222b3b9dc2c8bbdd6debcef730109a75  # v6.9.0
  with:
    cache-from: type=gha
    cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
    # For registry-backed cache (cross-branch):
    # cache-from: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/myorg/myapp:buildcache
    # cache-to: type=registry,ref=ghcr.io/myorg/myapp:buildcache,mode=max

permissions:
  id-token: write
  contents: read

steps:
  - uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@e3dd6a429d7300a6a4c196c26e071d42e0343502  # v4.0.2
    with:
      role-to-assume: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/GitHubActionsRole
      aws-region: us-east-1
      role-session-name: GitHubActions-${{ github.run_id }}

  # Trust policy on the IAM role must include:
  # "token.actions.githubusercontent.com" as OIDC provider
  # Condition: "repo:org/repo:ref:refs/heads/main" (restrict to branch)

permissions:
  id-token: write
  contents: read

steps:
  - uses: google-github-actions/auth@6fc4af4b145ae7821d527454aa9bd537d1f2dc5f  # v2.1.7
    with:
      workload_identity_provider: projects/123456789/locations/global/workloadIdentityPools/github-pool/providers/github-provider
      service_account: github-actions@my-project.iam.gserviceaccount.com
      token_format: access_token   # or 'id_token'

permissions:
  id-token: write
  contents: read

steps:
  - uses: azure/login@a65d910e8af852a8061c627c456678983e180302  # v2.2.0
    with:
      client-id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_CLIENT_ID }}
      tenant-id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_TENANT_ID }}
      subscription-id: ${{ secrets.AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID }}
      # No client secret needed! Uses OIDC federated credentials

jobs:
  deploy-staging:
    environment:
      name: staging
      url: https://staging.myapp.com
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    timeout-minutes: 30
    steps:
      - run: ./scripts/deploy.sh staging

  deploy-production:
    needs: deploy-staging
    environment:
      name: production
      url: https://myapp.com      # Shown in the GitHub UI deployment panel
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    timeout-minutes: 30
    steps:
      - run: ./scripts/deploy.sh production

# Access repo/org/environment secrets
env:
  DB_PASSWORD: ${{ secrets.DB_PASSWORD }}

# Auto-provided token — no setup needed
- uses: actions/github-script@60a0d83039c74a4aee543508d2ffcb1c3799cdea  # v7.0.1
  with:
    github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

# Hierarchy (most specific wins):
# environment secret > repo secret > org secret

- name: Generate and mask dynamic token
  run: |
    TOKEN=$(./scripts/generate-token.sh)
    echo "::add-mask::$TOKEN"          # Mask in all subsequent logs
    echo "DEPLOY_TOKEN=$TOKEN" >> $GITHUB_ENV

# Secrets cannot be passed as inputs to composite actions
# Pass them as env vars instead:
- uses: ./.github/actions/my-action
  env:
    SECRET_VALUE: ${{ secrets.MY_SECRET }}

name: Setup App
description: Install and configure application dependencies

inputs:
  node-version:
    description: 'Node.js version'
    required: false
    default: '20'
  install-flags:
    description: 'Additional npm install flags'
    required: false
    default: ''

outputs:
  cache-hit:
    description: 'Whether the dependency cache was hit'
    value: ${{ steps.cache.outputs.cache-hit }}

runs:
  using: composite
  steps:
    - uses: actions/setup-node@39370e3970a6d050c480ffad4ff0ed4d3fdee5af  # v4.1.0
      with:
        node-version: ${{ inputs.node-version }}
        cache: npm

    - id: cache
      uses: actions/cache@6849a6489940f00c2f30c0fb92c6274307ccb58a  # v4.1.2
      with:
        path: node_modules
        key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ inputs.node-version }}-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}

    - name: Install dependencies
      if: steps.cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
      shell: bash
      env:
        INSTALL_FLAGS: ${{ inputs.install-flags }}
      run: |
        args=()
        case "$INSTALL_FLAGS" in
          "") ;;
          "--ignore-scripts") args+=(--ignore-scripts) ;;
          *) echo "Unsupported install flags" >&2; exit 1 ;;
        esac
        npm ci "${args[@]}"

    - name: Build
      shell: bash
      run: npm run build

steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
  - uses: ./.github/actions/setup-app
    with:
      node-version: '22'
      install-flags: '--ignore-scripts'

jobs:
  build-gpu:
    runs-on: [self-hosted, linux, x64, gpu]    # Label matching
    timeout-minutes: 60

  build-arm:
    runs-on: [self-hosted, linux, arm64]

Practice	Details
Ephemeral runners	Use Actions Runner Controller (ARC) on Kubernetes for fresh runners per job
Isolation	Never share prod runners with untrusted/fork PR workflows
Cleanup hooks	Set `ACTIONS_RUNNER_HOOK_JOB_COMPLETED` to reset environment
Runner groups	Use groups to restrict which repos/workflows can access which runners
Labels	Use custom labels (e.g., `gpu`, `high-memory`) for precise targeting
Security	Disable fork PR access to self-hosted runners in Settings

# Actions Runner Controller (Kubernetes) — recommended for ephemeral runners
helm install arc \
  --namespace arc-systems \
  --create-namespace \
  oci://ghcr.io/actions/actions-runner-controller-charts/gha-runner-scale-set-controller

# Condition on branch + event
- run: ./scripts/deploy.sh
  if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && github.event_name == 'push'

# Continue on error (non-blocking steps)
- run: ./scripts/lint.sh
  continue-on-error: true

# Job dependency and conditional execution
jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    outputs:
      result: ${{ steps.run-tests.outcome }}

  deploy:
    needs: [test, build]
    if: |
      needs.test.result == 'success' &&
      needs.build.result == 'success' &&
      github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04

  notify-failure:
    needs: [test, deploy]
    if: failure()          # Runs even if earlier jobs fail
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    steps:
      - run: ./scripts/notify-slack.sh "Pipeline failed!"

jobs:
  prepare:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    outputs:
      version: ${{ steps.get-version.outputs.version }}
      should-deploy: ${{ steps.check.outputs.deploy }}

    steps:
      - id: get-version
        run: |
          VERSION=$(tr -d '\r\n' < VERSION)
          case "$VERSION" in
            ""|*[!0-9A-Za-z._-]*) echo "Invalid VERSION" >&2; exit 1 ;;
          esac
          printf 'version=%s\n' "$VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"

      - id: check
        run: |
          if git log -1 --pretty=%B | grep -q '\[deploy\]'; then
            echo "deploy=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
          else
            echo "deploy=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
          fi

  build:
    needs: prepare
    if: needs.prepare.outputs.should-deploy == 'true'
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    steps:
      - env:
          VERSION: ${{ needs.prepare.outputs.version }}
        run: echo "Building version $VERSION"

# Workflow-level default — restrict everything
permissions:
  contents: read

jobs:
  publish:
    # Job-level override — only expand what's needed
    permissions:
      contents: write        # Only for release/publish jobs
      packages: write        # Only for container push jobs
      pull-requests: write   # Only for PR comment jobs
      id-token: write        # Only for OIDC auth jobs

# ❌ UNSAFE — tag can be mutated or hijacked
- uses: actions/checkout@v4

# ✅ SAFE — commit SHA is immutable
- uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2

# Tool to automate SHA pinning:
# npx pin-github-action .github/workflows/*.yml
# or: pip install ratchet && ratchet pin .github/workflows/

# ❌ UNSAFE — attacker controls PR title, which gets expanded in shell
- run: echo "${{ github.event.pull_request.title }}"

# ✅ SAFE — pass through environment variable (shell doesn't evaluate it)
- env:
    PR_TITLE: ${{ github.event.pull_request.title }}
  run: echo "$PR_TITLE"

# ✅ SAFE — expressions in if: conditions are evaluated by Actions, not shell
- if: github.event.pull_request.draft == false
  run: echo "Not a draft"

# Only run when a maintainer adds a specific label — prevents untrusted execution
on:
  pull_request_target:
    types: [labeled]

jobs:
  validate:
    # Double-guard: check label name AND author_association
    if: |
      github.event.label.name == 'safe-to-test' &&
      (github.event.pull_request.author_association == 'COLLABORATOR' ||
       github.event.pull_request.author_association == 'MEMBER' ||
       github.event.pull_request.author_association == 'OWNER')

# Add to every workflow — hardens runner, monitors outbound traffic
- uses: step-security/harden-runner@4d991eb9995541a0b71d1b66f1f98a5f1bef422c  # v2.11.0
  with:
    egress-policy: audit          # Start with 'audit', move to 'block' after confirming allowlist
    allowed-endpoints: >
      api.github.com:443
      registry.npmjs.org:443
      objects.githubusercontent.com:443

# Enable runner diagnostic logging via repo secrets:
# ACTIONS_RUNNER_DEBUG = true
# ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG = true

# Dump full GitHub context for inspection
- name: Debug — dump github context
  if: runner.debug == '1'
  env:
    GITHUB_CONTEXT: ${{ toJson(github) }}
  run: echo "$GITHUB_CONTEXT" | jq '.'

# Dump all available contexts
- name: Debug — dump all contexts
  if: runner.debug == '1'
  run: |
    echo "github: ${{ toJson(github) }}"
    echo "env: ${{ toJson(env) }}"
    echo "vars: ${{ toJson(vars) }}"
    echo "runner: ${{ toJson(runner) }}"

# SSH into a failing runner for interactive debugging
- uses: mxschmitt/action-tmate@7b04f3521e6b0a9fc56fa8f9f50da4bcfb5fc7b5  # v3.19.0
  if: failure() && runner.debug == '1'
  with:
    limit-access-to-actor: true    # Only the workflow triggerer can SSH in
    timeout-minutes: 30

# Check what's pre-installed on GitHub-hosted runners
- run: |
    echo "=== Tool Versions ===" 
    node --version
    python3 --version
    go version
    docker --version
    echo "=== Disk Space ==="
    df -h
    echo "=== Memory ==="
    free -h

name: CI/CD Pipeline

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

concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: ${{ github.ref != 'refs/heads/main' }}

permissions:
  contents: read

jobs:
  # ── Build & Test ──────────────────────────────────────
  build-test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    timeout-minutes: 20
    permissions:
      contents: read
      checks: write        # For test result reporting

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2

      - uses: actions/setup-node@39370e3970a6d050c480ffad4ff0ed4d3fdee5af  # v4.1.0
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'npm'

      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run lint
      - run: npm run test -- --coverage
      - run: npm run build

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@b4b15b8c7c6ac21ea08fcf65892d2ee8f75cf882  # v4.4.3
        with:
          name: build-artifacts
          path: dist/
          retention-days: 7

  # ── Push Image (main branch only) ─────────────────────
  push-image:
    needs: build-test
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    timeout-minutes: 20
    permissions:
      contents: read
      packages: write
      id-token: write      # For OIDC
    outputs:
      image-digest: ${{ steps.push.outputs.digest }}

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2

      - uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@c47758b77c9736f4b2ef4073d4d51994fabfe349  # v3.7.1

      - uses: docker/login-action@9780b0c442fbb1117ed29e0efdff1e18412f7567  # v3.3.0
        with:
          registry: ghcr.io
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

      - uses: docker/metadata-action@70b2cdc6480c1a8b86edf1777157f8f437de2166  # v5.5.1
        id: meta
        with:
          images: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}
          tags: |
            type=sha,format=long
            type=raw,value=latest

      - id: push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@4f58ea79222b3b9dc2c8bbdd6debcef730109a75  # v6.9.0
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
          cache-from: type=gha
          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
          provenance: true    # SLSA provenance attestation
          sbom: true          # Software Bill of Materials

  # ── Deploy Staging ────────────────────────────────────
  deploy-staging:
    needs: push-image
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    timeout-minutes: 30
    environment:
      name: staging
      url: https://staging.myapp.com
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
      - env:
          IMAGE_DIGEST: ${{ needs.push-image.outputs.image-digest }}
        run: ./scripts/deploy.sh staging "$IMAGE_DIGEST"

  # ── Deploy Production (manual approval required) ──────
  deploy-production:
    needs: deploy-staging
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    timeout-minutes: 30
    environment:
      name: production
      url: https://myapp.com
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
      - env:
          IMAGE_DIGEST: ${{ needs.push-image.outputs.image-digest }}
        run: ./scripts/deploy.sh production "$IMAGE_DIGEST"

name: Release

on:
  push:
    tags: ['v[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+']

permissions:
  contents: write

jobs:
  release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    timeout-minutes: 15

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0    # Full history needed for changelog generation

      - uses: softprops/action-gh-release@e7a8f85e1c67a31e6ed99a94b41bd0b71bbee6b8  # v2.0.9
        with:
          generate_release_notes: true    # Auto-generates from PR titles and commits
          make_latest: true
          fail_on_unmatched_files: true
          files: |
            dist/**/*.tar.gz
            dist/**/*.zip

name: Dependency Updates

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 9 * * 1'    # Every Monday at 9am UTC
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  update-deps:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    timeout-minutes: 20
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2

      - uses: actions/setup-node@39370e3970a6d050c480ffad4ff0ed4d3fdee5af  # v4.1.0
        with:
          node-version: '20'

      - run: npx npm-check-updates -u
      - run: npm install

      - uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@5e914681df9dc83aa4e4905692ca88beb2f9e91f  # v7.0.5
        with:
          commit-message: 'chore: update npm dependencies'
          title: 'chore: update npm dependencies'
          branch: 'chore/npm-updates'
          delete-branch: true
          body: |
            Automated dependency updates generated by the dependency update workflow.
            Please review and test before merging.

name: Security Scan

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 6 * * *'    # Daily at 6am UTC

permissions:
  contents: read
  security-events: write    # For uploading SARIF results

jobs:
  codeql:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    timeout-minutes: 30
    permissions:
      security-events: write
      actions: read
      contents: read
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
      - uses: github/codeql-action/init@4f3212b61783c3c68e8309a0f18a699764811cda  # v3.27.1
        with:
          languages: javascript-typescript
      - uses: github/codeql-action/autobuild@4f3212b61783c3c68e8309a0f18a699764811cda  # v3.27.1
      - uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@4f3212b61783c3c68e8309a0f18a699764811cda  # v3.27.1

  container-scan:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    timeout-minutes: 15
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683  # v4.2.2
      - uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@6e7b7d1fd3e4fef0c5fa8cce1229c54b2c9bd0d8  # v0.28.0
        with:
          scan-type: 'fs'
          format: 'sarif'
          output: 'trivy-results.sarif'
          severity: 'CRITICAL,HIGH'
      - uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@4f3212b61783c3c68e8309a0f18a699764811cda  # v3.27.1
        with:
          sarif_file: 'trivy-results.sarif'

Problem	Cause	Fix
Workflow doesn't trigger on PR from fork	Fork PRs use restricted `GITHUB_TOKEN`	Use `pull_request` not `pull_request_target`; avoid repo secrets in fork context
Secret is `***` in logs but exposed	Dynamic value not masked	Use `echo "::add-mask::$VALUE"` before using it
Cache never hits across branches	Cache key too specific	Add `restore-keys` fallback without branch or hash segment
Matrix job fails silently	`fail-fast: true` (default) cancels siblings	Set `fail-fast: false` during debugging
Job hangs indefinitely	No `timeout-minutes` set	Always set `timeout-minutes` on every job
`$GITHUB_OUTPUT` not set	Old `set-output` command used	Use `echo "key=value" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT`
OIDC token request fails	Missing `id-token: write` permission	Add to job-level `permissions` block
Reusable workflow can't access caller secrets	No `secrets: inherit`	Add `secrets: inherit` or explicitly pass secrets

# Context objects available in expressions
${{ github.sha }}                           # Commit SHA
${{ github.ref }}                           # Branch/tag ref
${{ github.ref_name }}                      # Short branch/tag name
${{ github.event_name }}                    # Event name (push, pull_request, etc.)
${{ github.actor }}                         # Username who triggered the run
${{ github.repository }}                    # org/repo
${{ github.run_id }}                        # Unique run ID
${{ runner.os }}                            # Linux, Windows, macOS

# Built-in functions
${{ toJson(github) }}                       # Serialize context to JSON
${{ fromJson(needs.job.outputs.matrix) }}   # Parse JSON string
${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}    # Hash file(s) for cache keys
${{ format('{0}/{1}', var1, var2) }}        # String formatting
${{ join(matrix.items, ',') }}              # Join array

# Status functions (use in if: conditions)
${{ success() }}    # All previous steps succeeded
${{ failure() }}    # Any previous step failed
${{ cancelled() }}  # Workflow was cancelled
${{ always() }}     # Always runs (success OR failure OR cancelled)

name	github-actions-advanced
description	Design, debug, and harden GitHub Actions CI/CD workflows, including reusable workflows, matrix builds, self-hosted runners, OIDC authentication, caching, environments, secrets, and release automation.
category	devops
risk	safe
source	community
date_added	2026-05-30

github-actions-advanced

Source facts

Install options

Review the source files

More from this repository

More from this repository

GitHub Actions Advanced Skill

When to Use This Skill

GitHub Actions Advanced Skill

When to Use This Skill

When NOT to Use This Skill

Step 1: Understand Context Before Responding

Workflow Structure Reference

Triggers (on:)

Common Patterns

Reusable Workflows

Caller (.github/workflows/deploy.yml)

Reusable Workflow (.github/workflows/_build.yml)

Matrix Builds

Dynamic Matrix via Script

Caching Strategies

Language Setup Actions (Preferred — No Extra Step Needed)

Manual Cache (Any Tool)

Docker Layer Caching

OIDC Authentication (Keyless Cloud Auth)

AWS

GCP (Workload Identity Federation)

Azure (Federated Identity)

Environments & Deployment Protection

Secrets Management

Masking Dynamic Values

Secrets in Composite Actions

Composite Actions

Action Definition (.github/actions/setup-app/action.yml)

Usage in a Workflow

Self-Hosted Runners

Runner Best Practices

Conditional Execution & Flow Control

Passing Data Between Jobs

Security Hardening

1. Always Declare Permissions (Least Privilege)

2. Pin Third-Party Actions to Full Commit SHA

3. Prevent Script Injection

4. Restrict pull_request_target Usage

5. Harden with StepSecurity

Debugging Techniques

Complete Pipeline Patterns

Pattern 1: Build → Test → Push → Deploy

Pattern 2: Automated Release with Changelog

Pattern 3: Dependency Auto-Update with PR

Pattern 4: Security Scanning Pipeline

Common Pitfalls & Fixes

GitHub Actions Expressions Reference

Production Readiness Checklist

Security

Reliability

Performance

Maintainability

Related Skills

Limitations

Triggers (`on:`)

Caller (`.github/workflows/deploy.yml`)

Reusable Workflow (`.github/workflows/_build.yml`)

Action Definition (`.github/actions/setup-app/action.yml`)

4. Restrict `pull_request_target` Usage