github-fix-failed-workflow

name

github-fix-failed-workflow

description

Diagnose and fix failed GitHub Actions workflow runs, and write or edit workflow files following clear, minimal conventions. Use when workflows fail, CI/CD issues occur, debugging GitHub Actions runs, or when creating or editing .github/workflows/*.yml files. Triggers on "fix workflow", "why did the build fail", "check CI status", "workflow failed", "create a workflow", "add GitHub Actions", or "set up CI".

Fix Failed GitHub Workflow

Diagnose GitHub Actions workflow failures, apply fixes, and verify them. When a fix involves creating or editing workflow files, follow the Workflow File Guidelines below.

Fix Workflow

1. Identify failed runs: Use gh run list with --branch or --workflow flag
2. Analyze logs: Use gh run view <run_id> --log-failed to view error details
3. Diagnose issues: Identify root cause from log output
4. Fix issues: Apply necessary fixes to workflow files or source code
5. Verify: Confirm the fix with a new run (see Verify the Fix)

By Branch (Current Branch)

Find and fix failed workflows on the current branch:

# Get current branch
BRANCH=$(git branch --show-current)

# List runs on this branch
gh run list --branch "$BRANCH"

# View failed run logs
gh run view <run_id> --log-failed

By Workflow File

Find and fix failed workflows for a specific workflow file:

# List runs for a workflow file
gh run list --workflow=<workflow_file>

# View failed run logs
gh run view <run_id> --log-failed

Verify the Fix

• If the failure looks transient (network flake, runner outage), re-run without changes: gh run rerun <run_id> --failed
• If the fix changed files, a new run starts after the changes are pushed; watch it with gh run watch <run_id> or check gh run list --branch "$BRANCH"
• If the run fails again, return to log analysis instead of retrying blindly

Common Issues

• Dependency failures: Check package versions and lock files
• Test failures: Review test output and fix failing tests
• Build errors: Check syntax errors and type issues
• Permission errors: Verify workflow permissions and secrets
• Timeout issues: Optimize long-running steps or increase timeout

Workflow File Guidelines

Write clear, minimal GitHub Actions workflow files.

Naming Guidelines

Do NOT name

• run steps that are self-explanatory from the command itself
• uses steps for common, obvious actions like:
  • actions/checkout
  • actions/setup-node
  • oven-sh/setup-bun
  • pnpm/action-setup
  • actions/cache

DO name

• uses steps with actions/github-script (explain what the script does)
• Complex multi-line shell scripts (summarize the purpose)
• Steps where the intent is not obvious from the code

Examples

Good

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: oven-sh/setup-bun@v2
      - run: bun install
      - run: bun run build
      - run: bun test

      - name: Post build status to Slack
        uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          script: |
            const webhook = process.env.SLACK_WEBHOOK;
            // ... complex logic

Bad

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Setup Bun
        uses: oven-sh/setup-bun@v2
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: bun install
      - name: Build project
        run: bun run build
      - name: Run tests
        run: bun test

Best Practices

• Pin action versions with full SHA or major version tag (@v4, not @main)
• Use workflow_dispatch for manual triggers when useful
• Set appropriate permissions to follow least privilege
• Use concurrency to cancel redundant runs
• Prefer ${{ github.token }} over PAT when possible
• Avoid emoji in workflow names and step names
• Use $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY to output execution results in Markdown format
• Avoid obvious comments; only add comments to explain complex logic

Step Summary Example

- name: Report test results
  run: |
    echo "## Test Results" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
    echo "| Suite | Passed | Failed |" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
    echo "|-------|--------|--------|" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
    echo "| Unit  | 42     | 0      |" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY