github-actions-logs

name	github-actions-logs
description	Retrieve and analyze GitHub Actions CI/CD logs. Use when the user provides a GitHub Actions run URL (e.g. https://github.com/OWNER/REPO/actions/runs/RUN_ID) and needs to diagnose CI failures, view raw logs, or summarize build results. Works with or without the raw logs direct URL.

GitHub Actions Log Retrieval Skill

When to Use

The user provides one of:

• A GitHub Actions run URL: https://github.com/OWNER/REPO/actions/runs/RUN_ID
• A GitHub Actions job URL: https://github.com/OWNER/REPO/actions/runs/RUN_ID/job/JOB_ID
• A raw logs blob URL (signed SAS URL from productionresultssa7.blob.core.windows.net)

Prerequisites

• gh CLI must be installed and authenticated (gh auth login or set GH_TOKEN)
• If gh is not installed, install it first:

  (type -p wget >/dev/null || (apt update && apt-get install wget -y)) \
    && mkdir -p -m 755 /etc/apt/keyrings \
    && wget -qO- https://cli.github.com/packages/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg \
       | tee /etc/apt/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg > /dev/null \
    && chmod go+r /etc/apt/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg \
    && echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg] https://cli.github.com/packages stable main" \
       | tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/github-cli.list > /dev/null \
    && apt update && apt install gh -y
  

Retrieval Methods

Method 1: gh CLI (Preferred)

Extract OWNER/REPO and RUN_ID from the URL, then:

# List all jobs and their status
gh api repos/{OWNER}/{REPO}/actions/runs/{RUN_ID}/jobs?per_page=100 | \
  python3 -c "
import json, sys
data = json.load(sys.stdin)
for job in data.get('jobs', []):
    print(f\"Job: {job['name']} | Status: {job['conclusion']} | ID: {job['id']}\")
    for step in job.get('steps', []):
        print(f\"  Step: {step['name']} | Status: {step['conclusion']}\")
"

# Get logs for a failed job (replace JOB_ID with the numeric job ID)
gh api repos/{OWNER}/{REPO}/actions/jobs/{JOB_ID}/logs

# Get logs only for failed steps (pipe through grep/tail)
gh api repos/{OWNER}/{REPO}/actions/jobs/{JOB_ID}/logs 2>&1 | grep -A5 "error:"

Important: gh run view --log-failed only works when the run is completed. If the run is still in progress, it will say "logs will be available when it is complete". In that case, use gh api .../actions/jobs/{JOB_ID}/logs instead — this works even for in-progress or recently completed runs.

Method 2: Raw Logs URL (Direct Blob)

If the user provides a productionresultssa7.blob.core.windows.net URL:

https://productionresultssa7.blob.core.windows.net/actions-results/{GUID}/workflow-job-run-{JOB_RUN_GUID}/logs/job/job-logs.txt?{SAS_PARAMS}

• These URLs are time-limited signed URLs (SAS tokens). They expire after ~1 hour.
• Use fetch_webpage tool to retrieve content, or curl in terminal:

  curl -sL "RAW_LOGS_URL"
  

• If expired, fall back to Method 1.

Method 3: GitHub API (No gh CLI)

If gh is not available, use curl directly:

# List jobs
curl -sL "https://api.github.com/repos/{OWNER}/{REPO}/actions/runs/{RUN_ID}/jobs" | python3 -c "..."

# Get job logs (requires auth for private repos)
curl -sL -H "Authorization: token ${GH_TOKEN}" \
  "https://api.github.com/repos/{OWNER}/{REPO}/actions/jobs/{JOB_ID}/logs"

Method 4: Web Page Scraping (Last Resort)

Use fetch_webpage on the Actions page URL. GitHub requires sign-in for full logs, but annotations (error/warning summaries) are visible on public repos without login.

URL Parsing Guide

URL Pattern	Extract
github.com/OWNER/REPO/actions/runs/RUN_ID	OWNER, REPO, RUN_ID
github.com/OWNER/REPO/actions/runs/RUN_ID/job/JOB_ID	+ JOB_ID
productionresultssa7.blob.core.windows.net/actions-results/GUID/...	Direct blob (SAS)

Common CI Failure Patterns

After retrieving logs, look for:

• ##[error] — GitHub Actions error markers
• error: — compiler/clang-tidy errors
• fatal: — git or build fatal errors
• FAILED — test or build failures
• not found — missing dependencies
• Process completed with exit code 1 — step failure boundary

Example Workflow

1. User gives: https://github.com/foo/bar/actions/runs/12345/job/67890
2. Parse: OWNER=foo, REPO=bar, RUN_ID=12345, JOB_ID=67890
3. Run: gh api repos/foo/bar/actions/jobs/67890/logs 2>&1 | tail -80
4. Analyze the error output and report findings to the user