GitHub Actions Cheatsheet

Installation & Setup

GitHub CLI (gh)

Platform	Command
Ubuntu/Debian	`curl -fsSL https://cli.github.com/packages/githubcli-archive-keyring.gpg \
Fedora/RHEL	`sudo dnf install gh`
Arch Linux	`sudo pacman -S github-cli`
macOS (Homebrew)	`brew install gh`
Windows (Chocolatey)	`choco install gh`
Windows (WinGet)	`winget install --id GitHub.cli`

Self-Hosted Runner Setup

Platform	Setup Commands
Linux	`mkdir actions-runner && cd actions-runner && curl -o actions-runner-linux-x64-2.311.0.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-x64-2.311.0.tar.gz`
macOS	`mkdir actions-runner && cd actions-runner && curl -o actions-runner-osx-x64-2.311.0.tar.gz -L https://github.com/actions/runner/releases/download/v2.311.0/actions-runner-osx-x64-2.311.0.tar.gz && tar xzf ./actions-runner-osx-x64-2.311.0.tar.gz`
Windows	`mkdir actions-runner; cd actions-runner; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://github.com/actions/runner/releases/download/v2.311.0/actions-runner-win-x64-2.311.0.zip -OutFile actions-runner-win-x64-2.311.0.zip`

Act (Local Testing Tool)

Platform	Command
Linux/macOS (curl)	`curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nektos/act/master/install.sh \
Homebrew	`brew install act`
Go	`go install github.com/nektos/act@latest`
Windows (Chocolatey)	`choco install act-cli`
Windows (Scoop)	`scoop install act`

Basic GitHub CLI Commands

Command	Description
`gh run list`	List all workflow runs in the repository
`gh run view <run-id>`	View details of a specific workflow run
`gh run watch <run-id>`	Watch a workflow run in real-time
`gh run view <run-id> --log`	View logs for a specific workflow run
`gh run download <run-id>`	Download artifacts from a workflow run
`gh workflow list`	List all workflows in the repository
`gh workflow view <workflow-name>`	View details of a specific workflow
`gh workflow enable <workflow-name>`	Enable a disabled workflow
`gh workflow disable <workflow-name>`	Disable a workflow
`gh workflow run <workflow-name>`	Manually trigger a workflow
`gh workflow run <workflow-name> -f key=value`	Trigger workflow with input parameters
`gh run cancel <run-id>`	Cancel a running workflow
`gh run rerun <run-id>`	Rerun a completed workflow
`gh run rerun <run-id> --failed`	Rerun only failed jobs in a workflow
`gh auth login`	Authenticate GitHub CLI with your account

Self-Hosted Runner Management

Command	Description
`./config.sh --url https://github.com/ORG/REPO --token TOKEN`	Configure a new self-hosted runner
`sudo ./svc.sh install`	Install runner as a system service (Linux/macOS)
`sudo ./svc.sh start`	Start the runner service
`sudo ./svc.sh stop`	Stop the runner service
`sudo ./svc.sh status`	Check runner service status
`sudo ./svc.sh uninstall`	Uninstall runner service
`./config.sh remove --token TOKEN`	Remove runner from repository
`./run.sh`	Run the runner interactively (not as service)
`gh api repos/:owner/:repo/actions/runners`	List all self-hosted runners via API
`gh api -X DELETE repos/:owner/:repo/actions/runners/RUNNER_ID`	Remove runner via API

Local Testing with Act

Command	Description
`act -l`	List all workflows and jobs available locally
`act`	Run the default event (push) locally
`act push`	Run workflows triggered by push event
`act pull_request`	Run workflows triggered by pull request event
`act -j job-name`	Run a specific job by name
`act -s GITHUB_TOKEN=token`	Run with a secret value
`act -s SECRET_NAME`	Prompt for secret value interactively
`act --secret-file .secrets`	Load secrets from a file
`act -P ubuntu-latest=nektos/act-environments-ubuntu:18.04`	Use specific Docker image for runner
`act -n`	Dry run - show what would be executed
`act -v`	Verbose output for debugging
`act --container-architecture linux/amd64`	Specify container architecture
`act -W .github/workflows/ci.yml`	Run specific workflow file
`act --env-file .env`	Load environment variables from file

Advanced GitHub CLI Commands

Command	Description
`gh run list --workflow=ci.yml`	List runs for a specific workflow
`gh run list --branch=main --limit=20`	List runs for specific branch with limit
`gh run view --log-failed`	View only failed job logs
`gh run view --job=12345`	View specific job within a run
`gh workflow run deploy.yml -f environment=production -f version=1.2.3`	Trigger workflow with multiple inputs
`gh api repos/:owner/:repo/actions/runs/:run_id/logs`	Download run logs via API
`gh api repos/:owner/:repo/actions/workflows`	List workflows via API
`gh api repos/:owner/:repo/actions/secrets`	List repository secrets
`gh secret set SECRET_NAME < secret.txt`	Set a repository secret from file
`gh secret set SECRET_NAME --body "value"`	Set a repository secret from string
`gh secret list`	List all repository secrets
`gh secret remove SECRET_NAME`	Remove a repository secret
`gh api repos/:owner/:repo/actions/caches`	List workflow caches
`gh api -X DELETE repos/:owner/:repo/actions/caches/:cache_id`	Delete a specific cache
`gh run download <run-id> -n artifact-name`	Download specific artifact by name

Workflow File Structure

Basic Workflow Template

name: CI Pipeline

# Trigger configuration
on:
  push:
    branches: [ main, develop ]
    paths:
      - 'src/**'
      - '**.js'
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main ]
  workflow_dispatch:  # Manual trigger
    inputs:
      environment:
        description: 'Environment to deploy'
        required: true
        default: 'staging'

# Environment variables
env:
  NODE_VERSION: '18'
  CACHE_KEY: v1

# Jobs definition
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 30
    
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}
          cache: 'npm'
      
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      
      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test
        env:
          CI: true
      
      - name: Build application
        run: npm run build

Matrix Strategy

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest]
        node-version: [16, 18, 20]
        include:
          - os: ubuntu-latest
            node-version: 20
            experimental: true
        exclude:
          - os: macos-latest
            node-version: 16
      fail-fast: false
      max-parallel: 3
    
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      - run: npm test

Conditional Execution

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' && github.event_name == 'push'
    
    steps:
      - name: Deploy to staging
        if: contains(github.event.head_commit.message, '[staging]')
        run: ./deploy.sh staging
      
      - name: Deploy to production
        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/v')
        run: ./deploy.sh production
      
      - name: Conditional step with multiple conditions
        if: |
          success() &&
          github.actor == 'dependabot[bot]' &&
          contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'automerge')
        run: echo "Auto-merging PR"

Caching Configuration

steps:
  # Cache npm dependencies
  - name: Cache node modules
    uses: actions/cache@v3
    with:
      path: ~/.npm
      key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
      restore-keys: |
        ${{ runner.os }}-node-
  
  # Cache pip dependencies
  - name: Cache pip
    uses: actions/cache@v3
    with:
      path: ~/.cache/pip
      key: ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements.txt') }}
      restore-keys: |
        ${{ runner.os }}-pip-
  
  # Cache Gradle dependencies
  - name: Cache Gradle
    uses: actions/cache@v3
    with:
      path: |
        ~/.gradle/caches
        ~/.gradle/wrapper
      key: ${{ runner.os }}-gradle-${{ hashFiles('**/*.gradle*', '**/gradle-wrapper.properties') }}
  
  # Cache Docker layers
  - name: Cache Docker layers
    uses: actions/cache@v3
    with:
      path: /tmp/.buildx-cache
      key: ${{ runner.os }}-buildx-${{ github.sha }}
      restore-keys: |
        ${{ runner.os }}-buildx-

Artifacts Management

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Build application
        run: npm run build
      
      # Upload artifacts
      - name: Upload build artifacts
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: build-output
          path: |
            dist/
            build/
            !dist/**/*.map
          retention-days: 30
          if-no-files-found: error
      
      # Upload test results
      - name: Upload test results
        if: always()
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: test-results-${{ matrix.os }}
          path: test-results/
  
  deploy:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      # Download artifacts
      - name: Download build artifacts
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: build-output
          path: ./artifacts
      
      - name: Deploy artifacts
        run: ./deploy.sh ./artifacts

Environment and Secrets

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment:
      name: production
      url: https://example.com
    
    env:
      NODE_ENV: production
      API_URL: https://api.example.com
    
    steps:
      - name: Deploy with secrets
        run: |
          echo "Deploying to $NODE_ENV"
          ./deploy.sh
        env:
          DEPLOY_KEY: ${{ secrets.DEPLOY_KEY }}
          AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
          AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
      
      - name: Use GitHub token
        run: |
          gh api user
        env:
          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Composite Actions

File: .github/actions/setup-project/action.yml

name: 'Setup Project'
description: 'Setup Node.js and install dependencies'
inputs:
  node-version:
    description: 'Node.js version'
    required: false
    default: '18'
  cache-key:
    description: 'Cache key prefix'
    required: false
    default: 'v1'
outputs:
  cache-hit:
    description: 'Whether cache was hit'
    value: ${{ steps.cache.outputs.cache-hit }}

runs:
  using: 'composite'
  steps:
    - name: Setup Node.js
      uses: actions/setup-node@v4
      with:
        node-version: ${{ inputs.node-version }}
    
    - name: Cache dependencies
      id: cache
      uses: actions/cache@v3
      with:
        path: node_modules
        key: ${{ inputs.cache-key }}-${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
    
    - name: Install dependencies
      if: steps.cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
      run: npm ci
      shell: bash

Using composite action:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Setup project
        uses: ./.github/actions/setup-project
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache-key: 'v2'
      
      - name: Build
        run: npm run build

Reusable Workflows

File: .github/workflows/reusable-deploy.yml

name: Reusable Deploy Workflow

on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      environment:
        required: true
        type: string
      version:
        required: false
        type: string
        default: 'latest'
    secrets:
      deploy-key:
        required: true
    outputs:
      deployment-url:
        description: "Deployment URL"
        value: ${{ jobs.deploy.outputs.url }}

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: ${{ inputs.environment }}
    outputs:
      url: ${{ steps.deploy.outputs.url }}
    
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Deploy
        id: deploy
        run: |
          ./deploy.sh ${{ inputs.environment }} ${{ inputs.version }}
          echo "url=https://${{ inputs.environment }}.example.com" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
        env:
          DEPLOY_KEY: ${{ secrets.deploy-key }}

Calling reusable workflow:

jobs:
  deploy-staging:
    uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-deploy.yml
    with:
      environment: staging
      version: '1.2.3'
    secrets:
      deploy-key: ${{ secrets.STAGING_DEPLOY_KEY }}
  
  deploy-production:
    needs: deploy-staging
    uses: ./.github/workflows/reusable-deploy.yml
    with:
      environment: production
      version: '1.2.3'
    secrets:
      deploy-key: ${{ secrets.PROD_DEPLOY_KEY }}

Common Workflow Triggers

Trigger	Description	Example
`push`	On push to branches	`on: push: branches: [main]`
`pull_request`	On PR events	`on: pull_request: types: [opened, synchronize]`
`workflow_dispatch`	Manual trigger	`on: workflow_dispatch: inputs: ...`
`schedule`	Cron schedule	`on: schedule: - cron: '0 0 * * *'`
`release`	On release events	`on: release: types: [published]`
`issues`	On issue events	`on: issues: types: [opened, labeled]`
`issue_comment`	On issue comments	`on: issue_comment: types: [created]`
`repository_dispatch`	External webhook	`on: repository_dispatch: types: [deploy]`
`workflow_run`	After another workflow	`on: workflow_run: workflows: [CI]`
`pull_request_target`	PR from forks (careful!)	`on: pull_request_target`

Context Variables

Context	Description	Example Usage
`github.actor`	User who triggered workflow	`${{ github.actor }}`
`github.event_name`	Event that triggered workflow	`${{ github.event_name }}`
`github.ref`	Branch or tag ref	`${{ github.ref }}`
`github.sha`	Commit SHA	`${{ github.sha }}`
`github.repository`	Owner/repo name	`${{ github.repository }}`
`github.workspace`	Workspace directory path	`${{ github.workspace }}`
`runner.os`	Operating system	`${{ runner.os }}`
`runner.temp`	Temp directory path	`${{ runner.temp }}`
`secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN`	Auto-generated token	`${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}`
`env.VAR_NAME`	Environment variable	`${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}`
`matrix.value`	Matrix value	`${{ matrix.node-version }}`
`needs.job.outputs.var`	Output from previous job	`${{ needs.build.outputs.version }}`
`steps.step_id.outputs.var`	Output from step	`${{ steps.build.outputs.artifact }}`
`job.status`	Job status	`${{ job.status }}`

Common Use Cases

Use Case 1: Node.js CI/CD Pipeline

name: Node.js CI/CD

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

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [16, 18, 20]
    
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Setup Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
          cache: 'npm'
      
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      
      - name: Run linter
        run: npm run lint
      
      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test -- --coverage
      
      - name: Upload coverage
        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3
        with:
          files: ./coverage/lcov.info
  
  build:
    needs: test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: github.event_name == 'push'
    
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '18'
          cache: 'npm'
      
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm run build
      
      - name: Upload build artifacts
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: dist
          path: dist/
  
  deploy:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
    environment:
      name: production
      url: https://example.com
    
    steps:
      - name: Download artifacts
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
        with:
          name: dist
          path: dist/
      
      - name: Deploy to production
        run: |
          # Deploy commands here
          echo "Deploying to production..."

Use Case 2: Docker Build and Push

name: Docker Build and Push

on:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]
    tags: [ 'v*' ]

env:
  REGISTRY: ghcr.io
  IMAGE_NAME: ${{ github.repository }}

jobs:
  build-and-push:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: read
      packages: write
    
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
      
      - name: Log in to Container Registry
        uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
      
      - name: Extract metadata
        id: meta
        uses: docker/metadata-action@v5
        with:
          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
          tags: |
            type=ref,event=branch
            type=semver,pattern={{version}}
            type=semver,pattern={{major}}.{{minor}}
            type=sha
      
      - name: Build and push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
          cache-from: type=gha
          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max

Use Case 3: Multi-Cloud Deployment

name: Multi-Cloud Deploy

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      environment:
        type: choice
        description: 'Deployment environment'
        options:
          - staging
          - production
        required: true

jobs:
  deploy-aws:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: ${{ github.event.inputs.environment }}
    
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Configure AWS credentials
        uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
        with:
          aws-access-key-id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
          aws-secret-access-