Events that trigger workflows

About events that trigger workflows

Workflow triggers are events that cause a workflow to run. For more information about how to use workflow triggers, see "Triggering a workflow."

Some events have multiple activity types. For these events, you can specify which activity types will trigger a workflow run. For more information about what each activity type means, see "Webhook events and payloads."

branch_protection_rule

Runs your workflow when branch protection rules in the workflow repository are changed. For more information about branch protection rules, see "About protected branches." For information about the branch protection rule APIs, see "Objects" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for branches and their settings."

For example, you can run a workflow when a branch protection rule has been created or deleted:

on:
  branch_protection_rule:
    types: [created, deleted]

check_run

Runs your workflow when activity related to a check run occurs. A check run is an individual test that is part of a check suite. For information, see "Using the REST API to interact with checks." For information about the check run APIs, see "Objects" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for check runs."

For example, you can run a workflow when a check run has been rerequested or completed.

on:
  check_run:
    types: [rerequested, completed]

check_suite

Runs your workflow when check suite activity occurs. A check suite is a collection of the check runs created for a specific commit. Check suites summarize the status and conclusion of the check runs that are in the suite. For information, see "Using the REST API to interact with checks." For information about the check suite APIs, see "Objects" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for check suites."

For example, you can run a workflow when a check suite has been completed.

on:
  check_suite:
    types: [completed]

create

Runs your workflow when someone creates a Git reference (Git branch or tag) in the workflow's repository. For information about the APIs to create a Git reference, see "Mutations" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for Git references."

For example, you can run a workflow when the create event occurs.

on:
  create

delete

Runs your workflow when someone deletes a Git reference (Git branch or tag) in the workflow's repository. For information about the APIs to delete a Git reference, see "Mutations" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for Git references."

For example, you can run a workflow when the delete event occurs.

on:
  delete

deployment

Runs your workflow when someone creates a deployment in the workflow's repository. Deployments created with a commit SHA may not have a Git ref. For information about the APIs to create a deployment, see "Mutations" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for repositories."

For example, you can run a workflow when the deployment event occurs.

on:
  deployment

deployment_status

Runs your workflow when a third party provides a deployment status. Deployments created with a commit SHA may not have a Git ref. For information about the APIs to create a deployment status, see "Mutations" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for deployments."

For example, you can run a workflow when the deployment_status event occurs.

on:
  deployment_status

discussion

Runs your workflow when a discussion in the workflow's repository is created or modified. For activity related to comments on a discussion, use the discussion_comment event. For more information about discussions, see "About discussions." For information about the GraphQL API, see "Objects."

For example, you can run a workflow when a discussion has been created, edited, or answered.

on:
  discussion:
    types: [created, edited, answered]

discussion_comment

Runs your workflow when a comment on a discussion in the workflow's repository is created or modified. For activity related to a discussion as opposed to comments on the discussion, use the discussion event. For more information about discussions, see "About discussions." For information about the GraphQL API, see "Objects."

For example, you can run a workflow when a discussion comment has been created or deleted.

on:
  discussion_comment:
    types: [created, deleted]

fork

Runs your workflow when someone forks a repository. For information about the REST API, see "REST API endpoints for forks."

For example, you can run a workflow when the fork event occurs.

on:
  fork

gollum

Runs your workflow when someone creates or updates a Wiki page. For more information, see "About wikis."

For example, you can run a workflow when the gollum event occurs.

on:
  gollum

issue_comment

Runs your workflow when an issue or pull request comment is created, edited, or deleted. For information about the issue comment APIs, see "Objects" in the GraphQL API documentation or "Webhook events and payloads" in the REST API documentation.

For example, you can run a workflow when an issue or pull request comment has been created or deleted.

on:
  issue_comment:
    types: [created, deleted]

issue_comment on issues only or pull requests only

The issue_comment event occurs for comments on both issues and pull requests. You can use the github.event.issue.pull_request property in a conditional to take different action depending on whether the triggering object was an issue or pull request.

For example, this workflow will run the pr_commented job only if the issue_comment event originated from a pull request. It will run the issue_commented job only if the issue_comment event originated from an issue.

on: issue_comment

jobs:
  pr_commented:
    # This job only runs for pull request comments
    name: PR comment
    if: ${{ github.event.issue.pull_request }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: |
          echo A comment on PR $NUMBER
        env:
          NUMBER: ${{ github.event.issue.number }}

  issue_commented:
    # This job only runs for issue comments
    name: Issue comment
    if: ${{ !github.event.issue.pull_request }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: |
          echo A comment on issue $NUMBER
        env:
          NUMBER: ${{ github.event.issue.number }}

issues

Runs your workflow when an issue in the workflow's repository is created or modified. For activity related to comments in an issue, use the issue_comment event. For more information about issues, see "About issues." For information about the issue APIs, see "Objects" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for issues."

For example, you can run a workflow when an issue has been opened, edited, or milestoned.

on:
  issues:
    types: [opened, edited, milestoned]

label

Runs your workflow when a label in your workflow's repository is created or modified. For more information about labels, see "Managing labels." For information about the label APIs, see "Objects" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for labels."

If you want to run your workflow when a label is added to or removed from an issue, pull request, or discussion, use the labeled or unlabeled activity types for the issues, pull_request, pull_request_target, or discussion events instead.

For example, you can run a workflow when a label has been created or deleted.

on:
  label:
    types: [created, deleted]

merge_group

Runs your workflow when a pull request is added to a merge queue, which adds the pull request to a merge group. For more information see "Merging a pull request with a merge queue".

For example, you can run a workflow when the checks_requested activity has occurred.

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [ "main" ]
  merge_group:
    types: [checks_requested]

milestone

Runs your workflow when a milestone in the workflow's repository is created or modified. For more information about milestones, see "About milestones." For information about the milestone APIs, see "Objects" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for milestones."

If you want to run your workflow when an issue is added to or removed from a milestone, use the milestoned or demilestoned activity types for the issues event instead.

For example, you can run a workflow when a milestone has been opened or deleted.

on:
  milestone:
    types: [opened, deleted]

page_build

Runs your workflow when someone pushes to a branch that is the publishing source for GitHub Pages, if GitHub Pages is enabled for the repository. For more information about GitHub Pages publishing sources, see "Configuring a publishing source for your GitHub Pages site." For information about the REST API, see "REST API endpoints for repositories."

For example, you can run a workflow when the page_build event occurs.

on:
  page_build

public

Runs your workflow when your workflow's repository changes from private to public. For information about the REST API, see "REST API endpoints for repositories."

For example, you can run a workflow when the public event occurs.

on:
  public

pull_request

Runs your workflow when activity on a pull request in the workflow's repository occurs. For example, if no activity types are specified, the workflow runs when a pull request is opened or reopened or when the head branch of the pull request is updated. For activity related to pull request reviews, pull request review comments, or pull request comments, use the pull_request_review, pull_request_review_comment, or issue_comment events instead. For information about the pull request APIs, see "Objects" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for pull requests."

Note that GITHUB_SHA for this event is the last merge commit of the pull request merge branch. If you want to get the commit ID for the last commit to the head branch of the pull request, use github.event.pull_request.head.sha instead.

For example, you can run a workflow when a pull request has been opened or reopened.

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, reopened]

You can use the event context to further control when jobs in your workflow will run. For example, this workflow will run when a review is requested on a pull request, but the specific_review_requested job will only run when a review by octo-team is requested.

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [review_requested]
jobs:
  specific_review_requested:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: ${{ github.event.requested_team.name == 'octo-team'}}
    steps:
      - run: echo 'A review from octo-team was requested'

Running your pull_request workflow based on the head or base branch of a pull request

You can use the branches or branches-ignore filter to configure your workflow to only run on pull requests that target specific branches. For more information, see "Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions."

For example, this workflow will run when someone opens a pull request that targets a branch whose name starts with releases/:

on:
  pull_request:
    types:
      - opened
    branches:
      - 'releases/**'

on:
  pull_request:
    types:
      - opened
    branches:
      - 'releases/**'
    paths:
      - '**.js'

To run a job based on the pull request's head branch name (as opposed to the pull request's base branch name), use the github.head_ref context in a conditional. For example, this workflow will run whenever a pull request is opened, but the run_if job will only execute if the head of the pull request is a branch whose name starts with releases/:

on:
  pull_request:
    types:
      - opened
jobs:
  run_if:
    if:  startsWith(github.head_ref, 'releases/')
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: echo "The head of this PR starts with 'releases/'"

Running your pull_request workflow based on files changed in a pull request

You can also configure your workflow to run when a pull request changes specific files. For more information, see "Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions."

For example, this workflow will run when a pull request includes a change to a JavaScript file (.js):

on:
  pull_request:
    paths:
      - '**.js'

on:
  pull_request:
    types:
      - opened
    branches:
      - 'releases/**'
    paths:
      - '**.js'

Running your pull_request workflow when a pull request merges

When a pull request merges, the pull request is automatically closed. To run a workflow when a pull request merges, use the pull_request closed event type along with a conditional that checks the merged value of the event. For example, the following workflow will run whenever a pull request closes. The if_merged job will only run if the pull request was also merged.

on:
  pull_request:
    types:
      - closed

jobs:
  if_merged:
    if: github.event.pull_request.merged == true
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - run: |
        echo The PR was merged

Workflows in forked repositories

Workflows don't run in forked repositories by default. You must enable GitHub Actions in the Actions tab of the forked repository.

With the exception of GITHUB_TOKEN, secrets are not passed to the runner when a workflow is triggered from a forked repository. The GITHUB_TOKEN has read-only permissions in pull requests from forked repositories. For more information, see "Automatic token authentication."

Pull request events for forked repositories

For pull requests from a forked repository to the base repository, GitHub sends the pull_request, issue_comment, pull_request_review_comment, pull_request_review, and pull_request_target events to the base repository. No pull request events occur on the forked repository.

When a first-time contributor submits a pull request to a public repository, a maintainer with write access may need to approve running workflows on the pull request. For more information, see "Approving workflow runs from public forks."

For pull requests from a forked repository to a private repository, workflows only run when they are enabled, see "Managing GitHub Actions settings for a repository."

pull_request_comment (use issue_comment)

To run your workflow when a comment on a pull request (not on a pull request's diff) is created, edited, or deleted, use the issue_comment event. For activity related to pull request reviews or pull request review comments, use the pull_request_review or pull_request_review_comment events.

pull_request_review

Runs your workflow when a pull request review is submitted, edited, or dismissed. A pull request review is a group of pull request review comments in addition to a body comment and a state. For activity related to pull request review comments or pull request comments, use the pull_request_review_comment or issue_comment events instead. For information about the pull request review APIs, see "Objects" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for pull requests."

For example, you can run a workflow when a pull request review has been edited or dismissed.

on:
  pull_request_review:
    types: [edited, dismissed]

Running a workflow when a pull request is approved

To run your workflow when a pull request has been approved, you can trigger your workflow with the submitted type of pull_request_review event, then check the review state with the github.event.review.state property. For example, this workflow will run whenever a pull request review is submitted, but the approved job will only run if the submitted review is an approving review:

on:
  pull_request_review:
    types: [submitted]

jobs:
  approved:
    if: github.event.review.state == 'approved'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: echo "This PR was approved"

Workflows in forked repositories

Workflows don't run in forked repositories by default. You must enable GitHub Actions in the Actions tab of the forked repository.

With the exception of GITHUB_TOKEN, secrets are not passed to the runner when a workflow is triggered from a forked repository. The GITHUB_TOKEN has read-only permissions in pull requests from forked repositories. For more information, see "Automatic token authentication."

Pull request events for forked repositories

For pull requests from a forked repository to the base repository, GitHub sends the pull_request, issue_comment, pull_request_review_comment, pull_request_review, and pull_request_target events to the base repository. No pull request events occur on the forked repository.

When a first-time contributor submits a pull request to a public repository, a maintainer with write access may need to approve running workflows on the pull request. For more information, see "Approving workflow runs from public forks."

For pull requests from a forked repository to a private repository, workflows only run when they are enabled, see "Managing GitHub Actions settings for a repository."

pull_request_review_comment

Runs your workflow when a pull request review comment is modified. A pull request review comment is a comment on a pull request's diff. For activity related to pull request reviews or pull request comments, use the pull_request_review or issue_comment events instead. For information about the pull request review comment APIs, see "Objects" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for pull requests."

For example, you can run a workflow when a pull request review comment has been created or deleted.

on:
  pull_request_review_comment:
    types: [created, deleted]

Workflows in forked repositories

Workflows don't run in forked repositories by default. You must enable GitHub Actions in the Actions tab of the forked repository.

With the exception of GITHUB_TOKEN, secrets are not passed to the runner when a workflow is triggered from a forked repository. The GITHUB_TOKEN has read-only permissions in pull requests from forked repositories. For more information, see "Automatic token authentication."

Pull request events for forked repositories

For pull requests from a forked repository to the base repository, GitHub sends the pull_request, issue_comment, pull_request_review_comment, pull_request_review, and pull_request_target events to the base repository. No pull request events occur on the forked repository.

When a first-time contributor submits a pull request to a public repository, a maintainer with write access may need to approve running workflows on the pull request. For more information, see "Approving workflow runs from public forks."

For pull requests from a forked repository to a private repository, workflows only run when they are enabled, see "Managing GitHub Actions settings for a repository."

pull_request_target

Runs your workflow when activity on a pull request in the workflow's repository occurs. For example, if no activity types are specified, the workflow runs when a pull request is opened or reopened or when the head branch of the pull request is updated.

This event runs in the context of the base of the pull request, rather than in the context of the merge commit, as the pull_request event does. This prevents execution of unsafe code from the head of the pull request that could alter your repository or steal any secrets you use in your workflow. This event allows your workflow to do things like label or comment on pull requests from forks. Avoid using this event if you need to build or run code from the pull request.

To ensure repository security, branches with names that match certain patterns (such as those which look similar to SHAs) may not trigger workflows with the pull_request_target event.

For example, you can run a workflow when a pull request has been assigned, opened, synchronize, or reopened.

on:
  pull_request_target:
    types: [assigned, opened, synchronize, reopened]

Running your pull_request_target workflow based on the head or base branch of a pull request

You can use the branches or branches-ignore filter to configure your workflow to only run on pull requests that target specific branches. For more information, see "Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions."

For example, this workflow will run when someone opens a pull request that targets a branch whose name starts with releases/:

on:
  pull_request_target:
    types:
      - opened
    branches:
      - 'releases/**'

on:
  pull_request_target:
    types:
      - opened
    branches:
      - 'releases/**'
    paths:
      - '**.js'

To run a job based on the pull request's head branch name (as opposed to the pull request's base branch name), use the github.head_ref context in a conditional. For example, this workflow will run whenever a pull request is opened, but the run_if job will only execute if the head of the pull request is a branch whose name starts with releases/:

on:
  pull_request_target:
    types:
      - opened
jobs:
  run_if:
    if:  startsWith(github.head_ref, 'releases/')
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: echo "The head of this PR starts with 'releases/'"

Running your pull_request_target workflow based on files changed in a pull request

You can use the paths or paths-ignore filter to configure your workflow to run when a pull request changes specific files. For more information, see "Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions."

For example, this workflow will run when a pull request includes a change to a JavaScript file (.js):

on:
  pull_request_target:
    paths:
      - '**.js'

on:
  pull_request_target:
    types:
      - opened
    branches:
      - 'releases/**'
    paths:
      - '**.js'

Running your pull_request_target workflow when a pull request merges

When a pull request merges, the pull request is automatically closed. To run a workflow when a pull request merges, use the pull_request_target closed event type along with a conditional that checks the merged value of the event. For example, the following workflow will run whenever a pull request closes. The if_merged job will only run if the pull request was also merged.

on:
  pull_request_target:
    types:
      - closed

jobs:
  if_merged:
    if: github.event.pull_request.merged == true
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - run: |
        echo The PR was merged

push

Runs your workflow when you push a commit or tag, or when you create a repository from a template.

For example, you can run a workflow when the push event occurs.

on:
  push

Running your workflow only when a push to specific branches occurs

You can use the branches or branches-ignore filter to configure your workflow to only run when specific branches are pushed. For more information, see "Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions."

For example, this workflow will run when someone pushes to main or to a branch that starts with releases/.

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - 'main'
      - 'releases/**'

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - 'releases/**'
    paths:
      - '**.js'

Running your workflow only when a push of specific tags occurs

You can use the tags or tags-ignore filter to configure your workflow to only run when specific tags are pushed. For more information, see "Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions."

For example, this workflow will run when someone pushes a tag that starts with v1..

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - v1.**

Running your workflow only when a push affects specific files

You can use the paths or paths-ignore filter to configure your workflow to run when a push to specific files occurs. For more information, see "Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions."

For example, this workflow will run when someone pushes a change to a JavaScript file (.js):

on:
  push:
    paths:
      - '**.js'

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - 'releases/**'
    paths:
      - '**.js'

registry_package

jobs:
    job_name:
        if: $true

Runs your workflow when activity related to GitHub Packages occurs in your repository. For more information, see "GitHub Packages Documentation."

For example, you can run a workflow when a new package version has been published.

on:
  registry_package:
    types: [published]

release

Runs your workflow when release activity in your repository occurs. For information about the release APIs, see "Objects" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for releases and release assets" in the REST API documentation.

For example, you can run a workflow when a release has been published.

on:
  release:
    types: [published]

repository_dispatch

You can use the GitHub API to trigger a webhook event called repository_dispatch when you want to trigger a workflow for activity that happens outside of GitHub. For more information, see "REST API endpoints for repositories."

When you make a request to create a repository_dispatch event, you must specify an event_type to describe the activity type. By default, all repository_dispatch activity types trigger a workflow to run. You can use the types keyword to limit your workflow to run when a specific event_type value is sent in the repository_dispatch webhook payload.

on:
  repository_dispatch:
    types: [test_result]

Any data that you send through the client_payload parameter will be available in the github.event context in your workflow. For example, if you send this request body when you create a repository dispatch event:

{
  "event_type": "test_result",
  "client_payload": {
    "passed": false,
    "message": "Error: timeout"
  }
}

then you can access the payload in a workflow like this:

on:
  repository_dispatch:
    types: [test_result]

jobs:
  run_if_failure:
    if: ${{ !github.event.client_payload.passed }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - env:
          MESSAGE: ${{ github.event.client_payload.message }}
        run: echo $MESSAGE

schedule

The schedule event allows you to trigger a workflow at a scheduled time.

You can schedule a workflow to run at specific UTC times using POSIX cron syntax. Scheduled workflows run on the latest commit on the default or base branch. The shortest interval you can run scheduled workflows is once every 5 minutes.

This example triggers the workflow every day at 5:30 and 17:30 UTC:

on:
  schedule:
    # * is a special character in YAML so you have to quote this string
    - cron:  '30 5,17 * * *'

A single workflow can be triggered by multiple schedule events. You can access the schedule event that triggered the workflow through the github.event.schedule context. This example triggers the workflow to run at 5:30 UTC every Monday-Thursday, but skips the Not on Monday or Wednesday step on Monday and Wednesday.

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '30 5 * * 1,3'
    - cron: '30 5 * * 2,4'

jobs:
  test_schedule:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Not on Monday or Wednesday
        if: github.event.schedule != '30 5 * * 1,3'
        run: echo "This step will be skipped on Monday and Wednesday"
      - name: Every time
        run: echo "This step will always run"

Cron syntax has five fields separated by a space, and each field represents a unit of time.

┌───────────── minute (0 - 59)
│ ┌───────────── hour (0 - 23)
│ │ ┌───────────── day of the month (1 - 31)
│ │ │ ┌───────────── month (1 - 12 or JAN-DEC)
│ │ │ │ ┌───────────── day of the week (0 - 6 or SUN-SAT)
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ │
* * * * *

You can use these operators in any of the five fields:

You can use crontab guru to help generate your cron syntax and confirm what time it will run. To help you get started, there is also a list of crontab guru examples.

Notifications for scheduled workflows are sent to the user who last modified the cron syntax in the workflow file. For more information, see "Notifications for workflow runs."

status

Runs your workflow when the status of a Git commit changes. For example, commits can be marked as error, failure, pending, or success. If you want to provide more details about the status change, you may want to use the check_run event. For information about the commit status APIs, see "Objects" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for commits."

For example, you can run a workflow when the status event occurs.

on:
  status

If you want to run a job in your workflow based on the new commit state, you can use the github.event.state context. For example, the following workflow triggers when a commit status changes, but the if_error_or_failure job only runs if the new commit state is error or failure.

on:
  status
jobs:
  if_error_or_failure:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: >-
      github.event.state == 'error' ||
      github.event.state == 'failure'
    steps:
      - env:
          DESCRIPTION: ${{ github.event.description }}
        run: |
          echo The status is error or failed: $DESCRIPTION

watch

Runs your workflow when the workflow's repository is starred. For information about the pull request APIs, see "Mutations" in the GraphQL API documentation or "REST API endpoints for starring."

For example, you can run a workflow when someone stars a repository, which is the started activity type for a watch event.

on:
  watch:
    types: [started]

workflow_call

workflow_call is used to indicate that a workflow can be called by another workflow. When a workflow is triggered with the workflow_call event, the event payload in the called workflow is the same event payload from the calling workflow. For more information see, "Reusing workflows."

The example below only runs the workflow when it's called from another workflow:

on: workflow_call

workflow_dispatch

To enable a workflow to be triggered manually, you need to configure the workflow_dispatch event. You can manually trigger a workflow run using the GitHub API, GitHub CLI, or GitHub browser interface. For more information, see "Manually running a workflow."

on: workflow_dispatch

Providing inputs

You can configure custom-defined input properties, default input values, and required inputs for the event directly in your workflow. When you trigger the event, you can provide the ref and any inputs. When the workflow runs, you can access the input values in the inputs context. For more information, see "Accessing contextual information about workflow runs."

This example defines inputs called logLevel, tags, and environment. You pass values for these inputs to the workflow when you run it. This workflow then prints the values to the log, using the inputs.logLevel, inputs.tags, and inputs.environment context properties.

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      logLevel:
        description: 'Log level'
        required: true
        default: 'warning'
        type: choice
        options:
        - info
        - warning
        - debug
      tags:
        description: 'Test scenario tags'
        required: false
        type: boolean
      environment:
        description: 'Environment to run tests against'
        type: environment
        required: true

jobs:
  log-the-inputs:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: |
          echo "Log level: $LEVEL"
          echo "Tags: $TAGS"
          echo "Environment: $ENVIRONMENT"
        env:
          LEVEL: ${{ inputs.logLevel }}
          TAGS: ${{ inputs.tags }}
          ENVIRONMENT: ${{ inputs.environment }}

If you run this workflow from a browser you must enter values for the required inputs manually before the workflow will run.

You can also pass inputs when you run a workflow from a script, or by using GitHub CLI. For example:

gh workflow run run-tests.yml -f logLevel=warning -f tags=false -f environment=staging

For more information, see the GitHub CLI information in "Manually running a workflow."

workflow_run

This event occurs when a workflow run is requested or completed. It allows you to execute a workflow based on execution or completion of another workflow. The workflow started by the workflow_run event is able to access secrets and write tokens, even if the previous workflow was not. This is useful in cases where the previous workflow is intentionally not privileged, but you need to take a privileged action in a later workflow.

In this example, a workflow is configured to run after the separate "Run Tests" workflow completes.

on:
  workflow_run:
    workflows: [Run Tests]
    types:
      - completed

If you specify multiple workflows for the workflow_run event, only one of the workflows needs to run. For example, a workflow with the following trigger will run whenever the "Staging" workflow or the "Lab" workflow completes.

on:
  workflow_run:
    workflows: [Staging, Lab]
    types:
      - completed

Running a workflow based on the conclusion of another workflow

A workflow run is triggered regardless of the conclusion of the previous workflow. If you want to run a job or step based on the result of the triggering workflow, you can use a conditional with the github.event.workflow_run.conclusion property. For example, this workflow will run whenever a workflow named "Build" completes, but the on-success job will only run if the "Build" workflow succeeded, and the on-failure job will only run if the "Build" workflow failed:

on:
  workflow_run:
    workflows: [Build]
    types: [completed]

jobs:
  on-success:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'success' }}
    steps:
      - run: echo 'The triggering workflow passed'
  on-failure:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'failure' }}
    steps:
      - run: echo 'The triggering workflow failed'

Limiting your workflow to run based on branches

You can use the branches or branches-ignore filter to specify what branches the triggering workflow must run on in order to trigger your workflow. For more information, see "Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions." For example, a workflow with the following trigger will only run when the workflow named Build runs on a branch named canary.

on:
  workflow_run:
    workflows: [Build]
    types: [requested]
    branches: [canary]

Using data from the triggering workflow

You can access the workflow_run event payload that corresponds to the workflow that triggered your workflow. For example, if your triggering workflow generates artifacts, a workflow triggered with the workflow_run event can access these artifacts.

The following workflow uploads data as an artifact. (In this simplified example, the data is the pull request number.)

name: Upload data

on:
  pull_request:

jobs:
  upload:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Save PR number
        env:
          PR_NUMBER: ${{ github.event.number }}
        run: |
          mkdir -p ./pr
          echo $PR_NUMBER > ./pr/pr_number
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: pr_number
          path: pr/

When a run of the above workflow completes, it triggers a run of the following workflow. The following workflow uses the github.event.workflow_run context and the GitHub REST API to download the artifact that was uploaded by the above workflow, unzips the downloaded artifact, and comments on the pull request whose number was uploaded as an artifact.

name: Use the data

on:
  workflow_run:
    workflows: [Upload data]
    types:
      - completed

jobs:
  download:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: 'Download artifact'
        uses: actions/github-script@v6
        with:
          script: |
            let allArtifacts = await github.rest.actions.listWorkflowRunArtifacts({
               owner: context.repo.owner,
               repo: context.repo.repo,
               run_id: context.payload.workflow_run.id,
            });
            let matchArtifact = allArtifacts.data.artifacts.filter((artifact) => {
              return artifact.name == "pr_number"
            })[0];
            let download = await github.rest.actions.downloadArtifact({
               owner: context.repo.owner,
               repo: context.repo.repo,
               artifact_id: matchArtifact.id,
               archive_format: 'zip',
            });
            let fs = require('fs');
            fs.writeFileSync(`${process.env.GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/pr_number.zip`, Buffer.from(download.data));

      - name: 'Unzip artifact'
        run: unzip pr_number.zip

      - name: 'Comment on PR'
        uses: actions/github-script@v6
        with:
          github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          script: |
            let fs = require('fs');
            let issue_number = Number(fs.readFileSync('./pr_number'));
            await github.rest.issues.createComment({
              owner: context.repo.owner,
              repo: context.repo.repo,
              issue_number: issue_number,
              body: 'Thank you for the PR!'
            });