Adding scripts to your workflow

You can use a GitHub Actions workflow to run scripts and shell commands, which are then executed on the assigned runner. This example demonstrates how to use the run keyword to execute the command npm install -g bats on the runner.

jobs:
  example-job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: npm install -g bats

To use a workflow to run a script stored in your repository you must first check out the repository to the runner. Having done this, you can use the run keyword to run the script on the runner. The following example runs two scripts, each in a separate job step. The location of the scripts on the runner is specified by setting a default working directory for run commands. For more information, see Setting a default shell and working directory.

jobs:
  example-job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: ./scripts
    steps:
      - name: Check out the repository to the runner
        uses: actions/checkout@v4  
      - name: Run a script
        run: ./my-script.sh
      - name: Run another script
        run: ./my-other-script.sh

Any scripts that you want a workflow job to run must be executable. You can do this either within the workflow by passing the script as an argument to the interpreter that will run the script - for example, run: bash script.sh - or by making the file itself executable. You can give the file the execute permission by using the command git update-index --chmod=+x PATH/TO/YOUR/script.sh locally, then committing and pushing the file to the repository. Alternatively, for workflows that are run on Linux and Mac runners, you can add a command to give the file the execute permission in the workflow job, prior to running the script:

jobs:
  example-job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: ./scripts
    steps:
      - name: Check out the repository to the runner
        uses: actions/checkout@v4  
      - name: Make the script files executable
        run: chmod +x my-script.sh my-other-script.sh
      - name: Run the scripts
        run: |
          ./my-script.sh
          ./my-other-script.sh

For more information about the run keyword, see Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions.