GitHub Actions Cheatsheet

Events and Triggers

Use this GitHub Actions reference while you build software engineering projects, review code, or refresh the syntax you reach for most.

Push and Pull Request

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, develop]
    branches-ignore: ['dependabot/**', 'renovate/**']
    tags: ['v*.*.*']
    paths: ['src/**', 'package.json']
    paths-ignore: ['**.md', 'docs/**']

  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened, ready_for_review]
    paths: ['src/**']

  pull_request_target:   # Runs in context of BASE branch (access to secrets)
    types: [opened, synchronize]

pull_request_target has write access and secrets — validate all user inputs carefully.

Schedule (Cron)

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 6 * * 1-5'   # 6 AM UTC Mon–Fri
    - cron: '0 0 * * 0'     # Midnight UTC every Sunday

Cron field order: minute hour day-of-month month day-of-week

Example	Meaning
`0 * * * *`	Every hour
`/15 * * *`	Every 15 minutes
`0 8 * * 1-5`	8 AM UTC weekdays
`0 0 1 * *`	Midnight on the 1st of each month
`0 12 * * 0`	Noon UTC every Sunday

Scheduled workflows only run on the default branch and may be delayed up to 15 min under high load.

Manual Triggers — `workflow_dispatch`

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      environment:
        description: 'Deployment target'
        required: true
        type: choice
        options: [dev, staging, production]
        default: staging
      debug:
        description: 'Enable debug logging'
        type: boolean
        default: false
      version:
        description: 'Release version (e.g. 1.2.3)'
        type: string
        required: false

Access inputs:

- run: echo "Deploying to ${{ inputs.environment }}"
- if: ${{ inputs.debug }}
  run: set -x && env

Trigger via CLI:

gh workflow run deploy.yml \
  --ref main \
  -f environment=staging \
  -f debug=true

Workflow Call — `workflow_call`

on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      environment:
        required: true
        type: string
    secrets:
      deploy-key:
        required: true
    outputs:
      url:
        description: 'Deployed URL'
        value: ${{ jobs.deploy.outputs.url }}

Repository Events

Event	Triggered when
`push`	Commits pushed to a branch or tag
`pull_request`	PR opened, updated, closed, etc.
`pull_request_review`	Review submitted/dismissed
`create`	Branch or tag created
`delete`	Branch or tag deleted
`release`	Release published/created/edited
`issues`	Issue opened, closed, labeled, etc.
`issue_comment`	Comment on issue or PR
`discussion`	GitHub Discussion events
`fork`	Repo forked
`star`	Repo starred (type: created)
`watch`	Repo watched
`gollum`	Wiki page created/edited

Workflow and Check Events

Event	Triggered when
`workflow_dispatch`	Manually triggered via UI or CLI
`workflow_call`	Called from another workflow
`workflow_run`	Another workflow completes
`check_run`	Check run created/completed
`check_suite`	Check suite completed
`status`	Commit status changes
`deployment`	Deployment created
`deployment_status`	Deployment status updates

`workflow_run` — React to Another Workflow

on:
  workflow_run:
    workflows: ['CI Build']
    types: [completed]
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  deploy:
    if: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'success' }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: echo "CI passed, deploying..."

External / API Triggers — `repository_dispatch`

on:
  repository_dispatch:
    types: [deploy-request, data-refresh]

Trigger via API:

curl -X POST \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/dispatches \
  -d '{"event_type":"deploy-request","client_payload":{"env":"prod"}}'

Access payload:

- run: echo "${{ github.event.client_payload.env }}"

Activity Types Reference

# pull_request types
types: [opened, edited, closed, reopened, synchronize,
        assigned, unassigned, labeled, unlabeled,
        ready_for_review, converted_to_draft,
        review_requested, review_request_removed, auto_merge_enabled]

# issues types
types: [opened, edited, deleted, closed, reopened,
        labeled, unlabeled, assigned, unassigned]

# release types
types: [published, created, edited, deleted,
        prereleased, released, unpublished]

Filter Patterns

# Glob patterns supported everywhere
branches:
  - main
  - 'release/v[0-9]+.[0-9]+'   # regex-like
  - 'feature/**'                 # any depth

paths:
  - 'src/**'
  - '!src/**/*.test.ts'          # exclude with !
  - 'package*.json'

tags:
  - 'v*'
  - '!v*-beta'