Github Actions Generator

---
name: github-actions-generator
description: Create, generate, or scaffold GitHub Actions workflows, action.yml, or .github/workflows CI/CD pipelines.
category: engineering-method
source: cc-devops-skills
date_added: "2026-09-25"
---

# GitHub Actions Generator

Generate production-ready GitHub Actions workflows and custom actions following current best practices, security standards, and naming conventions. All generated resources are automatically validated using the github-actions-validator skill.

## Quick Reference

| Capability | When to Use | Reference |
|------------|-------------|-----------|
| Workflows | CI/CD, automation, testing | `references/best-practices.md` |
| Composite Actions | Reusable step combinations | `references/custom-actions.md` |
| Docker Actions | Custom environments/tools | `references/custom-actions.md` |
| JavaScript Actions | API interactions, complex logic | `references/custom-actions.md` |
| Reusable Workflows | Shared patterns across repos | `references/advanced-triggers.md` |
| Security Scanning | Dependency review, SBOM | `references/best-practices.md` |
| Modern Features | Summaries, environments | `references/modern-features.md` |

---

## Trigger Decision Tree

Route every request through this decision tree before reading references or generating files:

1. If the user asks for `.github/workflows/*.yml` CI/CD automation, choose **Workflow Generation**.
2. If the user asks for `action.yml` or a reusable step package, choose **Custom Action Generation**.
3. If the user asks for `workflow_call` or shared pipelines across repositories, choose **Reusable Workflow Generation**.
4. If the request includes security-only scanning (dependency review, SBOM, CodeQL), stay on **Workflow Generation** with the security pattern.
5. If intent is ambiguous, ask one disambiguation question: "Do you want a workflow, a custom action, or a reusable workflow?"

## Progressive Disclosure Route

Load only what is needed for the selected route, in this order:

| Route | Load First (required) | Load Next (only if needed) | Primary Template |
|-------|------------------------|------------------------------|------------------|
| Workflow Generation | `references/best-practices.md` | `references/common-actions.md`, `references/expressions-and-contexts.md`, `references/modern-features.md` | `assets/templates/workflow/basic_workflow.yml` |
| Custom Action Generation | `references/custom-actions.md` | `references/best-practices.md` | `assets/templates/action/composite/action.yml`, `assets/templates/action/docker/`, `assets/templates/action/javascript/` |
| Reusable Workflow Generation | `references/advanced-triggers.md` | `references/best-practices.md`, `references/common-actions.md` | `assets/templates/workflow/reusable_workflow.yml` |

If a required reference/template is unavailable, continue with the closest available reference and report the fallback explicitly in output.

---

## Core Capabilities

### 1. Generate Workflows

**Triggers:** "Create a workflow for...", "Build a CI/CD pipeline..."

**Process:**
1. Understand requirements (triggers, runners, dependencies)
2. Define trust boundaries (internal branches vs fork PRs vs external triggers)
3. Set default `permissions` to read-only, then elevate only per job when required
4. Reference `references/best-practices.md` for patterns
5. Reference `references/common-actions.md` for action versions
6. Generate workflow with:
   - Semantic names, pinned actions (SHA), explicit permissions
   - Concurrency controls, caching, matrix strategies
   - Fork-safe PR handling (no secrets in untrusted contexts)
7. **Validate** with github-actions-validator skill
8. Fix issues and re-validate if needed

**Minimal Example:**
```yaml
name: CI Pipeline

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

permissions:
  contents: read

concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@6044e13b5dc448c55e2357c09f80417699197238 # v6.2.0
        with:
          node-version: '24'
          cache: 'npm'
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test
```

**Untrusted PR Guardrail (required for secret-using jobs):**
```yaml
jobs:
  deploy:
    if: github.event_name != 'pull_request' || github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository
```

### 2. Generate Custom Actions

**Triggers:** "Create a composite action...", "Build a Docker action...", "Create a JavaScript action..."

**Types:**
- **Composite:** Combine multiple steps → Fast startup
- **Docker:** Custom environment/tools → Isolated
- **JavaScript:** API access, complex logic → Fastest

**Process:**
1. Use templates from `assets/templates/action/`
2. Follow structure in `references/custom-actions.md`
3. Include branding, inputs/outputs, documentation
4. **Validate** with github-actions-validator skill

See `references/custom-actions.md` for:
- Action metadata and branding
- Directory structure patterns
- Versioning and release workflows

### 3. Generate Reusable Workflows

**Triggers:** "Create a reusable workflow...", "Make this workflow callable..."

**Key Elements:**
- `workflow_call` trigger with typed inputs
- Explicit secrets (avoid `secrets: inherit`)
- Explicit trusted-caller expectations (document org/repo boundaries)
- Outputs mapped from job outputs
- Minimal permissions

```yaml
on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      environment:
        required: true
        type: string
    secrets:
      deploy-token:
        required: false
    outputs:
      result:
        value: ${{ jobs.build.outputs.result }}
```

When secrets are required, pass only the exact secret names needed and prefer environment protection rules for deployment stages.

See `references/advanced-triggers.md` for complete patterns.

### 4. Generate Security Workflows

**Triggers:** "Add security scanning...", "Add dependency review...", "Generate SBOM..."

**Components:**
- **Dependency Review:** `actions/dependency-review-action@v4`
- **SBOM Attestations:** `actions/attest-sbom@v2`
- **CodeQL Analysis:** `github/codeql-action`

**Permission Model:**
Use a read-only workflow-level baseline, then elevate only in the security job that requires write scopes.
```yaml
permissions:
  contents: read

jobs:
  security-scan:
    permissions:
      contents: read
      security-events: write  # For CodeQL
      id-token: write         # For attestations
      attestations: write     # For attestations
```

See `references/best-practices.md` section on security.

### 5. Modern Features

**Triggers:** "Add job summaries...", "Use environments...", "Run in container..."

See `references/modern-features.md` for:
- Job summaries (`$GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY`)
- Deployment environments with approvals
- Container jobs with services
- Workflow annotations

### 6. Third-Party Action Documentation and Citation

When using third-party actions (any `uses:` entry not in the same repository):

1. **Search for documentation:**
   ```
   "[owner/repo] [version] github action documentation"
   ```

2. **Or use Context7 MCP:**
   - `mcp__context7__resolve-library-id` to find action
   - `mcp__context7__query-docs` for documentation

3. **Pin to SHA with version comment:**
   ```yaml
   - uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
   ```

4. **Cite source and version in the response:**
   - Action source (repository URL)
   - Version source (release/tag/changelog URL)
   - Selected commit SHA and human-readable version
   - Access date for the source used

See `references/common-actions.md` for pre-verified action versions.

---

## Validation Workflow

**CRITICAL:** Every generated resource MUST be validated.

1. Generate workflow/action file
2. Invoke `github-actions-validator` skill
3. If errors: fix and re-validate
4. If success: present with usage instructions

**Skip validation only for:**
- Partial code snippets
- Documentation examples
- User explicitly requests skip

## Fallback Behavior (Tooling and Environment Constraints)

If required tooling or network access is unavailable, use this deterministic fallback order:

1. If `github-actions-validator` is unavailable, run local fallback checks:
   - `actionlint` (if installed)
   - `yamllint` (if installed)
   - manual YAML/schema review with a clear "not tool-validated" note
2. If Context7 or internet access is unavailable:
   - use `references/common-actions.md` for known action versions
   - state that external version verification could not be completed
3. If a template path is missing:
   - generate from the closest template pattern in `assets/templates/`
   - document which template was substituted

Fallback usage must always be reported in the final output.

---

## Mandatory Standards

All generated resources must follow:

| Standard | Implementation |
|----------|---------------|
| **Security** | Pin to SHA, minimal permissions, mask secrets |
| **Performance** | Caching, concurrency, shallow checkout |
| **Naming** | Descriptive names, lowercase-hyphen files |
| **Error Handling** | Timeouts, cleanup with `if: always()` |

See `references/best-practices.md` for complete guidelines.

---

## Resources

### Reference Documents

| Document | Content | When to Use |
|----------|---------|-------------|
| `references/best-practices.md` | Security, performance, patterns | Every workflow |
| `references/common-actions.md` | Action versions, inputs, outputs | Public action usage |
| `references/expressions-and-contexts.md` | `${{ }}` syntax, contexts, functions | Complex conditionals |
| `references/advanced-triggers.md` | workflow_run, dispatch, ChatOps | Workflow orchestration |
| `references/custom-actions.md` | Metadata, structure, versioning | Custom action creation |
| `references/modern-features.md` | Summaries, environments, containers | Enhanced workflows |

### Templates

| Template | Location |
|----------|----------|
| Basic Workflow | `assets/templates/workflow/basic_workflow.yml` |
| Reusable Workflow | `assets/templates/workflow/reusable_workflow.yml` |
| Composite Action | `assets/templates/action/composite/action.yml` |
| Docker Action | `assets/templates/action/docker/` |
| JavaScript Action | `assets/templates/action/javascript/` |

---

## Common Patterns

### Matrix Testing
```yaml
strategy:
  matrix:
    os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]
    node: [18, 20, 22]
  fail-fast: false
```

### Conditional Deployment
```yaml
deploy:
  if: github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
```

### Artifact Sharing
```yaml
# Upload
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@5d5d22a31266ced268874388b861e4b58bb5c2f3 # v4.3.1
  with:
    name: build-${{ github.sha }}
    path: dist/

# Download (in dependent job)
- uses: actions/download-artifact@c850b930e6ba138125429b7e5c93fc707a7f8427 # v4.1.4
  with:
    name: build-${{ github.sha }}
```

### Third-Party Action Citation Block
```text
Third-party action citations:
- actions/checkout: https://github.com/actions/checkout (version: v6.0.2, sha: de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd, accessed: 2026-02-28)
```

---

## Done Criteria

The task is complete only when all checks below pass:

1. The request route was selected using the trigger decision tree.
2. Only the minimum required references/templates were loaded first.
3. Every third-party action is pinned to a commit SHA and has source/version citation.
4. Validation was run, or a skip exception/fallback path was explicitly documented.
5. Output includes assumptions, security-sensitive decisions (permissions/secrets), and generated file paths.

---

## Workflow Summary

1. **Route** the request using the trigger decision tree
2. **Load** the minimum references/templates for that route
3. **Generate** using mandatory security and naming standards
4. **Cite** and pin third-party actions (source, version, SHA)
5. **Validate** with `github-actions-validator` (or documented fallback)
6. **Fix and re-validate** until clean
7. **Present** validated output with citations, assumptions, and file paths