gh-workflow

Run GitHub workflows on github.com

Workflow

When the user asks to run a workflow:

1. Verify git remotes and confirm commits are pushed (MANDATORY):
   • Check remotes:

     git remote -v | grep github.com

   • Get current commit:

     git rev-parse HEAD

   • Verify commit exists on remote:

     git fetch github && git branch -r --contains $(git rev-parse HEAD) | grep -q github/

   • If not found, push first:

     git push github HEAD:main

     (or appropriate branch name)
   • Quick check:

     git fetch github && git branch -r --contains HEAD | grep -q github/ || echo "WARNING: HEAD not pushed to github"

2. Check the workflow file in

   .github/workflows/

   to understand its trigger type and inputs
3. For

   workflow_dispatch

   workflows: trigger directly with

   gh workflow run

4. For

   push

   workflows: push to the remote first, then the workflow runs automatically
5. Use appropriate parameters based on the workflow's input definitions
6. For testing/iteration with matrix builds: prefer x64 over arm64 (faster provisioning)
7. Download workflow artifacts to verify outputs

Usage

# List workflows
GH_HOST=github.com gh workflow list

# Run a workflow
GH_HOST=github.com gh workflow run <workflow-name>

# Run with inputs
GH_HOST=github.com gh workflow run <workflow-name> -f key=value

# View recent runs
GH_HOST=github.com gh run list --workflow=<workflow-name>

# Watch a run
GH_HOST=github.com gh run watch <run-id>

# Download artifacts from a run
GH_HOST=github.com gh run download <run-id>

Testing matrix builds

For workflows with matrix builds, test with the fastest variant first:

• Prefer x64 over arm64 (x64 runners provision faster)
• Prefer ubuntu over macos (faster startup)
• Use workflow inputs to target specific matrix cells if supported

Examples

# Run workflow_dispatch workflow with inputs
GH_HOST=github.com gh workflow run luajit.yml -f release_tag=2025.11.23 -f create_release=true

# Run workflow at specific commit (preferred - explicit and reproducible)
GH_HOST=github.com gh workflow run luajit.yml --ref $(git rev-parse HEAD)

# Or with explicit SHA
GH_HOST=github.com gh workflow run luajit.yml --ref abc1234

# Run without creating release (testing)
GH_HOST=github.com gh workflow run nvim.yml -f create_release=false

# Download artifacts from latest run
GH_HOST=github.com gh run list --workflow=luajit.yml --limit 1 --json databaseId --jq '.[0].databaseId' | xargs -I {} GH_HOST=github.com gh run download {}