Actions

Use the Actions tab to monitor GitHub Actions workflow runs.

Navigate the Actions tab

When more entries are available, use Load more at the end of the list. A line above the list says how many runs there are; see Filter actions.

In the activity panel, Run Workflow, the filter icon, and More actions share the title row with the source badge.

To open the Actions tab, click DevOps > Actions.

Workflow runs are listed chronologically and display the following information.

• Status: Indicates whether a workflow run is in progress, completed, queued, or skipped.
• Title and workflow number: The name of the workflow and the number of the workflow run.
• Branch: The branch or tag that the workflow ran on.
• Event: The type of event that triggered the workflow run.
• Commit: The commit that the workflow ran on. The activity panel does not show it.
• Timestamp: How long ago the workflow run occurred.

Running and queued status icons are blue in the run list and in job and step details. Runs waiting for approval or requiring action use amber. Failures, including timeouts and failures to start, use red. Successful items use green; cancelled, skipped, and unknown results are neutral.

When the Actions list or an Actions Run tab receives a newer run status, other open views of that run update immediately. The activity indicator also updates if the run belongs to the commit and branch it tracks. Zide continues to check GitHub periodically for new changes.

Middle-click a workflow run to open it in a new background tab. To open it in a new foreground tab, right-click it and click Open in New Tab. The right-click menu also includes available run actions, such as re-running, cancelling, and deleting. Use the remote badge to open the provider’s website.

Actions Run tab

Click a workflow run to view its details in the Actions Run tab. A card at the top of the tab shows the run’s title and these facts:

• Workflow: The workflow, when its name differs from the run title.
• Branch: The branch that the workflow ran on.
• Commit: The commit that the workflow ran on.
• Started: When the workflow started.
• Duration: How long the workflow ran.

Click More details to show Trigger (what started the run), Actor (who started it), Updated (the time since the most recent activity), and Attempt (the run attempt number). Click Fewer details to hide them.

Click Cancel or Force Cancel to stop a running workflow run. Click Re-run to re-run a successful workflow run. Click Re-run Failed to re-run a failed workflow.

Each job of the workflow is listed chronologically as a card with its status and duration. To open a job, click the chevron at the left of the job or click its name. Click it again to close the job. An open job shows its Status, Started, and Duration, the Re-run Job and Open on GitHub buttons, its steps, and its log. Clicks inside an open job do not close it.

You can open more than one job at a time, for example to compare the logs of two failed jobs. When the tab opens, failed and running jobs are open. Click Expand All to open all jobs and Collapse All to close them. A job’s log is available after the job completes.

Click Re-run Job to re-run a job. A closed job shows Re-run Job as an icon. Re-run Job is available after the run finishes; until then it is dimmed. Click Open on GitHub to open the job’s page on GitHub. The source badge in the tab header opens the run’s page.

A check in a pull request’s Checks view also opens this tab, with the check’s job open.

Runs from another repository

A check can come from a run in another repository, such as a fork. The tab shows that run from its repository and adds a Repository fact with the repository’s name. If GitHub reports that you do not have write access to that repository, the actions that change the run are dimmed: Re-run, Re-run Failed, Cancel, Force Cancel, Delete Run, Re-run Job, and Delete artifact. Point to one to see the reason. You can still download the logs and artifacts. If GitHub does not report your access, the actions stay available, and GitHub refuses an action that you cannot take. If your account cannot read that repository, the tab says so and offers Open on GitHub.

Filter actions

Click the Show filters icon to open the filter panel. GitHub applies each filter to all of the repository’s runs, not only the loaded ones.

• Status: A run state (In Progress, Queued, Completed) or a result (Success, Failure, Cancelled, Skipped).
• Branch: Type the full name of a branch. A tag name also works for a run that a tag push started.
• Event: Push, Pull Request, Schedule, or Manual.
• Actor: Type the GitHub username of the person who started the run.

Press Ctrl+F (Cmd+F on macOS) to open the panel and focus Branch. When the panel is too narrow for the icon, click More actions > Show Filters.

The line above the list says how many runs there are: N runs with no filter, or N matches with one. Each filter that is set shows as a chip above the count, for example Branch: main. Click a chip to open the panel at that filter: a list opens, and a text field gets the cursor. Click its x to remove the filter. To remove all of them, click Clear filters at the end of the count line. In a narrow panel the button says Clear.

Run a workflow

To run a specific workflow, complete the following steps.

1. In the Actions tab, click Run Workflow.
2. In the Run Workflow dialog, click the Workflow dropdown to select the workflow to run.
3. The Branch or tag field shows the current branch. To run on a different branch or tag, enter or select it.
4. Under Inputs, set the workflow’s inputs. A red asterisk (*) marks an input that needs a value.
5. Click Run.

The field lists the repository’s branches and tags. Type to search, or click the list button or press Down to show the list. If a branch and a tag have the same name, choose one from the list. If the field is empty or the repository does not have the name, a message shows below the field and Run is unavailable. Point to Run to see the reason.

Zide reads the inputs from the workflow_dispatch trigger in the workflow file on the branch or tag. It reads them again when you change the workflow or the branch or tag. Each input shows its default value, with its description below it:

• A choice input is a list of its options.
• A boolean input is a checkbox.
• An environment input is a list of the repository’s environments. If Zide cannot get the environments, or the repository has none, it is a text field.
• A number or string input is a text field.

If you leave an input empty and it does not need a value, GitHub uses its default. When the inputs load again, a value that you changed stays if the input has the same name and type. A list keeps your choice only if it still has that value; otherwise it shows its default or Choose a value.

Run is unavailable until each required input has a value and each number and choice is valid. Point to Run to see the first problem. If you leave an input with a problem, a message shows below it.

If the workflow has no inputs, the dialog has no Inputs group. If the workflow file has no workflow_dispatch trigger, the dialog says so and Run is unavailable, because GitHub cannot start that workflow manually. If Zide cannot read the workflow file, or the file is not valid YAML, the dialog says so and shows Key and Value fields. Enter each input there. GitHub checks those inputs when you click Run. If GitHub does not start the run, the dialog shows the reason.

Zide does not write input values to the App Console.

Zide Assist can also list the inputs of a workflow and run a workflow with inputs. When Zide Assist can read the workflow file, it checks the inputs before it starts the run.

Manage workflows

To manage workflows in the Actions activity, click More actions, then click Manage Workflows…. In an Actions tab, click the Manage Workflows icon. The Manage Workflows dialog lists each workflow and the workflow file path. Click Enable or Disable to activate or deactivate workflows.

Assist with This

Right-click a workflow run, or the Actions Run tab, and point to Assist with This.

Under Zide Assist, click Add to Conversation to attach the run to a Zide Assist tab. You can also drag the run into a Zide Assist tab. For more information, see Attach items to a message.

Under Ask Zide, click Open Ask Zide. Zide opens the run in the Actions Run tab with an Ask Zide panel beside it. In the panel, click Summarize Outcome or Explain Failure. Explain Failure is unavailable when the run has no failed job. When a job failed, Explain Failure is first. Ask Zide does not re-run or cancel the run. See Ask Zide beside a tab.

Activity indicator

The activity icon is blue while a run is running or queued, amber when waiting for user action, and red for a failure on the current branch. Successful runs leave the icon neutral.

By default, failures stay red until recovery, including while a replacement run is in progress. To clear failure indicators when viewed, turn off More actions > Failure indicator > Keep failure indicator after viewing. This preference is shared by Actions and Pipelines across projects and persists across restarts.

The indicator covers workflows for the newest commit with runs on the current branch. Older scheduled or manual failures remain in the Actions list but do not keep the icon red. Within that commit, each workflow is tracked separately: a successful unrelated workflow does not clear a failure. A remembered failure stays red while the same commit is retried, but does not carry over to a newer commit.