What is configuring-github-actions?

This Claude skill streamlines the setup of GitHub Actions CI/CD pipelines by providing production-ready workflow templates for Python, JavaScript, and polyglot projects. It automates the implementation of quality gates on every pull request, ensuring code reliability through standardized testing, matrix builds, and branch protection configurations.

When should I use configuring-github-actions?

configuring-github-actions is useful in the following scenarios: • Automating pull request checks for Python projects using modern tools like uv for dependency management and just for task orchestration. • Implementing robust CI workflows for JavaScript applications using pnpm and Node.js to run linting and unit tests automatically. • Configuring unified quality gates for polyglot repositories that require concurrent testing across multiple programming languages. • Optimizing development cycles by setting up matrix testing to verify code compatibility across different language versions (e.g., Python 3.11 and 3.12). • Enhancing repository security and code quality by enforcing branch protection rules and mandatory status checks before merging.

name	configuring-github-actions
description	Use when setting up GitHub Actions CI/CD for pull request checks - provides workflow templates for Python, JavaScript, and polyglot projects that run quality gates on every PR

Configuring GitHub Actions

Purpose

PR checks workflow running just check-all on every PR/push. All templates at .github/workflows/pr-checks.yml.

Python Template

name: PR Checks

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

jobs:
  check:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: extractions/setup-just@v2

      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.11'

      - name: Install uv
        run: pip install uv

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          uv venv .venv
          source .venv/bin/activate
          uv pip install -e ".[dev]"

      - name: Run checks
        run: |
          source .venv/bin/activate
          just check-all

      - name: Upload coverage
        if: always()
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: coverage-report
          path: htmlcov/

JavaScript Template

name: PR Checks

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

jobs:
  check:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: extractions/setup-just@v2

      - name: Setup pnpm
        uses: pnpm/action-setup@v3
        with:
          version: 8

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'pnpm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: pnpm install

      - name: Run checks
        run: just check-all

      - name: Upload coverage
        if: always()
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: coverage-report
          path: coverage/

Polyglot Template

name: PR Checks

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

jobs:
  check:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: extractions/setup-just@v2

      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.11'

      - name: Setup pnpm
        uses: pnpm/action-setup@v3
        with:
          version: 8

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: '20'
          cache: 'pnpm'

      - name: Install uv
        run: pip install uv

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: just dev

      - name: Run checks
        run: just check-all

      - name: Upload coverage (Python)
        if: always()
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: python-coverage
          path: api/htmlcov/

      - name: Upload coverage (JS)
        if: always()
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: js-coverage
          path: web/coverage/

Matrix Testing

strategy:
  matrix:
    python-version: ['3.11', '3.12']
    node-version: ['20', '21']
steps:
  - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
    uses: actions/setup-python@v5
    with:
      python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}

Setup

mkdir -p .github/workflows
# Copy template to .github/workflows/pr-checks.yml
git add .github/workflows/pr-checks.yml
git commit -m "chore: add GitHub Actions PR checks"
git push

Branch Protection

Settings → Branches → Add rule:

✅ Require status checks to pass
✅ Require branches up to date
✅ Select check job
✅ Require conversation resolution
✅ No bypass

Useful Patterns

Skip docs-only:

on:
  pull_request:
    paths-ignore:
      - '**.md'
      - 'docs/**'

Main-only expensive tests:

- name: Integration tests
  if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
  run: just test-integration

Manual trigger:

on:
  pull_request:
  push:
  workflow_dispatch:  # Adds "Run workflow" button

Security - pin versions:

- uses: actions/checkout@v4  # ✅ Good
- uses: actions/checkout@main  # ❌ Bad

Limit permissions:

permissions:
  contents: read
  pull-requests: write

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Just not found	Add `extractions/setup-just@v2`
Permission denied	Add `chmod +x` before script
Cache miss	Verify lock files exist
CI-only failures	Match versions locally

Debug output:

- run: |
    python --version
    node --version
    just --version
    ls -la

Enable debug: Re-run jobs → "Enable debug logging"

configuring-github-actions

When & Why to Use This Skill

Use Cases