Github Actions Linter

Lint and validate GitHub Actions workflow YAML files for common mistakes, security issues, deprecated actions, and best practices. Use when asked to lint, validate, audit, or check GitHub Actions workflows, CI/CD pipelines on GitHub, or .github/workflows/*.yml files. Triggers on "lint actions", "check workflow", "validate CI", "audit GitHub Actions", "workflow issues", "actions security".

Lint GitHub Actions workflow files for syntax errors, security issues, deprecated actions, and best practices violations.

Commands

All commands use the bundled Python script at scripts/gha_linter.py.

1. Lint a workflow file

python3 scripts/gha_linter.py lint <file-or-directory> [--strict] [--format text|json|markdown]

Runs all lint rules against one or more workflow files. If given a directory, scans for *.yml and *.yaml files recursively.

Flags:

• --strict — exit code 1 on any warning (not just errors)
• --format — output format: text (default), json, markdown

2. Audit for security issues

python3 scripts/gha_linter.py security <file> [--format text|json|markdown]

Focused security audit: shell injection via ${{ }} in run:, hardcoded secrets, overly permissive permissions, untrusted event contexts in expressions.

3. Check for deprecated actions

python3 scripts/gha_linter.py deprecated <file> [--format text|json|markdown]

Detect outdated action versions (e.g., actions/checkout@v2, actions/setup-node@v3 when v4 exists) and suggest upgrades.

4. Validate workflow structure

python3 scripts/gha_linter.py validate <file> [--format text|json|markdown]

Structural validation only: required keys (on, jobs), valid trigger events, valid runs-on labels, job dependency graph (circular deps, missing refs).

Lint Rules (28 total)

Syntax & Structure (8 rules)

1. missing-on — Workflow missing on trigger
2. missing-jobs — Workflow missing jobs section
3. empty-jobs — Jobs section is empty
4. missing-runs-on — Job missing runs-on
5. missing-steps — Job missing steps
6. empty-steps — Steps list is empty
7. invalid-trigger — Unknown trigger event name
8. circular-deps — Circular job dependency via needs

Security (8 rules)

9. shell-injection — ${{ }} expression in run: (potential injection)
10. hardcoded-secret — Hardcoded password/token/key patterns in workflow
11. permissive-permissions — permissions: write-all or no permissions block
12. untrusted-context — Dangerous contexts in expressions (github.event.issue.title, github.event.pull_request.body, etc.)
13. pull-request-target — pull_request_target with checkout of PR head (known attack vector)
14. third-party-action — Non-verified third party action without pinned SHA
15. env-in-run — Secret used directly in run: instead of via env:
16. excessive-permissions — Job requests more permissions than needed

Deprecated & Outdated (4 rules)

17. deprecated-action — Action version is outdated (v1/v2 when v4 exists)
18. deprecated-runner — Using deprecated runner labels (ubuntu-18.04, macos-10.15)
19. set-output-deprecated — Using deprecated ::set-output:: command
20. save-state-deprecated — Using deprecated ::save-state:: command

Best Practices (8 rules)

21. missing-timeout — Job without timeout-minutes (default 6h is dangerous)
22. missing-name — Step without name (harder to debug)
23. latest-tag — Action pinned to @main or @master (unstable)
24. no-concurrency — Workflow without concurrency (can waste resources)
25. hardcoded-runner — Hardcoded runner version instead of -latest
26. long-run-command — run: block exceeds 50 lines (should be a script)
27. duplicate-step-id — Duplicate id in steps within same job
28. missing-if-continue — continue-on-error: true without explanation comment

Output Formats

Text (default)

workflow.yml:12:3 error [shell-injection] Expression ${{ github.event.issue.title }} in run: is vulnerable to injection
workflow.yml:25:5 warning [missing-timeout] Job 'build' has no timeout-minutes (default: 360 min)
workflow.yml:31:7 warning [missing-name] Step at index 2 has no name

3 issues (1 error, 2 warnings)

JSON

{
  "file": "workflow.yml",
  "issues": [...],
  "summary": {"errors": 1, "warnings": 2, "info": 0}
}

Markdown

Summary table with severity, rule, location, and message.

CI Integration

# .github/workflows/lint-actions.yml
name: Lint Workflows
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
  lint:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: python3 scripts/gha_linter.py lint .github/workflows/ --strict

Exit codes: 0 = clean, 1 = errors found (or warnings in --strict mode).