GitHub Actions Failure Matrix

Summarize GitHub Actions matrix job failures across runs so you can spot unstable OS/runtime axes fast.

Use this skill to turn noisy GitHub Actions run JSON into a matrix-focused failure report.

What this skill does

• Reads one or more JSON exports from GitHub Actions runs (via gh run view --json)
• Detects failure-like matrix jobs (failure, timed_out, cancelled, etc.)
• Extracts matrix axes from common job-name patterns (name (a, b), name [a, b], name / a / b)
• Groups repeated failures by workflow + job + matrix axis signature
• Emits ranked triage output in text or json

Inputs

Optional:

• RUN_GLOB (default: artifacts/github-actions/*.json)
• TOP_N (default: 20)
• OUTPUT_FORMAT (text or json, default: text)
• FAIL_ON_FAILURES (0 or 1, default: 0) — exit non-zero when failure groups exist
• MIN_OCCURRENCES (default: 1) — hide groups below this repeat count
• WORKFLOW_MATCH (regex, optional) — include only workflows whose names match
• WORKFLOW_EXCLUDE (regex, optional) — drop workflows whose names match
• BRANCH_MATCH (regex, optional) — include only runs whose branch names match
• BRANCH_EXCLUDE (regex, optional) — drop runs whose branch names match
• JOB_MATCH (regex, optional) — include only base job names that match
• JOB_EXCLUDE (regex, optional) — drop base job names that match
• AXIS_MATCH (regex, optional) — include only parsed matrix-axis strings that match
• AXIS_EXCLUDE (regex, optional) — drop parsed matrix-axis strings that match
• CONCLUSION_MATCH (regex, optional) — include only specific failure conclusions (failure, timed_out, cancelled, etc.)
• CONCLUSION_EXCLUDE (regex, optional) — drop specific failure conclusions
• FAILED_STEP_MATCH (regex, optional) — include only jobs whose terminal failed step matches
• FAILED_STEP_EXCLUDE (regex, optional) — drop jobs whose terminal failed step matches
• RUN_ID_MATCH (regex, optional) — include only runs whose run id matches
• RUN_ID_EXCLUDE (regex, optional) — drop runs whose run id matches
• RUN_URL_MATCH (regex, optional) — include only runs whose URL matches
• RUN_URL_EXCLUDE (regex, optional) — drop runs whose URL matches
• HEAD_SHA_MATCH (regex, optional) — include only runs whose headSha matches
• HEAD_SHA_EXCLUDE (regex, optional) — drop runs whose headSha matches
• REPO_MATCH (regex, optional) — include only runs whose repository matches (repository.nameWithOwner/full_name/name)
• REPO_EXCLUDE (regex, optional) — drop runs whose repository matches

Collect run JSON

bash

gh run view <run-id> --json databaseId,workflowName,headBranch,headSha,url,repository,jobs \
  > artifacts/github-actions/run-<run-id>.json

Run

Text report:

bash

RUN_GLOB='artifacts/github-actions/*.json' \
TOP_N=15 \
bash skills/github-actions-failure-matrix/scripts/failure-matrix.sh

JSON output for CI annotation/upload:

bash

RUN_GLOB='artifacts/github-actions/*.json' \
OUTPUT_FORMAT=json \
FAIL_ON_FAILURES=1 \
bash skills/github-actions-failure-matrix/scripts/failure-matrix.sh

Filter to a specific workflow + branch + matrix axis (for targeted triage):

bash

RUN_GLOB='artifacts/github-actions/*.json' \
WORKFLOW_MATCH='(CI|Test)' \
BRANCH_MATCH='^(main|release/)' \
AXIS_MATCH='ubuntu-latest \| python-3\.12' \
bash skills/github-actions-failure-matrix/scripts/failure-matrix.sh

Isolate timeout-only matrix failures:

bash

RUN_GLOB='artifacts/github-actions/*.json' \
CONCLUSION_MATCH='^timed_out$' \
bash skills/github-actions-failure-matrix/scripts/failure-matrix.sh

Exclude noisy flaky suites while keeping the rest of the matrix view:

bash

RUN_GLOB='artifacts/github-actions/*.json' \
WORKFLOW_EXCLUDE='nightly|experimental' \
JOB_EXCLUDE='lint|docs' \
AXIS_EXCLUDE='windows-latest' \
CONCLUSION_EXCLUDE='^cancelled$' \
bash skills/github-actions-failure-matrix/scripts/failure-matrix.sh

Focus only on setup/toolchain breakages by failed step name:

bash

RUN_GLOB='artifacts/github-actions/*.json' \
FAILED_STEP_MATCH='setup|install|dependency' \
bash skills/github-actions-failure-matrix/scripts/failure-matrix.sh

Limit triage to a specific run range or workflow URL pattern:

bash

RUN_GLOB='artifacts/github-actions/*.json' \
RUN_ID_MATCH='^(28419|28420)' \
RUN_URL_MATCH='example/repo/actions/runs' \
bash skills/github-actions-failure-matrix/scripts/failure-matrix.sh

Scope triage to a commit range by headSha:

bash

RUN_GLOB='artifacts/github-actions/*.json' \
HEAD_SHA_MATCH='^(abc123|def456)' \
bash skills/github-actions-failure-matrix/scripts/failure-matrix.sh

Scope triage to specific repositories when aggregating exports from multiple repos:

bash

RUN_GLOB='artifacts/github-actions/*.json' \
REPO_MATCH='^flowcreatebot/(yf-api-saas|conspiracy-canvas)$' \
bash skills/github-actions-failure-matrix/scripts/failure-matrix.sh

Run with bundled fixtures:

bash

RUN_GLOB='skills/github-actions-failure-matrix/fixtures/*.json' \
bash skills/github-actions-failure-matrix/scripts/failure-matrix.sh

Output contract

• Exit 0 by default (reporting mode)
• Exit 1 if FAIL_ON_FAILURES=1 and at least one failure group is found
• In text mode, prints summary + top failure matrix groups
• In json mode, prints machine-readable summary and grouped failures