GitHub Actions Troubleshooting

Troubleshoot GitHub Actions workflows, particularly for Go projects. Diagnose failing workflows, distinguish between code and environment issues, interpret logs, and apply fixes for common CI/CD problems.

Security Scan

The skill's requirements, instructions, and install steps are consistent with a GitHub Actions troubleshooting tool for Go projects and do not request unrelated credentials or perform unexpected installs.

Purpose & Capability

Name and description match the declared requirements (gh and git). The SKILL.md uses gh and git commands and Go toolchain commands appropriate to diagnosing CI failures; there are no unrelated binaries or env vars requested.

Instruction Scope

Runtime instructions are narrowly scoped to listing runs, viewing logs, downloading artifacts, and running Go tooling (golangci-lint, go mod tidy). The doc does not instruct reading unrelated system files or secret env vars. It does instruct operations that require repository access (via gh) and running local Go commands, which is expected for this purpose.

Install Mechanism

Install spec uses standard package managers (brew and apt) to install the GitHub CLI (gh). No arbitrary download URLs, archives, or extract steps are present.

Credentials

No environment variables or credentials are declared. The gh CLI used by the skill will require the user's normal GitHub authentication (gh auth) to access private repos, but that is proportional and typical for a GitHub troubleshooting tool.

Persistence & Privilege

The skill does not request permanent presence (always: false) or elevated platform privileges. It is instruction-only and does not modify other skills or system-wide agent settings.

Assessment

This skill appears coherent and limited to GitHub Actions troubleshooting. Before installing, note that: (1) gh will need GitHub authentication (gh auth) to access private repositories — the skill does not request tokens but will use whatever gh session is present; (2) the troubleshooting commands can download artifacts and run local Go tools (golangci-lint, go mod tidy), which may modify your workspace — run them on a safe branch or in a disposable environment if you are cautious; (3) installing gh via apt/homebrew may require platform privileges. If you plan to allow autonomous agent invocation, be comfortable with the agent running gh/git commands against repos the agent can access; otherwise run the skill manually.

GitHub Actions Troubleshooting Skill

Use the gh CLI and Git to diagnose and fix GitHub Actions workflow failures, particularly for Go projects. This skill helps identify whether failures are due to code issues or environment/configuration problems.

Workflow Analysis

Check the status of recent workflow runs:

gh run list --repo owner/repo --limit 10

View details of a specific failing workflow:

gh run view <run-id> --repo owner/repo

Get logs for failed jobs only:

gh run view <run-id> --repo owner/repo --log-failed

Distinguishing Issue Types

1. Code Issues: Failures in compilation, tests, or linting that occur consistently across environments
2. Environment Issues: Problems with dependency resolution, tool installation, or type-checking in CI that work locally

Common Go CI Fixes

Linter Configuration Issues

• Look for "undefined" reference errors that indicate import resolution problems
• Try minimal linter configs that disable type-checking linters
• Use golangci-lint run --disable-all --enable=gofmt for basic syntax checking

Dependency Resolution

• Verify go.mod and go.sum are consistent
• Run go mod tidy to resolve dependency conflicts
• Check that required dependencies are properly declared

Diagnostic Commands

Check specific workflow job logs:

gh run view --job <job-id> --repo owner/repo

Download workflow artifacts for inspection:

gh run download <run-id> --repo owner/repo

Troubleshooting Workflow

1. Identify which jobs are failing and which are passing
2. Examine error messages for clues about the nature of the issue
3. Determine if the issue is reproducible locally
4. Apply targeted fixes based on issue type
5. Monitor subsequent workflow runs to verify resolution