Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://code.claude.com/docs/llms.txt Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Claude Code GitHub Actions

Learn about integrating Claude Code into your development workflow with Claude Code GitHub Actions

Claude Code GitHub Actions brings AI-powered automation to your GitHub workflow. With a simple @claude mention in any PR or issue, Claude can analyze your code, create pull requests, implement features, and fix bugs - all while following your project's standards. For automatic reviews posted on every PR without a trigger, see GitHub Code Review.

Claude Code GitHub Actions is built on top of the Claude Agent SDK, which enables programmatic integration of Claude Code into your applications. You can use the SDK to build custom automation workflows beyond GitHub Actions.

Claude Opus 4.7 is now available. Claude Code GitHub Actions default to Sonnet. To use Opus 4.7, configure the model parameter to use claude-opus-4-7.

Why use Claude Code GitHub Actions?

• Instant PR creation: Describe what you need, and Claude creates a complete PR with all necessary changes
• Automated code implementation: Turn issues into working code with a single command
• Follows your standards: Claude respects your CLAUDE.md guidelines and existing code patterns
• Simple setup: Get started in minutes with our installer and API key
• Secure by default: Your code stays on Github's runners

What can Claude do?

Claude Code provides a powerful GitHub Action that transforms how you work with code:

Claude Code Action

This GitHub Action allows you to run Claude Code within your GitHub Actions workflows. You can use this to build any custom workflow on top of Claude Code.

View repository →

Setup

Quick setup

The easiest way to set up this action is through Claude Code in the terminal. Just open claude and run /install-github-app.

This command will guide you through setting up the GitHub app and required secrets.

• You must be a repository admin to install the GitHub app and add secrets
• The GitHub app will request read & write permissions for Contents, Issues, and Pull requests
• This quickstart method is only available for direct Claude API users. If you're using AWS Bedrock or Google Vertex AI, please see the Using with AWS Bedrock & Google Vertex AI section.

Manual setup

If the /install-github-app command fails or you prefer manual setup, please follow these manual setup instructions:

1. Install the Claude GitHub app to your repository: https://github.com/apps/claude

   The Claude GitHub app requires the following repository permissions:

   • Contents: Read & write (to modify repository files)
   • Issues: Read & write (to respond to issues)
   • Pull requests: Read & write (to create PRs and push changes)

   For more details on security and permissions, see the security documentation.

2. Add ANTHROPIC\_API\_KEY to your repository secrets (Learn how to use secrets in GitHub Actions)

3. Copy the workflow file from examples/claude.yml into your repository's .github/workflows/

After completing either the quickstart or manual setup, test the action by tagging @claude in an issue or PR comment.

Upgrading from Beta

Claude Code GitHub Actions v1.0 introduces breaking changes that require updating your workflow files in order to upgrade to v1.0 from the beta version.

If you're currently using the beta version of Claude Code GitHub Actions, we recommend that you update your workflows to use the GA version. The new version simplifies configuration while adding powerful new features like automatic mode detection.

Essential changes

All beta users must make these changes to their workflow files in order to upgrade:

1. Update the action version: Change @beta to @v1
2. Remove mode configuration: Delete mode: "tag" or mode: "agent" (now auto-detected)
3. Update prompt inputs: Replace direct_prompt with prompt
4. Move CLI options: Convert max_turns, model, custom_instructions, etc. to claude_args

Breaking Changes Reference

Before and After Example

Beta version:

- uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@beta
  with:
    mode: "tag"
    direct_prompt: "Review this PR for security issues"
    anthropic_api_key: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
    custom_instructions: "Follow our coding standards"
    max_turns: "10"
    model: "claude-sonnet-4-6"

GA version (v1.0):

- uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@v1
  with:
    prompt: "Review this PR for security issues"
    anthropic_api_key: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
    claude_args: |
      --append-system-prompt "Follow our coding standards"
      --max-turns 10
      --model claude-sonnet-4-6

The action now automatically detects whether to run in interactive mode (responds to @claude mentions) or automation mode (runs immediately with a prompt) based on your configuration.

Example use cases

Claude Code GitHub Actions can help you with a variety of tasks. The examples directory contains ready-to-use workflows for different scenarios.

Basic workflow

name: Claude Code
on:
  issue_comment:
    types: [created]
  pull_request_review_comment:
    types: [created]
jobs:
  claude:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@v1
        with:
          anthropic_api_key: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
          # Responds to @claude mentions in comments

Using skills

name: Code Review
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize]
jobs:
  review:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@v1
        with:
          anthropic_api_key: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
          prompt: "Review this pull request for code quality, correctness, and security. Analyze the diff, then post your findings as review comments."
          claude_args: "--max-turns 5"

Custom automation with prompts

name: Daily Report
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 9 * * *"
jobs:
  report:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@v1
        with:
          anthropic_api_key: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
          prompt: "Generate a summary of yesterday's commits and open issues"
          claude_args: "--model opus"

Common use cases

In issue or PR comments:

@claude implement this feature based on the issue description
@claude how should I implement user authentication for this endpoint?
@claude fix the TypeError in the user dashboard component

Claude will automatically analyze the context and respond appropriately.

Best practices

CLAUDE.md configuration

Create a CLAUDE.md file in your repository root to define code style guidelines, review criteria, project-specific rules, and preferred patterns. This file guides Claude's understanding of your project standards.

Security considerations

Never commit API keys directly to your repository.

For comprehensive security guidance including permissions, authentication, and best practices, see the Claude Code Action security documentation.

Always use GitHub Secrets for API keys:

• Add your API key as a repository secret named ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
• Reference it in workflows: anthropic_api_key: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
• Limit action permissions to only what's necessary
• Review Claude's suggestions before merging

Always use GitHub Secrets (for example, ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}) rather than hardcoding API keys directly in your workflow files.

Optimizing performance

Use issue templates to provide context, keep your CLAUDE.md concise and focused, and configure appropriate timeouts for your workflows.

CI costs

When using Claude Code GitHub Actions, be aware of the associated costs:

GitHub Actions costs:

• Claude Code runs on GitHub-hosted runners, which consume your GitHub Actions minutes
• See GitHub's billing documentation for detailed pricing and minute limits

API costs:

• Each Claude interaction consumes API tokens based on the length of prompts and responses
• Token usage varies by task complexity and codebase size
• See Claude's pricing page for current token rates

Cost optimization tips:

• Use specific @claude commands to reduce unnecessary API calls
• Configure appropriate --max-turns in claude_args to prevent excessive iterations
• Set workflow-level timeouts to avoid runaway jobs
• Consider using GitHub's concurrency controls to limit parallel runs

Configuration examples

The Claude Code Action v1 simplifies configuration with unified parameters:

- uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@v1
  with:
    anthropic_api_key: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
    prompt: "Your instructions here" # Optional
    claude_args: "--max-turns 5" # Optional CLI arguments

Key features:

• Unified prompt interface - Use prompt for all instructions
• Skills - Invoke installed skills directly from the prompt
• CLI passthrough - Any Claude Code CLI argument via claude_args
• Flexible triggers - Works with any GitHub event

Visit the examples directory for complete workflow files.

When responding to issue or PR comments, Claude automatically responds to @claude mentions. For other events, use the prompt parameter to provide instructions.

Using with AWS Bedrock & Google Vertex AI

For enterprise environments, you can use Claude Code GitHub Actions with your own cloud infrastructure. This approach gives you control over data residency and billing while maintaining the same functionality.

Prerequisites

Before setting up Claude Code GitHub Actions with cloud providers, you need:

For Google Cloud Vertex AI:

1. A Google Cloud Project with Vertex AI enabled
2. Workload Identity Federation configured for GitHub Actions
3. A service account with the required permissions
4. A GitHub App (recommended) or use the default GITHUB\_TOKEN

For AWS Bedrock:

1. An AWS account with Amazon Bedrock enabled

2. GitHub OIDC Identity Provider configured in AWS

3. An IAM role with Bedrock permissions

4. A GitHub App (recommended) or use the default GITHUB\_TOKEN

   For best control and security when using 3P providers like Vertex AI or Bedrock, we recommend creating your own GitHub App:

   1. Go to https://github.com/settings/apps/new
   2. Fill in the basic information:
      • GitHub App name: Choose a unique name (e.g., "YourOrg Claude Assistant")
      • Homepage URL: Your organization's website or the repository URL
   3. Configure the app settings:
      • Webhooks: Uncheck "Active" (not needed for this integration)
   4. Set the required permissions:
      • Repository permissions:
        • Contents: Read & Write
        • Issues: Read & Write
        • Pull requests: Read & Write
   5. Click "Create GitHub App"
   6. After creation, click "Generate a private key" and save the downloaded .pem file
   7. Note your App ID from the app settings page
   8. Install the app to your repository:
      • From your app's settings page, click "Install App" in the left sidebar
      • Select your account or organization
      • Choose "Only select repositories" and select the specific repository
      • Click "Install"
   9. Add the private key as a secret to your repository:
      • Go to your repository's Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions
      • Create a new secret named APP_PRIVATE_KEY with the contents of the .pem file
   10. Add the App ID as a secret:

   • Create a new secret named APP_ID with your GitHub App's ID

     This app will be used with the actions/create-github-app-token action to generate authentication tokens in your workflows.

   Alternative for Claude API or if you don't want to setup your own Github app: Use the official Anthropic app:

   1. Install from: https://github.com/apps/claude
   2. No additional configuration needed for authentication

   Choose your cloud provider and set up secure authentication:

    **Configure AWS to allow GitHub Actions to authenticate securely without storing credentials.**
   
    > **Security Note**: Use repository-specific configurations and grant only the minimum required permissions.
   
    **Required Setup**:
   
    1. **Enable Amazon Bedrock**:
       * Request access to Claude models in Amazon Bedrock
       * For cross-region models, request access in all required regions
   
    2. **Set up GitHub OIDC Identity Provider**:
       * Provider URL: `https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com`
       *