starter-workflows
Accelerating new GitHub Actions workflows
The official source of GitHub Actions workflow templates, the pre-written YAML files GitHub shows you when you click 'set up a workflow,' covering CI, deployments, security scanning, GitHub Pages, and more.
This is the official GitHub repository containing the starter workflow templates that appear when you click the Actions tab in any GitHub repository and choose to set up a new automated workflow. When GitHub shows you suggestions like "Node.js CI" or "Deploy to Amazon ECS," those templates come from this repository.
GitHub Actions is GitHub's built-in automation system. You describe what you want to happen (build your code, run tests, deploy to a server) by writing a YAML file inside your repository. The templates here give you pre-written YAML files for common tasks so you do not have to start from scratch.
The templates are organized into folders by purpose: ci for continuous integration (building and testing code), deployments for publishing code to hosting platforms, automation for general workflow automation, code-scanning for security analysis, pages for publishing GitHub Pages sites, and agentic for AI agent workflows. Each template consists of a YAML file containing the actual workflow definition, a properties.json file with metadata like the template's name and icon, and an SVG icon file displayed in the GitHub interface.
Templates can include placeholder variables such as $default-branch, which GitHub replaces with your repository's actual default branch name when you apply the template. A preview label can be added to a template's metadata to keep it hidden from the general public while it is still being tested.
As of the time this README was written, the repository is not accepting outside contributions. GitHub directs bug reports and questions to their Community Discussions area. Security issues are handled separately through GitHub's security disclosure process. The repository still receives security updates and fixes for major breaking changes.
Where it fits
- Copy a ready-made CI template to automatically build and test your Node.js or Python project on every pull request.
- Use a deployment template to publish your app to Amazon ECS, Azure, or another cloud provider without writing YAML from scratch.
- Browse security scanning templates to add automated vulnerability checks to your repository in minutes.