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Reusing workflows

In this article

Learn how to avoid duplication when creating a workflow by reusing existing workflows.

Overview

Rather than copying and pasting from one workflow to another, you can make workflows reusable. You and anyone with access to the reusable workflow can then call the reusable workflow from another workflow.

Reusing workflows avoids duplication. This makes workflows easier to maintain and allows you to create new workflows more quickly by building on the work of others, just as you do with actions. Workflow reuse also promotes best practice by helping you to use workflows that are well designed, have already been tested, and have been proved to be effective. Your organization can build up a library of reusable workflows that can be centrally maintained.

The diagram below shows three build jobs on the left of the diagram. After each of these jobs completes successfully a dependent job called "Deploy" runs. This job calls a reusable workflow that contains three jobs: "Staging", "Review", and "Production." The "Production" deployment job only runs after the "Staging" job has completed successfully. Using a reusable workflow to run deployment jobs allows you to run those jobs for each build without duplicating code in workflows.

Diagram of a reusable workflow for deployment

A workflow that uses another workflow is referred to as a "caller" workflow. The reusable workflow is a "called" workflow. One caller workflow can use multiple called workflows. Each called workflow is referenced in a single line. The result is that the caller workflow file may contain just a few lines of YAML, but may perform a large number of tasks when it's run. When you reuse a workflow, the entire called workflow is used, just as if it was part of the caller workflow.

If you reuse a workflow from a different repository, any actions in the called workflow run as if they were part of the caller workflow. For example, if the called workflow uses actions/checkout, the action checks out the contents of the repository that hosts the caller workflow, not the called workflow.

When a reusable workflow is triggered by a caller workflow, the github context is always associated with the caller workflow. The called workflow is automatically granted access to github.token and secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN. For more information about the github context, see "Context and expression syntax for GitHub Actions."

You can view the reused workflows referenced in your GitHub Actions workflows as dependencies in the dependency graph of the repository containing your workflows. For more information, see “About the dependency graph.”

Reusable workflows and starter workflows

Starter workflows allow everyone in your organization who has permission to create workflows to do so more quickly and easily. When people create a new workflow, they can choose a starter workflow and some or all of the work of writing the workflow will be done for them. Within a starter workflow, you can also reference reusable workflows to make it easy for people to benefit from reusing centrally managed workflow code. If you use a tag or branch name when referencing the reusable workflow, you can ensure that everyone who reuses that workflow will always be using the same YAML code. However, if you reference a reusable workflow by a tag or branch, be sure that you can trust that version of the workflow. For more information, see "Security hardening for GitHub Actions."

For more information, see "Creating starter workflows for your organization."

Access to reusable workflows

A reusable workflow can be used by another workflow if either of the following is true:

  • Both workflows are in the same repository.
  • The called workflow is stored in a public repository, and your organization allows you to use public reusable workflows.

Using runners

Using GitHub-hosted runners

The assignment of GitHub-hosted runners is always evaluated using only the caller's context. Billing for GitHub-hosted runners is always associated with the caller. The caller workflow cannot use GitHub-hosted runners from the called repository. For more information, see "About GitHub-hosted runners."

Using self-hosted runners

Called workflows that are owned by the same user or organization as the caller workflow can access self-hosted runners from the caller's context. This means that a called workflow can access self-hosted runners that are:

  • In the caller repository
  • In the caller repository's organization, provided that the runner has been made available to the caller repository

Limitations

  • Reusable workflows can't call other reusable workflows.
  • Reusable workflows stored within a private repository can only be used by workflows within the same repository.
  • Any environment variables set in an env context defined at the workflow level in the caller workflow are not propagated to the called workflow. For more information about the env context, see "Context and expression syntax for GitHub Actions."
  • The strategy property is not supported in any job that calls a reusable workflow.

Creating a reusable workflow

Reusable workflows are YAML-formatted files, very similar to any other workflow file. As with other workflow files, you locate reusable workflows in the .github/workflows directory of a repository. Subdirectories of the workflows directory are not supported.

For a workflow to be reusable, the values for on must include workflow_call:

on:
  workflow_call:

Using inputs and secrets in a reusable workflow

You can define inputs and secrets, which can be passed from the caller workflow and then used within the called workflow. There are three stages to using an input or a secret in a reusable workflow.

  1. In the reusable workflow, use the inputs and secrets keywords to define inputs or secrets that will be passed from a caller workflow.

    on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      username:
        required: true
        type: string
    secrets:
      envPAT:
        required: true

    For details of the syntax for defining inputs and secrets, see on.workflow_call.inputs and on.workflow_call.secrets.

  2. Reference the input or secret in the reusable workflow.

    jobs:
  reusable_workflow_job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: production
    steps:
      - uses: ./.github/workflows/my-action
        with:
          username: ${{ inputs.username }}
          token: ${{ secrets.envPAT }}

    In the example above, envPAT is an environment secret that's been added to the production environment. This environment is therefore referenced within the job.

    Note: Environment secrets are encrypted strings that are stored in an environment that you've defined for a repository. Environment secrets are only available to workflow jobs that reference the appropriate environment. For more information, see "Using environments for deployment."

  3. Pass the input or secret from the caller workflow.

    To pass named inputs to a called workflow, use the with keyword in a job. Use the secrets keyword to pass named secrets. For inputs, the data type of the input value must match the type specified in the called workflow (either boolean, number, or string).

    jobs:
  call-workflow-passing-data:
    uses: octo-org/example-repo/.github/workflows/reusable-workflow.yml@main
    with:
      username: mona
    secrets:
      envPAT: ${{ secrets.envPAT }}

Example reusable workflow

This reusable workflow file named workflow-B.yml (we'll refer to this later in the example caller workflow) takes an input string and a secret from the caller workflow and uses them in an action.

YAML
name: Reusable workflow example

on:
  workflow_call:
    inputs:
      username:
        required: true
        type: string
    secrets:
      token:
        required: true

jobs:
  example_job:
    name: Pass input and secrets to my-action
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: ./.github/workflows/my-action
        with:
          username: ${{ inputs.username }}
          token: ${{ secrets.token }}

Calling a reusable workflow

You call a reusable workflow by using the uses keyword. Unlike when you are using actions within a workflow, you call reusable workflows directly within a job, and not from within job steps.

jobs.<job_id>.uses

You reference reusable workflow files using one of the following syntaxes:

  • {owner}/{repo}/{path}/{filename}@{ref} for reusable workflows in public repositories.
  • ./{path}/{filename} for reusable workflows in the same repository.

{ref} can be a SHA, a release tag, or a branch name. Using the commit SHA is the safest for stability and security. For more information, see "Security hardening for GitHub Actions." If you use the second syntax option (without {owner}/{repo} and @{ref}) the called workflow is from the same commit as the caller workflow.

You can call multiple workflows, referencing each in a separate job.

jobs:
  call-workflow-1-in-local-repo:
    uses: octo-org/this-repo/.github/workflows/workflow-1.yml@172239021f7ba04fe7327647b213799853a9eb89
  call-workflow-2-in-local-repo:
    uses: ./.github/workflows/workflow-2.yml
  call-workflow-in-another-repo:
    uses: octo-org/another-repo/.github/workflows/workflow.yml@v1

Passing inputs and secrets to a reusable workflow

To pass named inputs to a called workflow, use the with keyword in a job. Use the secrets keyword to pass named secrets. For inputs, the data type of the input value must match the type specified in the called workflow (either boolean, number, or string).

jobs:
  call-workflow-passing-data:
    uses: octo-org/example-repo/.github/workflows/reusable-workflow.yml@main
    with:
      username: mona
    secrets:
      envPAT: ${{ secrets.envPAT }}

Supported keywords for jobs that call a reusable workflow

When you call a reusable workflow, you can only use the following keywords in the job containing the call:

Example caller workflow

This workflow file calls two workflow files. The second of these, workflow-B.yml (shown in the example reusable workflow), is passed an input (username) and a secret (token).

YAML
name: Call a reusable workflow

on:
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  call-workflow:
    uses: octo-org/example-repo/.github/workflows/workflow-A.yml@v1

  call-workflow-passing-data:
    uses: octo-org/example-repo/.github/workflows/workflow-B.yml@main
    with:
      username: mona
    secrets:
      token: ${{ secrets.TOKEN }}

Using outputs from a reusable workflow

A reusable workflow may generate data that you want to use in the caller workflow. To use these outputs, you must specify them as the outputs of the reusable workflow.

The following reusable workflow has a single job containing two steps. In each of these steps we set a single word as the output: "hello" and "world." In the outputs section of the job, we map these step outputs to job outputs called: output1 and output2. In the on.workflow_call.outputs section we then define two outputs for the workflow itself, one called firstword which we map to output1, and one called secondword which we map to output2.

YAML
name: Reusable workflow

on:
  workflow_call:
    # Map the workflow outputs to job outputs
    outputs:
      firstword:
        description: "The first output string"
        value: ${{ jobs.example_job.outputs.output1 }}
      secondword:
        description: "The second output string"
        value: ${{ jobs.example_job.outputs.output2 }}

jobs:
  example_job:
    name: Generate output
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    # Map the job outputs to step outputs
    outputs:
      output1: ${{ steps.step1.outputs.firstword }}
      output2: ${{ steps.step2.outputs.secondword }}
    steps:
      - id: step1
        run: echo "::set-output name=firstword::hello"
      - id: step2
        run: echo "::set-output name=secondword::world"

We can now use the outputs in the caller workflow, in the same way you would use the outputs from a job within the same workflow. We reference the outputs using the names defined at the workflow level in the reusable workflow: firstword and secondword. In this workflow, job1 calls the reusable workflow and job2 prints the outputs from the reusable workflow ("hello world") to standard output in the workflow log.

YAML
name: Call a reusable workflow and use its outputs

on:
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  job1:
    uses: octo-org/example-repo/.github/workflows/called-workflow.yml@v1

  job2:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: job1
    steps:
      - run: echo ${{ needs.job1.outputs.firstword }} ${{ needs.job1.outputs.secondword }}

For more information on using job outputs, see "Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions."

Monitoring which workflows are being used

You can use the GitHub REST API to monitor how reusable workflows are being used. The prepared_workflow_job audit log action is triggered when a workflow job is started. Included in the data recorded are:

  • repo - the organization/repository where the workflow job is located. For a job that calls another workflow, this is the organization/repository of the caller workflow.
  • @timestamp - the date and time that the job was started, in Unix epoch format.
  • job_name - the name of the job that was run.
  • job_workflow_ref - the workflow file that was used, in the form {owner}/{repo}/{path}/{filename}@{ref}. For a job that calls another workflow, this identifies the called workflow.

For information about using the REST API to query the audit log for an organization, see "Organizations."

Note: Audit data for prepared_workflow_job can only be viewed using the REST API. It is not visible in the GitHub web interface, or included in JSON/CSV exported audit data.

Next steps

To continue learning about GitHub Actions, see "Events that trigger workflows."