---
type: entity
subtype: tool
title: "GitHub Actions"
description: "GitHub's built-in CI/CD system that runs trigger-based workflows to invoke coding assistants in isolated, GitHub-hosted environments."
resource: "https://github.com/features/actions"
tags: [deployment, infrastructure, ci-cd, orchestration, agentic-coding]
videos: [github-is-the-future-of-ai-coding-heres-why]
created: 2026-07-21
updated: 2026-07-21
---

# GitHub Actions

GitHub Actions is GitHub's built-in CI/CD system, and in Cole's argument it is the orchestration layer for an AI dev team rather than just a test runner. A workflow is a YAML file in `.github/workflows` bound to a trigger; here the trigger is a comment on an issue or pull request, and the job is "invoke a coding assistant". Each run gets a clean, GitHub-hosted environment with the repo already checked out, and the run itself is the audit trail: "Everything is super fast going into the workflow runs in the actions tab right here for GitHub" ([0:04:12](../../sources/github-is-the-future-of-ai-coding-heres-why.md)).

The load-bearing insight is that the same trigger pattern works for any assistant. Cole wires [Claude Code](./claude-code.md), [Codex](./codex.md), and [Cursor](./cursor.md) into one repo, invoked by `@claude-fix`, `@codex fix`, and `@cursor fix`. Because each workflow suffixes its branch with the assistant's name, all three can attack the same issue at once with no collisions, and `@claude-review` can review a PR another agent opened. Every workflow loads the same reusable prompt file plus a shared `agents.md` of global rules, so behavior stays consistent across vendors.

Actions is also where you choose how much autonomy to hand over, which Cole splits into three structures. Hybrid (Claude Code): the agent branches and does the work, but a human clicks the button that opens the PR. Deterministic (Codex): branch creation, PR body, and issue comment are hard-coded in the YAML and the assistant is called only for the code changes. Fully autonomous (Cursor): one prompt tells the headless CLI to branch, fix, open the PR, and comment, all through the GitHub CLI. Same platform, three different control-versus-autonomy trade-offs.

Two details make it viable on a real repo: workflows gate invocation so only approved maintainers can spend agent runs on a public project, and the OAuth token from `claude setup-token` lets a subscription drive the action instead of a pricier API key.

## Realizes

- [Agentic Workflow Engineering](../../concepts/agentic-workflow-engineering.md) - Repeatable agent work encoded as triggered, versioned workflow files instead of ad-hoc prompting.
- [Deterministic Workflows](../../concepts/deterministic-workflows.md) - Hard-coding the known steps in YAML and calling the LLM only for the genuinely fuzzy part.
- [Remote Agentic Coding](../../concepts/remote-agentic-coding.md) - Kicking off work with a comment from anywhere and having an isolated remote runner do the rest.

## Works with

- [GitHub](./github.md) - The platform hosting the issues, PRs, and CLI the workflows drive.
- [Claude Code](./claude-code.md) - Runs via Anthropic's official Action in the hybrid structure.
- [Codex](./codex.md) - Runs in the deterministic structure where the YAML owns branch, PR, and comment.
- [Cursor](./cursor.md) - Runs headless in the fully-autonomous structure, doing everything through the GitHub CLI.
- [Git](./git.md) - Branch-per-assistant naming is what lets parallel runs coexist.

## Related

- [The Issue Is the Spec](../../concepts/issue-is-the-spec.md) - The triggering issue is the specification the agent implements against.
- [Parallel Agentic Coding](../../concepts/parallel-agentic-coding.md) - Three assistants fixing and reviewing simultaneously on one repo.
- [Human in the Loop](../../concepts/human-in-the-loop.md) - The hybrid structure keeps a person on the PR-creation button.
- [Global Rules](../../concepts/global-rules.md) - A shared agents.md injected into every assistant's run.
- [Code Review](../../concepts/code-review.md) - Review workflows gate merges, with a reviewer separate from the author.
- [Context Isolation](../../concepts/context-isolation.md) - Every run starts in a fresh hosted environment with nothing carried over.
- [Provider Independence](../../concepts/provider-independence.md) - The orchestration layer outlives whichever assistant is currently best.

## Sources

- [GitHub is the Future of AI Coding (Here's Why)](../../sources/github-is-the-future-of-ai-coding-heres-why.md) - "[0:04:12] Everything is super fast going into the workflow runs in the actions tab right here for GitHub."
