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Predefined Variables

GitHub Actions provides a set of default environment variables that are available in every workflow. These variables provide context about the workflow run, the repository, and the event that triggered the run.

Example Workflow

This workflow prints some of the most common predefined variables.

name: predefined-variables

on: workflow_dispatch

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Printing predefined variables
        run: |
          echo "Workflow name : $GITHUB_WORKFLOW"
          echo "Action name : $GITHUB_ACTION"
          echo "Github repository name : $GITHUB_REPOSITORY"
          echo "Trigger event name : $GITHUB_EVENT_NAME"
          echo "Branch Name : $GITHUB_REF_NAME"
          echo "Runner name : $RUNNER_NAME"
          echo "Workflow workspace: : $GITHUB_WORKSPACE"

Common Variables

  • GITHUB_WORKFLOW: The name of the workflow.
  • GITHUB_REPOSITORY: The owner and repository name (e.g., octocat/Hello-World).
  • GITHUB_EVENT_NAME: The name of the event that triggered the workflow (e.g., push, pull_request).
  • GITHUB_REF_NAME: The branch or tag name that triggered the workflow run.
  • GITHUB_WORKSPACE: The default working directory for steps and the default location of your repository when using the checkout action.

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