Depot CI compatibility with GitHub Actions

Depot CI executes GitHub Actions YAML workflows. The following tables list GitHub Actions syntax, triggers, and configuration and whether they're supported in Depot CI.

Workflow-level configuration

Field	Purpose	Supported
`name`	Workflow display name	✅
`run-name`	Dynamic run title	✅
`on`	Workflow triggers	✅
`on.workflow_call`	Reusable workflow definition	✅
`on.workflow_call.inputs`	Reusable workflow inputs	✅
`permissions`	Token scopes	✅
`env`	Workflow environment variables	✅
`defaults`	Default settings (shell, working-directory)	✅
`concurrency`	Concurrency control	✅
`jobs`	Jobs definition	✅

Triggers (`on.*`)

Field	Event type	Supported
`on.<event_name>`	Event triggers	✅
`on.<event_name>.types`	Event trigger types	✅
`on.merge_group`	Merge queue triggers	✅
`on.push.branches`	Push branch filters	✅
`on.push.tags`	Push tag filters	✅
`on.pull_request`	Pull request triggers	✅
`on.pull_request.branches`	PR branch filters	✅
`on.pull_request_target`	Pull request triggers from the base branch context	✅
`on.*.paths`	Path filters	✅
`on.schedule`	Cron schedule triggers	✅
`on.workflow_call.inputs.*`	Reusable workflow inputs (type, default, required)	✅
`on.workflow_call.outputs`	Reusable workflow outputs	✅
`on.workflow_call.secrets`	Reusable workflow secrets definition	✅
`on.workflow_run`	Workflow run triggers	✅
`on.workflow_dispatch`	Manual dispatch triggers	✅
`on.workflow_dispatch.inputs`	Manual dispatch inputs	✅

Job-level configuration (`jobs.<job_id>.*`)

Field	Purpose	Supported	Notes
`jobs.<job_id>`	Job definition	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.name`	Job display name	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.needs`	Job dependencies / DAG	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.if`	Conditional job execution	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.runs-on`	Runner selection	❌	We respect Depot runner labels and treat non-Depot labels as `depot-ubuntu-latest`.
`jobs.<job_id>.permissions`	Job-scoped permissions	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.environment`	Deployment environments	❌
`jobs.<job_id>.concurrency`	Job-level concurrency	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.outputs`	Job outputs / cross-job data	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.env`	Job environment variables	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.defaults`	Job default settings	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.timeout-minutes`	Job timeout	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.strategy`	Matrix strategy	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.[strategy.fail]`	Matrix fail-fast	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.strategy.max-parallel`	Matrix parallel limit	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.continue-on-error`	Allow job failure	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.container`	Job container	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.services`	Service containers	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.uses`	Reusable workflow call	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.with`	Reusable workflow inputs	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.secrets`	Reusable workflow secrets	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.secrets.inherit`	Inherit all secrets	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.steps`	Step definitions	✅
`jobs.<job_id>.snapshot`	Custom runner images (larger runners)	❌	See Build and use custom images with Depot CI

Step-level configuration

Field	Purpose	Supported
`steps[*].id`	Step identifier	✅
`steps[*].name`	Step display name	✅
`steps[*].if`	Conditional step execution	✅
`steps[*].uses`	Action reference	✅
`steps[*].run`	Shell command execution	✅
`steps[*].shell`	Shell type (bash, pwsh, python)	✅
`steps[*].with`	Action inputs	✅
`steps[*].env`	Step environment variables	✅
`steps[*].working-directory`	Step working directory	✅
`steps[*].continue-on-error`	Allow step failure	✅
`steps[*].timeout-minutes`	Step timeout	✅

Expressions

Contexts

Context	Purpose	Supported
`github`	Event payload, repo, actor	✅
`env`	Environment variables	✅
`vars`	Repository/org variables	✅
`secrets`	Secret values	✅
`needs`	Dependent job outputs	✅
`strategy`	Matrix strategy info	✅
`matrix`	Current matrix values	✅
`steps`	Prior step outputs	✅
`job`	Current job info	✅
`runner`	Runner info	✅
`inputs`	Workflow inputs	✅

Functions

Function	Purpose	Supported
`always()`	Run regardless of status	✅
`success()`	Run if no failures	✅
`failure()`	Run if any failure	✅
`cancelled()`	Run if cancelled	✅
`hashFiles()`	File hashing for caching	✅
`contains()`	String/array contains	✅
`startsWith()`	String prefix check	✅
`endsWith()`	String suffix check	✅
`format()`	String formatting	✅
`join()`	Array to string	✅
`toJSON()`	Object to JSON	✅
`fromJSON()`	JSON to object	✅

Action types

Type	Description	Supported
JavaScript	Node 12/16/20/24 actions	✅
Composite	Composite actions	✅
Docker	Container actions	✅

Limitations

GitHub-only event triggers

The following events are GitHub-specific concepts that aren't applicable to Depot CI workflows, such as Issues, Discussions, and Pages.

Field	Event type	Supported
`on.branch_protection_rule`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.check_run`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.check_suite`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.create`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.delete`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.deployment`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.deployment_status`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.discussion`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.discussion_comment`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.fork`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.gollum`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.image_version`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.issue_comment`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.issues`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.label`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.milestone`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.page_build`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.public`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.pull_request_comment`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.pull_request_review`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.pull_request_review_comment`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.registry_package`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.release`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.repository_dispatch`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.status`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌
`on.watch`	GitHub specific event trigger	❌

Reusable workflows from other repositories

The uses key for referencing workflows from other repositories is not supported. You can still use uses to reference actions from the GitHub Actions Marketplace (for example, uses: actions/checkout@v4).

Pull request workflows triggered from forks

GitHub allows pull_request and pull_request_target workflows to run when triggered from forked repositories. Support for this is planned.

Snapshotting and custom runner images

Custom runner images via the snapshot field aren't supported. You can still build and use custom images on Depot CI.

Runner labels

Only Depot runs-on labels are supported. Any label that Depot doesn't recognize is treated as depot-ubuntu-latest.

Permissions

The following permissions are supported: actions, checks, contents, id-token, metadata, pull_requests, statuses, workflows.