Use GITHUB_TOKEN in workflows

Learn how to use the GITHUB_TOKEN to authenticate on behalf of GitHub Actions.

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This tutorial leads you through how to use the GITHUB_TOKEN for authentication in GitHub Actions workflows, including examples for passing the token to actions, making API requests, and configuring permissions for secure automation.

For reference information, see Sintaxe de fluxo de trabalho para o GitHub Actions.

Using the GITHUB_TOKEN in a workflow

You can use the GITHUB_TOKEN by using the standard syntax for referencing secrets: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}. Examples of using the GITHUB_TOKEN include passing the token as an input to an action, or using it to make an authenticated GitHub API request.

Importante

An action can access the GITHUB_TOKEN through the github.token context even if the workflow does not explicitly pass the GITHUB_TOKEN to the action. As a good security practice, you should always make sure that actions only have the minimum access they require by limiting the permissions granted to the GITHUB_TOKEN. For more information, see Sintaxe de fluxo de trabalho para o GitHub Actions.

Example 1: passing the GITHUB_TOKEN as an input

Este exemplo de fluxo de trabalho usa a CLI do GitHub, que requer o GITHUB_TOKEN como o valor para o parâmetro de entrada GH_TOKEN:

YAML
name: Open new issue
on: workflow_dispatch

jobs:
  open-issue:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: read
      issues: write
    steps:
      - run: |
          gh issue --repo ${{ github.repository }} \
            create --title "Issue title" --body "Issue body"
        env:
          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Example 2: calling the REST API

You can use the GITHUB_TOKEN to make authenticated API calls. This example workflow creates an issue using the GitHub REST API:

name: Create issue on commit

on: [ push ]

jobs:
  create_issue:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      issues: write
    steps:
      - name: Create issue using REST API
        run: |
          curl --request POST \
          --url http(s)://HOSTNAME/api/v3/repos/${{ github.repository }}/issues \
          --header 'authorization: Bearer ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}' \
          --header 'content-type: application/json' \
          --data '{
            "title": "Automated issue for commit: ${{ github.sha }}",
            "body": "This issue was automatically created by the GitHub Action workflow **${{ github.workflow }}**. \n\n The commit hash was: _${{ github.sha }}_."
            }' \
          --fail

Modifying the permissions for the GITHUB_TOKEN

Use the permissions key in your workflow file to modify permissions for the GITHUB_TOKEN for an entire workflow or for individual jobs. This allows you to configure the minimum required permissions for a workflow or job. As a good security practice, you should grant the GITHUB_TOKEN the least required access.

The two workflow examples earlier in this article show the permissions key being used at the job level.

Granting additional permissions

If you need a token that requires permissions that aren't available in the GITHUB_TOKEN, create a GitHub App and generate an installation access token within your workflow. For more information, see Fazer solicitações de API autenticadas com um Aplicativo do GitHub em um fluxo de trabalho do GitHub Actions. Alternatively, you can create a personal access token, store it as a secret in your repository, and use the token in your workflow with the ${{ secrets.SECRET_NAME }} syntax. For more information, see Gerenciar seus tokens de acesso pessoal and Using secrets in GitHub Actions.

Next steps