AugmentClaude
BackendDevOps

GitHub Agentic Workflows

By github· github/gh-aw· 0

Convert markdown workflow specs into compiled GitHub Actions using AI engines.

Installation

  1. Make sure Claude is on your device and in your terminal.

    Skills load from ~/.claude/skills/ when Claude Code starts up — so you need it on your machine first. If you don't have it yet, install it once with the command below, then run claude in any terminal to verify.

    One-time setup
    npm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

    Already have it? Skip ahead.

  2. Paste into Claude Code or into your terminal.
    Install
    Sign up to copy
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    This copies the whole skill folder into ~/.claude/skills/skill-github/ — the SKILL.md plus any scripts, reference docs, or templates the skill ships with. Safe default: works for every skill.

    Faster alternative (instruction-only skills)

    Skips the clone and grabs only the SKILL.md file. Don't use this if the skill ships Python scripts, reference markdowns, or asset templates — they won't be downloaded and the skill will fail when it tries to load them.

    Quick install (SKILL.md only)
    Sign up to copy
    Sign up free to reveal
  3. Restart Claude Code.

    Quit and reopen Claude Code (or any other agent that loads from ~/.claude/skills/). New skills are picked up on startup.

  4. Just ask Claude.

    Skills auto-activate when your request matches the skill's description — no slash command needed. Trigger phrases live in the skill's own frontmatter; you can read them in the “What this skill does” section above.

Prefer to read the source first? Open on GitHub.

When Claude uses it

Claude activates this skill based on the context of your request.

What this skill does

gh-aw Prompt Surface

This repository builds gh-aw (GitHub Agentic Workflows), a GitHub CLI extension for writing workflows in markdown and compiling them to GitHub Actions.

What this surface does

  • Converts markdown workflow specs (.md) into compiled lock files (.lock.yml)
  • Supports multiple AI engines (copilot, claude, codex, custom)
  • Integrates tools, including GitHub MCP servers and safe-output tooling
  • Provides CLI commands to compile, run, inspect, and audit workflows

Key concepts

  1. Workflow compilation: edit workflow markdown, then recompile lock files
  2. Engine selection: set engine in frontmatter to control runtime agent behavior
  3. MCP tools: configure GitHub/MCP toolsets in frontmatter for repository operations
  4. Safe outputs: workflow-safe issue/comment output paths and constraints

Representative usage examples

# Compile markdown workflows to lock files
gh aw compile

# Run a workflow manually
gh aw run .github/workflows/daily-skill-optimizer.md

# Inspect MCP server usage in workflows
gh aw mcp list
gh aw mcp inspect daily-skill-optimizer

# Audit a workflow run
gh aw audit 24814681146

Where to learn more in this repo

  • /AGENTS.md for development/agent workflow conventions
  • /skills/*/SKILL.md for focused domain guidance (GitHub MCP, docs, errors, etc.)

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