GitHub Actions Tutorial — Non-CI/CD Automation

Non-CI/CD Automation

GitHub Actions isn’t just for CI/CD. It’s a general-purpose automation platform that can automate project management, repository maintenance, and team processes.

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Auto-Label Issues

Label new issues based on their content:

name: Label Issues

on:
  issues:
    types: [opened]

permissions:
  issues: write

jobs:
  label:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Add labels
        uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          script: |
            const title = context.payload.issue.title.toLowerCase();
            const body = (context.payload.issue.body || '').toLowerCase();
            const labels = [];

            if (title.includes('bug') || body.includes('bug')) labels.push('bug');
            if (title.includes('feature')) labels.push('enhancement');
            if (title.includes('docs')) labels.push('documentation');

            if (labels.length > 0) {
              await github.rest.issues.addLabels({
                owner: context.repo.owner,
                repo: context.repo.repo,
                issue_number: context.issue.number,
                labels: labels
              });
            }

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Close Stale Issues

Automatically close issues with no activity:

name: Close Stale Issues

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 0 * * 1'        # every Monday

permissions:
  issues: write

jobs:
  stale:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/stale@v9
        with:
          stale-issue-message: 'This issue has been inactive for 30 days. It will be closed in 7 days unless there is activity.'
          close-issue-message: 'Closed due to inactivity.'
          days-before-stale: 30
          days-before-close: 7
          stale-issue-label: 'stale'

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Scheduled Reports

Generate weekly repository metrics:

name: Weekly Report

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 9 * * 1'        # Monday 9am UTC

jobs:
  report:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Generate report
        uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          script: |
            const oneWeekAgo = new Date(Date.now() - 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000).toISOString();

            const { data: issues } = await github.rest.issues.listForRepo({
              owner: context.repo.owner,
              repo: context.repo.repo,
              state: 'all',
              since: oneWeekAgo
            });

            const opened = issues.filter(i => !i.pull_request && new Date(i.created_at) > new Date(oneWeekAgo));
            const closed = issues.filter(i => !i.pull_request && i.state === 'closed');

            const body = `## Weekly Report\n\n- Issues opened: ${opened.length}\n- Issues closed: ${closed.length}`;

            await github.rest.issues.create({
              owner: context.repo.owner,
              repo: context.repo.repo,
              title: `Weekly Report - ${new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0]}`,
              body: body,
              labels: ['report']
            });

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Welcome New Contributors

name: Welcome

on:
  pull_request_target:
    types: [opened]

permissions:
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  welcome:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          script: |
            const creator = context.payload.pull_request.user.login;
            const { data: prs } = await github.rest.pulls.list({
              owner: context.repo.owner,
              repo: context.repo.repo,
              state: 'all',
              creator: creator
            });

            if (prs.length === 1) {
              await github.rest.issues.createComment({
                owner: context.repo.owner,
                repo: context.repo.repo,
                issue_number: context.issue.number,
                body: `Welcome @${creator}! 🎉 Thanks for your first PR!`
              });
            }

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Quick Reference

Automation	Trigger
Label issues	issues: opened
Close stale	schedule (weekly)
Weekly reports	schedule (cron)
Welcome PRs	pull_request_target: opened
Sync files	push to a central repo

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