GitHub Actions Enhances Support for YAML Anchors and Templates

GitHub Actions has introduced support for YAML anchors, addressing a significant request from the GitHub community. This feature allows users to reuse configurations across workflows, ensuring better adherence to the YAML specification. It is automatically enabled for all GitHub Actions users and repositories.

For detailed information on how YAML anchors function and to view examples, users are encouraged to consult the YAML anchors documentation.

Additionally, GitHub Actions now supports workflow templates from non-public GitHub repositories. Users can expedite their development processes by placing templates in a public repository named .github, which is also utilized for other organizational templates like Issue Templates.

The platform now accommodates issue templates in non-public .github repositories. If the .github repository is internal, both internal and private repositories can utilize these workflow templates. If it is private, only private repositories have access. These changes are specific to GitHub Actions, as other products using .github repositories, such as GitHub Issues, will continue to rely on public repositories.

Support for the check_run_id value in the job context of GitHub Actions workflows has been added. This enables users to identify the currently running job directly by accessing check_run_id, facilitating easier reporting, notifications, and artifact uploads tied to specific jobs. It is accessible within the job context using job.check_run_id and is available to all GitHub Actions users.

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