Access the workflow logs from GitHubs REST API

In this guide, you’ll learn how to automate the retrieval of GitHub Actions workflow logs and job metadata using GitHub’s REST API. While the GitHub Actions UI lets you download logs manually, the REST endpoints enable seamless integration in CI/CD pipelines, monitoring tools, and other automation workflows.

1. Fetch a Specific Job’s Details

Use this endpoint to get metadata and step-level statuses for a particular job in a workflow run:

curl -L \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \
  https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/actions/jobs/JOB_ID

Replace OWNER, REPO, and JOB_ID with your repository owner, name, and the numeric job ID.

Sample response excerpt:

{
  "id": 23381317970,
  "run_id": 8535268510,
  "workflow_name": "Debugging Demo",
  "head_branch": "main",
  "status": "completed",
  "conclusion": "failure",
  "steps": [
    { "name": "Set up job", "status": "completed", "conclusion": "success", "number": 1 },
    { "name": "Step 3 - Printing USERNAME", "status": "completed", "conclusion": "failure", "number": 4 },
    { "name": "Step 4 - Printing USER_2", "status": "completed", "conclusion": "skipped", "number": 5 }
  ]
}

2. Download Raw Logs for a Single Job

Once you know the JOB_ID, fetch its logs as a ZIP archive:

curl -L -k \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \
  https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/actions/jobs/JOB_ID/logs \
  -o job_logs.zip

• -k skips SSL validation (only use in controlled environments).
• -o job_logs.zip writes the output to a file.

Unzip and inspect:

unzip job_logs.zip -d job_logs
ls job_logs

Each file or folder in job_logs corresponds to individual steps and runner logs.

3. Generate a GitHub Personal Access Token

For private repositories, set up a Personal Access Token (PAT) with the minimal scopes:

1. Navigate to Settings → Developer settings → Personal access tokens → Tokens (classic).
2. Click Generate new token, add a descriptive note and expiration.
3. Select repo and workflow scopes.
4. Copy the token; use it as Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_TOKEN>.

4. Download Logs for an Entire Workflow Run

To grab logs for every job in a workflow run, hit the run-level endpoint:

curl -L -k \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \
  https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/actions/runs/RUN_ID/logs \
  -o run_logs.zip

• Replace RUN_ID with the numeric workflow run ID.
• The ZIP contains logs for all jobs in the specified run.

After downloading:

unzip run_logs.zip -d workflow_run_logs
ls workflow_run_logs

Quick Reference: GitHub Actions Logs Endpoints

Conclusion

Automating the download and inspection of GitHub Actions logs with the REST API helps integrate build insights into custom dashboards, alerts, and other tools. Always follow best practices for token security and grant only the required scopes.

Links and References

• GitHub Actions REST API Documentation
• Creating a Personal Access Token
• Unzipping Files on Linux