Access workflow context information

In this guide, you’ll learn how to access and inspect contexts in a GitHub Actions workflow. Contexts are predefined objects containing data about the workflow run, environment, events, secrets, jobs, steps, and more. Use them to drive conditional logic or dynamically configure your pipeline.

What Are Contexts?

A context is a JSON object with properties you can reference in your workflow using ${{ }} syntax. Common contexts include:

To view every context object in your workflow logs, serialize it to JSON with the toJson() function.

Sample Workflow: Dumping Contexts

Create a file named context-testing.yml in .github/workflows/:

name: Context testing
on: push

jobs:
  dump_contexts_to_log:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Dump GitHub context
        env:
          GITHUB_CONTEXT: ${{ toJson(github) }}
        run: echo "$GITHUB_CONTEXT"

      - name: Dump job context
        env:
          JOB_CONTEXT: ${{ toJson(job) }}
        run: echo "$JOB_CONTEXT"

      - name: Dump steps context
        env:
          STEPS_CONTEXT: ${{ toJson(steps) }}
        run: echo "$STEPS_CONTEXT"

      - name: Dump runner context
        env:
          RUNNER_CONTEXT: ${{ toJson(runner) }}
        run: echo "$RUNNER_CONTEXT"

      - name: Dump secrets context
        env:
          SECRET_CONTEXT: ${{ toJson(secrets) }}
        run: echo "$SECRET_CONTEXT"

Using the Runner Context

The runner context lets you customize steps based on the hosted environment. You can check:

• runner.os (e.g., Windows, Linux, macOS)
• runner.arch (e.g., X64, ARM64)
• runner.name (runner label)
• runner.tool_cache paths

This is invaluable for installing platform-specific tools or setting environment variables.

When you push your changes, navigate to the Actions tab. You’ll see your Context testing workflow alongside other runs.

Viewing Context Output in Logs

After the workflow completes, expand each step in the log to inspect the JSON output:

Run echo "$GITHUB_CONTEXT"
{
  "token": "***",
  "job": "dump_contexts_to_log",
  "ref": "refs/heads/main",
  "sha": "ab3c0b9cd32c801545a48e279bad3cf8c6460",
  "repository": "sidd-harth-7/actions-1",
  "repository_owner": "sidd-harth-7",
  "run_id": "6492400732",
  "run_number": 1,
  "retention_days": 90,
  "repository_visibility": "public",
  "service-managed-business-id": ""
}

Run echo "$JOB_CONTEXT"
{ "status": "success" }

Run echo "$STEPS_CONTEXT"
{}

Run echo "$RUNNER_CONTEXT"
{
  "os": "Linux",
  "arch": "X64",
  "name": "GitHub Actions 3",
  "environment": "github-hosted",
  "tool_cache": "/opt/hostedtoolcache",
  "temp": "/home/runner/work/_temp",
  "workspace": "/home/runner/work/actions-1"
}

Run echo "$SECRET_CONTEXT"
{
  "github_token": "****",
  "DOCKER_PASSWORD": "****"
}

Context Output Explained

• GitHub context: repo details, event information, commit SHA.
• Job context: job status (success, failure, etc.).
• Steps context: empty until steps define outputs.
• Runner context: VM details like OS, architecture, workspace paths.
• Secrets context: all accessible secrets (values are masked).

More Contexts to Explore

GitHub Actions offers additional contexts for advanced workflows:

• matrix: Values from a strategy matrix.
• needs: Outputs and statuses of dependent jobs.
• inputs: Action inputs for reusable workflows.
• env: Custom environment variables.

References

• GitHub Actions Contexts
• GitHub Expressions
• Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions