/watch-github-actions

Watch GitHub Actions

Monitor GitHub Actions workflow runs using the gh CLI.

Prerequisites

• The gh CLI must be authenticated (gh auth status)
• You must be in a git repository with a GitHub remote

Quick Status Check

List recent workflow runs for the current branch:

gh run list --branch "$(git branch --show-current)"

List all recent runs:

gh run list

Watch a Run in Real Time

Watch a workflow run until it completes:

gh run watch

Watch a specific run:

gh run watch <run-id>

This will continuously update the status until the run finishes (success, failure, or cancelled).

View Run Details

View a specific run with job details:

gh run view <run-id>

View with full log output:

gh run view <run-id> --log

View a failed job's log:

gh run view <run-id> --log-failed

Check Runs for a Specific Branch

Current branch:

gh run list --branch "$(git branch --show-current)"

Specific branch:

gh run list --branch main
gh run list --branch feature-branch

Check Runs for a PR

List workflow runs associated with a PR:

# Get the head branch of the PR, then list runs
BRANCH=$(gh pr view <pr-number> --json headRefName --jq '.headRefName')
gh run list --branch "$BRANCH"

Or view the checks directly on the PR:

gh pr checks <pr-number>

List Recent Runs

List runs for the current project:

gh run list

Filter by status:

gh run list --status failure
gh run list --status success
gh run list --status in_progress

Filter by workflow:

gh run list --workflow "CI"

JSON output for scripting:

gh run list --json databaseId,status,headBranch,url --jq '.[] | {id: .databaseId, status: .status, branch: .headBranch, url: .url}'

View Job Logs

For Trivy Changes, inspect the Resolve PR baseline step for the base and head SHAs. PR runs compare the tested merge commit with its first parent; change detection and scans must use the same pair. On reruns, do not substitute the current main tip or the event's older PR base SHA. Merge groups and manual runs use their explicit baseline. Findings are reported by Reject new high or critical findings; distinguish those from scanner failures.

For Protobuf Compatibility, check the logged train and comparison baseline. Branch Checks compares the prospective merge tree with its target; Release Tag compares the tagged candidate with the previous stable release. Both use the shared check-protobuf-compatibility action with nix run .#check-protobuf-compatibility -- <ref>. During 0.x, a minor train permits compatibility findings as warnings; a patch train or no active train rejects them. Compare the current train's version with the latest stable release; commit messages are irrelevant. Compilation, baseline, and tool errors remain fatal. The protobuf_compatibility suite participates in the release-tag-v1 qualification profile. Failed qualification prevents stable publication but still allows pre-release artifacts to publish with the failure recorded.

View logs for a specific run:

gh run view <run-id> --log

View only failed job logs:

gh run view <run-id> --log-failed

Wait for Run Completion (Scripting)

Watch and wait for a run to complete:

RUN_ID=$(gh run list --branch "$(git branch --show-current)" --limit 1 --json databaseId --jq '.[0].databaseId')
gh run watch "$RUN_ID" --exit-status
echo "Run finished with exit code: $?"

Open Run in Browser

Open the latest run in your default browser:

gh run view --web

Open a specific run:

gh run view <run-id> --web

Rerun Failed Jobs

Rerun all failed jobs in a run:

gh run rerun <run-id> --failed

Rerun an entire run:

gh run rerun <run-id>

Useful Commands Reference

Common Flags

Example Workflow

1. Push your changes and create/update a PR
2. Watch the workflow run:

   gh run watch

3. If a job fails, view the failed logs:

   gh run view <run-id> --log-failed

4. Rerun the failed jobs if needed:

   gh run rerun <run-id> --failed