[2605.26825] On the GitHub Actions Language: Usage, Evolution, and Workflow Reliability

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Computer Science > Software Engineering

arXiv:2605.26825 (cs)

[Submitted on 26 May 2026]

Title:On the GitHub Actions Language: Usage, Evolution, and Workflow Reliability

Authors:Aref Talebzadeh Bardsiri, Alexandre Decan, Tom Mens<br>View a PDF of the paper titled On the GitHub Actions Language: Usage, Evolution, and Workflow Reliability, by Aref Talebzadeh Bardsiri and 2 other authors

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Abstract:Developers often struggle with maintaining GitHub Actions workflow configurations in GitHub-hosted repositories, with recent studies showing frequent execution failures. This paper empirically explores how the adoption and evolution of GitHub Actions language constructs impacts workflow reliability and maintainability. To do so, we quantitatively analyse 260K workflows from 49K GitHub repositories to understand how they are used in practice and how their usage has evolved from July 2019 to August 2025. We identify 197 language constructs available in the GitHub Actions language and map them to 14 features reflecting workflow capabilities. We observe that only a small set of constructs and features are used very frequently, and that larger and more complex workflows are associated with higher failure rates and more maintenance effort. We identify specific features that are more likely to be linked with reliability and maintainability risks. These insights can help practitioners and researchers improve their understanding and usage of the GitHub Actions language, which can help in improving and sustaining workflow automation practices.

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Software Engineering (cs.SE)

Cite as:<br>arXiv:2605.26825 [cs.SE]

(or<br>arXiv:2605.26825v1 [cs.SE] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.26825

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arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

Submission history<br>From: Tom Mens [view email]<br>[v1]<br>Tue, 26 May 2026 10:43:14 UTC (330 KB)

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