Claude Code GitHub Actions: triggers and authentication

When to use

• You want Claude Code in a GitHub issue or PR workflow and have repository administrator access.[1]

When not to use

• The repository is hosted elsewhere, or authentication and repository permissions are not established.[1]

Choose when the job runs

The official interactive example uses created events for issue_comment and pull_request_review_comment, with a job condition that the comment contains @claude. The action also checks the trigger phrase. An action reference alone does not mean every PR is reviewed automatically. Inspect events, the if condition and the prompt first.[1]

Separate GitHub identity from model authentication

Manual setup consists of installing the Claude GitHub App, adding an authentication secret and placing a workflow file in the repository. The documentation supports ANTHROPIC_API_KEY or a subscription OAuth token generated with claude setup-token and stored as CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN. These secrets map to different action inputs. Choose the path supported by your account and organization.[1]

Review the workflow in dependency order

• Run actions/checkout before the Claude action so the repository and local skill files are available.
• The current official example references anthropics/claude-code-action@v1; review the official example and version again when adopting it.
• The default App authentication requires id-token: write, and actions: read lets Claude inspect CI results. Review other permissions against the task and official workflow.
• Define whether the expected output is an issue or PR comment, a file change or a workflow result, then inspect that location.

[1]

How to assess the first run

In a controlled repository, confirm that the intended event started the workflow, then inspect checkout, authentication and action logs. Starting a job is not task success: check that the output addresses the requested task and that any file changes have reviewable evidence. The documented /install-github-app quick setup exits for repositories outside github.com; consult the integration documentation for that platform.[1]

This page only verifies the official source. No app was installed, no secret saved, no workflow changed, no model called and no comment posted. It does not prove that any repository is configured. Record actual CI execution and model costs separately on your first run.[1]