Act

SkillDev tools

Run GitHub Actions locally with act. Use when a user asks to test GitHub Actions workflows locally, debug CI pipelines without pushing, or run workflows offline.

Available today. Use it from your connected AI after setup.

Connect ahel once, and every AI you use reads what you have installed.

Then ask your AI: use the Act skill

What this skill tells your AI

The instructions your AI receives, as published by terminalskills/skills in skills/act/SKILL.md and read by ahel’s review.

Overview

Act runs GitHub Actions workflows locally using Docker. Test and debug CI pipelines without pushing to GitHub. Supports most GitHub Actions features.

Instructions

Step 1: Install

brew install act

Step 2: Run Workflows

act                          # run push event
act pull_request             # run PR event
act -j test                  # run specific job
act -W .github/workflows/ci.yml  # specific workflow
act --secret-file .env.secrets   # with secrets

Step 3: Configuration

# .actrc — Default settings
-P ubuntu-latest=catthehacker/ubuntu:act-latest
--env-file .env

Step 4: Debug

act -n    # dry run
act -v    # verbose
act -l    # list workflows

Guidelines

  • First run downloads Docker images (~1-3GB).
  • Not all GitHub Actions features work locally (e.g., OIDC tokens).
  • Use micro images for faster runs.
  • Great for iterating on CI without waiting for GitHub runners.

Signals

GitHub stars
148
Forks
18
Last commit
Sep 2026

ahel review

  • K1binfo
    installs-packages

Automated review, not a security audit. Ruleset v1+k2.

Advanced
Catalog kind
skill
Gateway key
act
Source
github.com/terminalskills/skills