# How do I verify GitHub Actions actions with Provely?

> Connect GitHub Actions to Provely through the CLI, the REST API. The guidance files, the hooks, and the CI gate. The profile was verified on 2026-09-10.

Canonical: https://provely.sh/agents/github-actions  
Last reviewed: 2026-09-05  

**GitHub Actions connects to Provely through the CLI, the REST API. The agent does the action. Provely verifies the outcome and signs a receipt. GitHub Actions never holds the verifier credentials.**

A person verified the GitHub Actions capabilities on 2026-09-10. Agent products change monthly. Re-verify before you build.

Source: https://provely.sh/agents (retrieved 2026-09-10)

## Which surfaces does GitHub Actions use?

| Surface | Support | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [MCP server](/docs/mcp) | Not supported | transport  |
| [CLI](/docs/cli) | Supported | Runs through the shell tool of the agent. |
| [SDK](/docs/sdk) | Not supported |  |
| [REST API](/docs/api) | Supported | Any HTTP call reaches the control plane. |

## Which guidance files does GitHub Actions read?

Provely ships one Agent Skill for this host, so the agent knows to verify an outcome before it claims done. The renderer writes prompt fragment from one source. A new agent needs a profile, not core code.

<details>
<summary>Explain: each file, its path and its write mode</summary>

| Format | Path | Mode |
| --- | --- | --- |
| review gate | `.github/workflows/provely-review-gate.yml` | fragment |
| CI gate workflow | `.provely/ci/github-actions.yml` | fragment |
| prompt fragment | `provely/prompt-fragment.md` | fragment |

</details>

## How is a false completion claim blocked?

Guidance asks. A hook and the CI gate enforce. A host with neither still receives the verdict, and a person reads it before the work ships.

<details>
<summary>Explain: what each control does on this host</summary>

| Enforcement | Support | Detail |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Advisory guidance | Supported | The instruction files state the rules for every agent. |
| Lifecycle hooks | Not supported | No hook events stated. |
| CI gate | Supported | `provely verify --wait` fails the pipeline unless the verdict is VERIFIED. |

</details>

## How do I connect GitHub Actions?

### Connect GitHub Actions to Provely

1. **Install the CLI.** Run `npx provely --version`, or download the static binary.
2. **Write the guidance files.** Run `provely init --agent github-actions`. It writes `.github/workflows/provely-review-gate.yml` (fragment), `.provely/ci/github-actions.yml` (fragment), `provely/prompt-fragment.md` (fragment). The guidance carries one rule: a successful tool call is not completion.
3. **Add the CI gate.** Run `provely verify --wait <duration>` in the pipeline. The step fails unless the verdict is VERIFIED. Exit codes: 0 VERIFIED, 2 PENDING, 3 FAILED, 4 CONTRADICTED, 5 UNVERIFIABLE, 1 error.
4. **Report the verdict exactly as returned.** VERIFIED: "The action is verified complete. Receipt: <id>." PENDING: "The action is accepted but not yet verified. Operation: <id>."

## What else does the profile state?

- Verified 2026-09-10: a reusable workflow declares `on: workflow_call` with `inputs` and `secrets`. A caller passes each secret by name, or it passes `secrets: inherit`. Source: https://docs.github.com/en/actions/how-tos/reuse-automations/reuse-workflows.
- Checked 2026-09-10: the same page does not state whether a job-level `permissions` block inside a called workflow applies. The token of the caller caps every permission, so a caller that grants less wins.
- The review gate runs `provely scan --diff <base sha> --submit`. It exits 0 when every item is covered or confirmed, 10 when an item needs a statement, and 1 on a transport error.
- A re-run reads the review id from the pull request comment and calls `provely review status`. A person signs off once, and the check goes green with no second scan.
- The gate finds the side effects that `cli/rules/scanner-rules.yaml` names. A call that the rule set does not name is not found. Extend that file, not the workflow.
- GitHub Actions publishes no version number for the workflow syntax, so this profile names the Provely API range. Read docs/review-gate.md before you install the gate.

> GitHub Actions keeps its action credentials, and no surface returns the verifier credentials to it. Read [the credential boundary](/docs/security). An operation outlives the session that opened it. Read [the API reference](/docs/api).

### Which host versions does the profile cover?

`>=1.0.0`. The integrations team last verified the profile with no agent host: the range names the Provely REST API /v1 (1.0.0) on 2026-09-10.

## Read next

- [Verify Claude Code actions](https://provely.sh/agents/claude-code)
- [Verify Codex actions](https://provely.sh/agents/codex)
- [Verify Anthropic Claude API actions](https://provely.sh/verify/anthropic)
- [See every agent integration](https://provely.sh/agents)
- [Read the MCP server reference](https://provely.sh/docs/mcp)
- [Read the credential boundary](https://provely.sh/docs/security)