GitHub Actions FinOps

Analyze GitHub Actions usage, costs, and efficiency across organizations and repositories.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when...	Use X instead when...
Analyzing CI/CD costs and billing	Debugging a specific failed workflow -- use gh-workflow-monitoring
Identifying wasted workflow runs	Setting up new workflows -- use github-actions-workflows
Investigating workflow trigger patterns	Managing cache keys -- use github-actions-cache-optimization
Comparing efficiency across repos	Monitoring a single run -- use gh-workflow-monitoring

Context

Current repo URL: !git remote -v
Workflow files: !find . -path '*/.github/workflows/*' -maxdepth 3 -name '*.yml' -o -name '*.yaml'
Active workflows: !gh workflow list --json id,name,state

Execution

Execute this GitHub Actions FinOps analysis:

Step 1: Determine scope

Read the Context values above. Parse $OWNER and $REPO from the current repo URL (e.g., https://github.com/OWNER/REPO.git). Run gh api repos/$OWNER/$REPO --jq '.owner.type' to determine if the owner is an "Organization" or "User". If Organization, set $GITHUB_ORG to the repo owner for org-level billing queries.

If no repo context is available, ask the user for the target organization or repository.

Step 2: Gather billing, run, and waste data

Run the deterministic data-gathering script. It fetches org-level Actions billing, groups workflow runs and aggregates per-workflow durations, counts the waste indicators (skipped / bot-triggered / high-frequency), compares them against the red-flag thresholds, and emits a static fix suggestion per flagged pattern:

bash "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/github-actions-finops.sh" --home-dir "$HOME" --project-dir "$(pwd)"

Pass --repo $OWNER/$REPO (and --org $GITHUB_ORG) when the script can't infer the target from the current checkout. Parse STATUS= and ISSUES: from the output — STATUS=WARN plus the SEVERITY=WARN TYPE=... rows are the flagged waste patterns with their suggested fixes. BILLING_AVAILABLE=false means the usage endpoint returned nothing — either the admin:org scope is missing or the org has no Actions usage in the returned window (not an error either way).

Step 3: Analyze workflow files

Read each workflow file from .github/workflows/ and check for:

Missing concurrency: groups
Missing paths: filters on push/PR triggers
Missing bot-trigger guards (if: github.event.sender.type != 'Bot')

Step 4: Report findings

Synthesize a summary from the script output (Step 2) and the workflow-file findings (Step 3):

Billing summary (if BILLING_AVAILABLE=true): BILLING_MINUTES, plus BILLING_NET_USD (what is actually billed) and BILLING_GROSS_USD (exposure before the public-repo discount). Quote net as the spend — a public repo can show a large gross and cost nothing
Workflow run counts: from the WORKFLOW_RUNS= / WORKFLOW_DURATION_SECONDS= lines
Waste indicators: the SEVERITY=WARN TYPE=... rows (skipped ratio, bot triggers, high-frequency) plus the workflow-file gaps from Step 3 (missing concurrency / path filters / bot guards)
Recommendations: the script's per-pattern fix suggestions, plus the workflow-YAML fixes you identified by reading the files

API Reference

Endpoint	Purpose	Admin Required
`/orgs/{org}/settings/billing/usage`	Actions minutes, packages, storage — all products, as per-repo line items	Yes
`/orgs/{org}/actions/cache/usage`	Org cache stats	No
`/repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/runs`	Workflow runs	No
`/repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/workflows`	Workflow definitions	No

Agentic Optimizations

Context	Command
Org billing	`gh api "/orgs/$ORG/settings/billing/usage" --jq '[.usageItems[] \| select(.product == "actions")] \| {minutes: ([.[].quantity] \| add), net: ([.[].netAmount] \| add)}'`
List repos	`gh repo list $ORG --json nameWithOwner --limit 100`
Workflow runs	`gh api "/repos/$O/$R/actions/runs?per_page=100" --jq '.workflow_runs' --jq 'length'`
Skipped count	`gh api "..." --jq '[.workflow_runs[]
Bot triggers	`gh api "..." --jq '[.workflow_runs[]

github-actions-finops