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GitHub Actions Features and GHES Release Notes Mapping Table (Updated Regularly)
This is a comparison table summarizing which versions of GitHub Enterprise Server (GHES) include GitHub Actions-related features released on github.com.
My company uses GHES, and I found it difficult to keep track of which features are available in our current version and which version of GHES will support the useful features already available on github.com, so I decided to compile this list.
As long as I stay motivated, I plan to update this article whenever the release notes for github.com and GHES are updated.
Also, in creating this summary, I am deeply indebted to the articles by korosuke613 summarizing GitHub Actions updates. I would like to express my gratitude first.
GitHub Actions
| Changelog | Release Date | Documentation | GHES Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public preview of metrics dashboard for workflow and job duration, etc. | 2024-10-31 | Viewing GitHub Actions metrics | - |
| GitHub Actions Runner Groups feature now available for Organizations on Free plan | 2024-10-17 | Managing access to self-hosted runners using groups | - |
| Job annotations added to the log view | 2024-10-01 | - | |
| Pre-defined CI/CD Admin role added | 2024-09-25 | Using organization roles | - |
| Arm runners are now GA | 2024-09-03 | Arm64 on GitHub Actions: Powering faster, more efficient build systems | - |
| GitHub Actions usage metrics dashboard is GA | 2024-07-25 | Viewing GitHub Actions metrics for your organization | - |
| Runners with GPUs are now GA | 2024-07-08 | About larger runners | - |
| Artifact Attestations is GA | 2024-06-25 | Using artifact attestations to establish provenance for builds | - |
| Arm-based runners are in public beta | 2024-06-03 | About larger runners | - |
| Updated dates for the notice regarding mandatory use of Node 20 for Actions specifying Node 16 | 2024-05-17 | - | |
| Dependabot on GitHub Actions now available for self-hosted runners | 2024-05-02 | Managing Dependabot on self-hosted runners | - |
| Artifact Attestations is in public beta | 2024-05-02 | - | |
| Pinning added to the Actions list; disabled workflows now displayed at the bottom | 2024-04-30 | - | |
| Dependabot can now run on GitHub Actions | 2024-04-22 | About Dependabot on GitHub Actions runners | - |
| Notice: Deprecation of Artifact Actions v3 on 2024/11/30 | 2024-04-16 | - | |
| GitHub Actions usage metrics dashboard is in public beta | 2024-03-28 | Viewing usage metrics for GitHub Actions | - |
| Notice: All actions will run on Node 20 instead of Node 16 by default | 2024-03-07 | actions/runner#3192 | - |
| Actions-related permissions can be granted independently via Custom Organization Roles | 2024-03-06 | About custom organization roles | 3.14 |
| Windows 11 available for larger runners (beta) | 2024-03-04 | - | |
| Deprecation notice for upload-artifact and download-artifact v1 and v2 | 2024-02-13 | - | |
| M1 macOS runners now available for all plans | 2024-01-30 | Standard GitHub-hosted runners for Public repositories | - |
| Feature to view the list of available runners from the repository's Actions tab is now GA | 2024-01-17 | - | |
| Artifact v4 is now GA | 2023-12-14 | actions/upload-artifact@v4 What's new | - |
| GitHub-hosted runners can connect to Azure Virtual Networks (public beta) | 2023-11-01 | About networking for hosted compute products | - |
| Ability to restrict self-reviews for deployment protection rules | 2023-10-16 | Deployment protection rules | 3.11 |
| Required workflows is GA | 2023-10-11 | Enforcing code reliability by requiring workflows with GitHub repository rules,Require workflows to pass before merging | 3.12 |
| Restrict deployments to environments based on select tag patterns in addition to branches | 2023-10-06 | Deployment branches and tags | 3.12 |
| Apple Silicon (M1) runners are now available in public beta | 2023-10-02 | About macOS larger runners | - |
| Node 16 reached EOL | 2023-09-22 | actions/runner@v2.308.0 | - |
| Force cancel API added for workflow runs | 2023-09-21 | Force cancel a workflow run | 3.12 |
| Increased concurrency limit for GitHub-hosted runners to 1000 | 2023-09-18 | Configuring autoscaling for larger runners | - |
| IP range expanded to two when static IP is enabled for larger runners | 2023-09-06 | Creating static IP addresses for larger runners | - |
| View the list of runners available for a repository from the Actions tab | 2023-08-21 | Viewing available runners for a repository | - |
| New dashboard for deployment history across environments is in public beta | 2023-07-26 | Viewing deployment history | 3.11 |
| Actions Runner Controller and runner scale sets are GA | 2023-06-30 | Quickstart for Actions Runner Controller | 3.9 |
| Larger runners are GA | 2023-06-21 | About larger runners, About billing for GitHub Actions | - |
id-token: write permission now required for Reusable Workflows using OIDC |
2023-06-15 | Adding permissions settings | 3.10 |
| All Actions will run on Node 16 instead of Node 12 by default | 2023-06-13 | JavaScript actions node12 end-of-life | - |
| Ability to disable repository-level self-hosted runners at the enterprise and organization levels | 2023-06-13 | Limiting the use of self-hosted runners | 3.10 |
| Just-in-time (JIT) self-hosted runner registration enabled | 2023-06-02 | Using just-in-time runners | 3.10 |
| Actions Runner Controller and runner scale sets are in public beta | 2023-05-10 | Quickstart for Actions Runner Controller | 3.9 |
| Feature to view GitHub Actions results and logs added to the mobile app | 2023-05-09 | - | |
| Custom deployment protection rules are in public beta | 2023-04-20 | Protecting your deployments with custom deployment protection rules | 3.10 |
| Official GitHub Actions extension for VS Code is in public beta | 2023-03-28 | Announcing the GitHub Actions extension for VS Code, GitHub Actions for VS Code | - |
| setup-go action now enables caching by default | 2023-03-24 | Building and testing Go#Caching dependencies,actions/setup-go@v4.0.0 | 3.9 |
| Required workflows can now guard direct pushes and support strict versioning | 2023-03-10 | Disabling or limiting GitHub Actions for your organization | 3.9 |
| Admins can now bypass environment protection rules | 2023-03-01 | Using environments for deployment | 3.9 |
| GitHub Actions Importer is GA | 2023-03-01 | Automating migration with GitHub Actions Importer | 3.8 |
| Hardware-accelerated Android virtualization support on Linux larger runners | 2023-02-23 | actions/runner-images#183 | - |
| Default GITHUB_TOKEN permissions updated to read-only (mostly no impact on existing repositories) | 2023-02-02 | Assigning permissions to jobs | 3.9 |
| GitHub Actions events added to mobile app push notifications | 2023-01-17 | - | |
vars context is now available |
2023-01-10 |
vars context, actions/runner@v2.298.0
|
3.8 |
| Organization-wide Required Workflows support in public beta | 2023-01-10 | Required workflows | 3.8 |
| OIDC token now supports more claims for granular cloud access (job information) | 2023-01-10 | Understanding the OIDC token | 3.8 |
| Calling Reusable Workflows in private repositories from other private repositories is now GA | 2022-12-14 | Sharing actions and workflows from your private repository, Sharing actions and workflows with your organization, Sharing actions and workflows with your enterprise | 3.8 |
| Easily receive workflow notifications in Slack and Microsoft Teams | 2022-12-06 | 3.8 | |
| Dependabot security updates now support the GitHub Actions ecosystem | 2022-11-23 | 3.8 | |
wait status added to workflow_job webhook for environment protection rules |
2022-11-22 | workflow_job | 3.8 |
| Ability to require approval for workflows triggered by PRs from private repository forks | 2022-11-14 | Enabling workflows for forks of private repositories | 3.8 |
| Runner groups can now be used for self-hosted runner selection in workflows | 2022-11-01 | Choosing runners in a group | 3.8 |
| Manage caches in your workflows from the web interface | 2022-10-20 | Managing caches | 3.8 |
| Enhanced OIDC configuration for improved security at scale | 2022-10-18 | Customizing the subject claims for an organization or repository | 3.8 |
| GitHub Actions navigation and UI improvements | 2022-10-13 | - | 3.8 |
save-state and set-output commands are deprecated |
2022-10-11 | Workflow commands, actions/runner@v2.298.2 | 3.8 |
| Self-hosted runners now support Windows ARM hardware (pre-release) | 2022-09-28 | Using default labels to route jobs, actions/runner@v2.297.0 | - |
Additional information available in github.event payload for scheduled workflow runs |
2022-09-27 | - | 3.8 |
| Dynamic names for workflow runs | 2022-09-26 | run-name |
3.8 |
Trigger workflow_dispatch and repository_dispatch using GITHUB_TOKEN
|
2022-09-08 | Triggering a workflow a from a workflow | 3.8 |
| Enhanced OIDC configuration for improved security at scale | 2022-08-23 | Security hardening your deployments | 3.7 |
| Reusable workflows can be used with matrix or from other reusable workflows | 2022-08-22 | Using a matrix strategy with a reusable workflow | 3.7 |
merge_group trigger added (Merge Queue beta participants only) |
2022-08-18 | Events that trigger workflows | - |
| Self-hosted runners now support Apple M1 hardware | 2022-08-09 | Using default labels to route jobs,actions/runner@v2.292.0 | 3.7 |
| Significantly shortened interval for removing offline self-hosted runners | 2022-08-03 | Removing self-hosted runners | 3.7 |
| Maintaining original actor permissions during re-runs | 2022-07-19 | About re-running workflows and jobs | 3.7 |
| API to list and delete caches added | 2022-06-27 | GitHub Actions Cache | 3.7 |
Parameters entered in workflow_dispatch can now be referenced via inputs context |
2022-06-10 | inputs context |
3.6 |
| Option to enable debug logging when re-running jobs | 2022-05-24 | About re-running workflows and jobs | 3.6 |
| Actions authors can now specify Node.js 16 as the runtime | 2022-05-20 | Example: Using Node.js v16 | 3.4 |
| Job summaries feature added | 2022-05-09 | Adding a job summary, Supercharging GitHub Actions with Job Summaries | 3.6 |
secrets: inherit added for easier secret management with reusable workflows |
2022-05-03 | Using inputs and secrets in a reusable workflow | 3.6 |
| Hook scripts can now run before or after self-hosted runner jobs | 2022-04-04 | Running scripts before or after a job, actions/runner@v2.289.0 | 3.6 |
| Restrict runner groups to specific workflows for self-hosted runners | 2022-03-21 | Changing what workflows can access a runner group, GitHub Actions: secure self-hosted runners by limiting them to specific workflows | 3.5 |
| Ability to re-run only failed or individual jobs | 2022-03-17 | Save time with partial re-runs in GitHub Actions, Re-running failed jobs in a workflow | 3.5 |
| View cache usage in your workflows | 2022-03-17 | GitHub Actions Cache | 3.5 |
Ability to disable automatic updates for self-hosted runners (--disableupdate) |
2022-02-01 | Controlling runner software updates on self-hosted runners, actions/runner@v2.287.0 | 3.5 |
| Share GitHub Actions within your enterprise | 2022-01-21 | Sharing actions and workflows with your enterprise | 3.5 |
| Option to prevent GitHub Actions from approving pull requests in branch protection requirements | 2022-01-14 | Preventing GitHub Actions from creating or approving pull requests | 3.5 |
| Search order for self-hosted runners changed | 2022-01-04 | Using self-hosted runners in a workflow | 3.4 |
| GitHub-hosted runners now run Node.js 16 by default | 2021-12-10 | actions/runner/pull/1439 | 3.4 |
| Manage self-hosted runner labels via API | 2021-11-25 | Add custom labels to a self-hosted runner for a repository | 3.4 |
setup-python now supports dependency caching |
2021-11-23 | actions/setup-python@v3.1.0 | 3.5 |
choice, boolean, and environment input types added for manual workflows (workflow_dispatch) |
2021-11-10 | on.workflow_dispatch.inputs |
3.4 |
Composite Actions now support the if conditional for steps |
2021-11-09 | ADR 1438: Support Conditionals In Composite Action | 3.4 |
| Authentication via OpenID Connect (OIDC) for secure cloud deployments | 2021-10-27 | Security hardening your deployments | 3.5 |
manage_runners:enterprise scope added to tokens for enterprise-level runner management |
2021-10-11 | About the Self-hosted runner groups API | 3.3 |
| Reusable workflows in public beta | 2021-10-05 | Reusing workflows | 3.4 |
--ephemeral and workflow_job webhook support for auto-scaling |
2021-09-20 | Using ephemeral runners for autoscaling,Autoscaling with self-hosted runners | 3.3 |
setup-java now supports dependency caching |
2021-08-30 | actions/setup-java@2.3.0 | 3.5 |
| Introduction of Composite Actions | 2021-08-25 | Creating a composite action | 3.3 |
| Self-hosted runner events included in the Audit log | 2021-08-04 | Reviewing the audit log for your organization | 3.2 |
setup-node now supports dependency caching |
2021-07-02 | actions/setup-node@v2.2.0 | 3.5 |
GITHUB_TOKEN permissions can now be modified |
2021-04-20 | Modifying the permissions for the GITHUB_TOKEN |
3.2 |
| Environments GA | 2021-06-22 | Using environments for deployment | 3.2 |
Other noteworthy items
Features other than Actions, such as Packages, issues, and pull requests, that had a particularly significant impact on me personally.
| Changelog | Release Date | Documentation | GHES Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| - | |||
| Public preview of the ability to view an organization's REST API activity with API Insights | 2024-10-29 | - | |
| GitHub Models is now available in public preview | 2024-10-29 | GitHub Models | - |
| Public preview of GitHub Apps with enterprise visibility | 2024-10-22 | Creating GitHub Apps for your enterprise | - |
| Public preview of mandatory expiration for Classic PATs; fine-grained PATs can now have no expiration | 2024-10-18 | 3.16 notice | |
| Unified terminology for product phases before GA | 2024-10-18 | - | |
| sub-issues and issue types are in public beta | 2024-10-01 | Adding sub-issues, Managing issue types in an organization | - |
| Ability to filter by custom properties in the repository list view | 2024-07-31 | - | |
| Code security configurations are now GA | 2024-07-10 | About enabling security features at scale | - |
| Dependabot auto-triage rules are generally available | 2024-06-26 | About Dependabot auto-triage rules | - |
| Sunset notice for Projects (classic) | 2024-05-23 | - | |
| dependabot-core is now open source with an MIT license | 2024-05-13 | dependabot/dependabot-core | - |
| Public beta of delegated bypass for push rulesets | 2024-06-12 | Granting bypass permissions for your push ruleset | - |
| Public beta of enterprise enablement trends for security products | 2024-04-25 | About security overview | 3.14 |
| New deployment views across environments are GA | 2024-04-25 | Viewing deployment history | 3.14 |
| Push rulesets are in public beta | 2024-04-18 | Push rulesets | - |
| Public beta of code security configurations for organization-wide rollouts | 2024-04-02 | About enabling security features at scale | 3.14 notice -> Not in 3.14 |
| Dependabot grouped security updates are generally available | 2024-03-28 | About grouped security updates | 3.14 |
| gh-copilot is now GA in the CLI | 2024-03-21 | github/gh-copilot | - |
| Public beta of enablement trends for security products at the organization level | 2024-03-19 | About security overview | 3.13 |
| Secret scanning and push protection enabled by default on new public repositories | 2024-03-11 | About secret scanning,Push protection for repositories and organizations | - |
| GitHub Copilot Chat is GA in JetBrains IDEs | 2024-03-07 | Using GitHub Copilot Chat in your IDE | - |
| Push protection is enabled by default for all users on GitHub | 2024-02-29 | Keeping secrets out of public repositories,Push protection for users | - |
| Public beta of configuring merge queue rules via repository rules | 2024-02-27 | - | |
| GitHub Copilot Enterprise is now generally available | 2024-02-27 | GitHub Copilot Enterprise is now generally available | - |
| Repository custom properties are GA; new repository list view is in public beta | 2024-02-14 | Managing custom properties for repositories in your organization | 3.13 |
| Dependabot version updates now support devcontainers | 2024-01-24 | General Availability of Dependabot Integration | 3.13 |
| GitHub Copilot Chat is now GA for organizations and individuals | 2024-01-11 | Using GitHub Copilot Chat in your IDE | - |
| gh now supports logging in to multiple GitHub accounts | 2023-12-18 | cli/cli@v2.40.0 | 3.12 |
| Alerts added as a Markdown extension | 2023-12-14 | Alerts | 3.12 |
| Grouping Dependabot security updates into a single pull request (public beta) | 2023-12-07 | Grouping Dependabot security updates into a single pull request | - |
| New organization repositories list (feature preview) | 2023-12-06 | - | |
| Organization-level security insights dashboard (beta) | 2023-11-08 | Viewing security insights for your organization | 3.13 |
| Repository rules history, import, and export (public beta) | 2023-10-12 | Managing rulesets for a repository | - |
| Repository custom properties (public beta) | 2023-10-12 | Managing custom properties for repositories in your organization | 3.13 |
| List of Dependabot job logs added | 2023-09-28 | Viewing Dependabot job logs | 3.12 |
| npm provenance from GitHub Actions is GA | 2023-09-26 | Generating provenance statements | - |
| Passkeys are generally available | 2023-09-21 | About passkeys | - |
| Custom auto-triage rules for Dependabot alerts (public beta) | 2023-09-14 | Introducing auto-triage rules for Dependabot,Using alert rules to prioritize Dependabot alerts | 3.12 |
| Organization archiving is GA | 2023-09-06 | Archiving an organization | 3.11 |
| Grouped version updates for Dependabot are GA | 2023-08-24 | Configuration options for the dependabot.yml file | 3.11 |
| x-accepted-github-permissions header added to API responses for fine-grained token actors | 2023-08-10 | Insufficient permissions errors | 3.11 |
| Users can enable push protection for themselves | 2023-08-09 | Enhanced push protection features for developers and organizations,Push protection for users | 3.11 |
| Repository rules are generally available | 2023-07-24 | About rulesets,GitHub Repository Rules are now generally available | 3.11 |
| Pull request merge queue is now GA | 2023-07-12 | Merging a pull request with a merge queue,Managing a merge queue,GitHub merge queue is generally available | 3.12 |
| Grouped version updates for Dependabot (public beta) | 2023-06-30 | Configuration options for the dependabot.yml file | 3.11 |
| Organization-level code scanning default setup for CodeQL is GA | 2023-06-23 | Configuring code scanning at scale using CodeQL | 3.9 |
| View repository pushes on the new activity view | 2023-05-31 | Using the activity view to see changes to a repository | 3.11 |
| Secret scanning's push protection is available on public repositories for free | 2023-05-09 | Enabling secret scanning as a push protection | - |
| More secure private attachments for issues in private repositories | 2023-05-09 | Attaching files | - |
| The new code search and code view are now GA | 2023-05-08 | GitHub code search is generally available | - |
| GraphQL improvements for fine-grained PATs | 2023-04-27 | Creating a fine-grained personal access token | 3.10 |
| npm provenance from GitHub Actions (public beta) | 2023-04-19 | Generating provenance statements | - |
| Repository rules (public beta) | 2023-04-17 | About rulesets | 3.11 |
| REST API to generate an SBOM added | 2023-04-12 | Export a software bill of materials (SBOM) for a repository. | 3.9 |
| Webhook forwarding in the GitHub CLI is now GA | 2023-04-12 | Receiving webhooks with the GitHub CLI | - |
| Commenting on files in a pull request is now GA | 2023-04-11 | Commenting on a pull request | 3.9 |
| Repository security advisories REST API added | 2023-03-30 | About repository security advisories,Repository security advisories | - |
| Generate an SBOM from the dependency graph | 2023-03-28 | Exporting a software bill of materials for your repository | 3.9 |
| Roadmaps in Projects are now GA | 2023-03-23 | Customizing the roadmap layout | 3.9 |
| Organization-level code scanning default setup for CodeQL (public beta) | 2023-03-20 | Configuring code scanning at scale using CodeQL | 3.9 |
| Slash commands for Markdown helpers (public beta) | 2023-03-15 | About slash commands | - |
| Projects on GitHub Mobile is now GA | 2023-03-14 | - | |
| Secret scanning available on all public repositories | 2023-02-28 | About secret scanning | - |
| New code search and code view are available in public beta | 2023-02-23 | github.com/features/code-search | - |
| GitHub Copilot for Business is now widely available | 2023-02-14 | GitHub Copilot for Business is now available | - |
| Pull request merge queue (public beta) | 2023-02-08 | Merging a pull request with a merge queue,Managing a merge queue | - |
| Ability to set up code scanning not to fail a pull request check | 2023-02-07 | Defining the severities causing pull request check failure | 3.9 |
| Fine-grained permissions and organization-level publishing for RubyGems in GitHub Packages | 2023-01-10 | Connecting a repository to a package, Configuring a package's access control and visibility | - |
| Easier code scanning setup without committing a workflow file | 2023-01-09 | Configuring code scanning for a repository | 3.9 |
| Fine-grained permissions and organization-level publishing for NuGet in GitHub Packages | 2022-12-09 | Connecting a repository to a package, Configuring a package's access control and visibility | - |
| Webhook docs generated from the OpenAPI schema | 2022-11-16 | Webhook events and payloads | - |
| Webhook forwarding in the GitHub CLI (public beta) | 2022-11-16 | Receiving webhooks with the GitHub CLI | - |
| Introducing fine-grained personal access tokens | 2022-10-18 | Creating a fine-grained personal access token | 3.10 |
| Organization-level publishing now available for npm in GitHub Packages | 2022-08-31 | Connecting a repository to an organization-owned package on GitHub | - |
| GitHub Actions runner images repository refresh | 2022-08-08 | actions/runner-image | - |
| New GitHub Projects is GA | 2022-07-27 | 3.8 | |
| Support for diagrams via Mermaid syntax | 2022-02-14 | Creating diagrams | 3.7 |
| Pull request file tree UI added | 2022-05-16 | 3.6 | |
| Member-only READMEs for organization profiles | 2022-04-20 | Customizing your organization's profile | 3.6 |
| GitHub Discussions added | 2020-12-08 | GitHub Discussions | 3.6 |
| Migration from Docker registry to Container registry | Migrating your enterprise to the Container registry from the Docker registry | 3.6 | |
| More ways to keep pull request branches up to date (rebase support, etc.) | 2022-02-03 | Keeping your pull request in sync with the base branch | 3.5 |
| Custom repository roles are now GA | 2022-06-06 | Managing custom repository roles for an organization | 3.5 |
| GitHub Container registry in public beta | 2020-09-01 | Working with the Container registry | 3.5 |
| READMEs for organization profiles | 2021-09-14 | Customizing your organization's profile | 3.4 |
| Dependabot version updates supported in GHES (public beta) | 3.4 | ||
manage_runners:enterprise scope added for enterprise-level runner management |
3.3 |
Discussion