Workflow Features

Athanor supports a practical subset of GitHub Actions workflow syntax. It covers enough to run most CI pipelines that don’t depend on marketplace actions.

`run:` Steps

Every step must have a run: field containing a shell script. Multi-line scripts work with YAML block scalars:

- name: Multi-line script
  run: |
    echo "line 1"
    echo "line 2"
    exit 0

Scripts are written to a temp file and executed with bash (or the configured shell:).

`shell:` Override

- name: Use sh instead
  run: echo "hello"
  shell: sh

Or set a default for the whole job:

jobs:
  build:
    defaults:
      run:
        shell: sh

`working-directory:`

Set per-step or as a job default:

- name: Build in subdir
  run: make build
  working-directory: ./frontend

Relative paths are resolved against the workflow file’s parent directory.

`env:` at Every Level

Environment variables cascade: workflow → job → step. Each level can override variables from the level above.

env:
  APP: myapp
jobs:
  build:
    env:
      ENV: production
    steps:
      - env:
          DEBUG: "true"
        run: echo "$APP $ENV $DEBUG"

`id:` and `$GITHUB_OUTPUT`

Steps can produce outputs that later steps reference:

- id: check
  run: echo "status=ready" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
- run: echo "${{ steps.check.outputs.status }}"

The $GITHUB_OUTPUT file is created per-step and parsed after the step exits.

`if:` Conditions

Three built-in functions control whether a step runs:

Condition	Runs when
`success()` (default)	No previous step in this job has failed
`failure()`	A previous step in this job has failed
`always()`	Always, regardless of prior step status

- name: Cleanup
  if: always()
  run: rm -rf tmp/

`continue-on-error:`

When true, a non-zero exit code from this step does not mark the job as failed, and subsequent steps continue executing under success() conditions:

- name: Optional lint
  run: golangci-lint run
  continue-on-error: true
- name: This still runs
  run: echo "lint failure is fine"

`needs:` Job Dependencies

See the dedicated Job Dependencies guide.

Getting Started

Guides

Reference

Workflow Features

`run:` Steps

`shell:` Override

`working-directory:`

`env:` at Every Level

`id:` and `$GITHUB_OUTPUT`

`if:` Conditions

`continue-on-error:`

`needs:` Job Dependencies

​run: Steps

​shell: Override

​working-directory:

​env: at Every Level

​id: and $GITHUB_OUTPUT

​if: Conditions

​continue-on-error:

​needs: Job Dependencies

`run:` Steps

`shell:` Override

`working-directory:`

`env:` at Every Level

`id:` and `$GITHUB_OUTPUT`

`if:` Conditions

`continue-on-error:`

`needs:` Job Dependencies