> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://athanor.alexisbouchez.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Workflow Features

> Overview of all supported GitHub Actions 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:

```yaml theme={null}
- 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

```yaml theme={null}
- name: Use sh instead
  run: echo "hello"
  shell: sh
```

Or set a default for the whole job:

```yaml theme={null}
jobs:
  build:
    defaults:
      run:
        shell: sh
```

## `working-directory:`

Set per-step or as a job default:

```yaml theme={null}
- 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.

```yaml theme={null}
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:

```yaml theme={null}
- 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 |

```yaml theme={null}
- 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:

```yaml theme={null}
- 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](/guides/job-dependencies) guide.