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github-runner

Included in skill bundleci-cdView on GitHub ↗

Files

SKILL.mdagentsreferences

Install

Install only this skill with npx skills
npx skills add alisonaquinas/llm-ci-dev --skill 'github-runner' -g -y
Install the containing skill bundle
/plugin install ci-cd@llm-skills
Download github-runner-skill.zip
This skill is bundled inside ci-cd. Use npx skills when you only want this skill, or install the bundle once to make every included skill available through the plugin marketplace flow. Browse the full skill bundle repository at github.com/alisonaquinas/llm-ci-dev.

Invoke

Invoke this skill after installation
/ci-cd:github-runner

SKILL.md


name: github-runner description: > Install, register, configure, and maintain GitHub Actions self-hosted runners on Linux, macOS, Windows, and Kubernetes via Actions Runner Controller (ARC). Cover runner binary installation, service setup, token management, ARC deployment, scaling, and operational management.

GitHub Actions Runner

Install, register, and operate GitHub Actions self-hosted runners to execute jobs on your infrastructure. This skill covers runner binary installation, registration, service management, Kubernetes ARC deployment, and operations.


Intent Router

Load reference files for depth on specific topics:

TopicFileLoad when...
Installationreferences/installation.mdInstalling runner binary, setting up services on Linux, macOS, Windows, or containers
Registration & Configurationreferences/registration-and-config.mdRegistering runners, token management, labels, groups, and proxy configuration
ARC and Scalingreferences/arc-and-scaling.mdDeploying Actions Runner Controller on Kubernetes, ephemeral runners, auto-scaling
Operationsreferences/operations.mdService control, token rotation, updates, firewall, and troubleshooting

Quick Start

Core Concepts

GitHub Actions Runner is a self-hosted agent that executes workflow jobs from GitHub repositories. The lifecycle: downloadconfigure (obtain token from GitHub) → run (execute workflow jobs).

Minimal Installation & Registration (Linux)

# Create directory for runner
mkdir -p ~/runner && cd ~/runner

# Download latest runner for x64
curl -o actions-runner-linux-x64-latest.tar.gz \
  -L https://github.com/actions/runner/releases/download/v2.414.0/actions-runner-linux-x64-2.414.0.tar.gz

# Extract
tar xzf actions-runner-linux-x64-latest.tar.gz

# Generate a token from GitHub (repo/org settings → Runners)
# Then configure
./config.sh \
  --url https://github.com/owner/repo \
  --token <GITHUB_TOKEN> \
  --name "my-runner" \
  --labels "linux,docker" \
  --runnergroup "default" \
  --work "_work"

# Install service
./svc.sh install

# Start service
./svc.sh start

Runner Scope and Tokens

Runners can be registered at three GitHub levels:

ScopeURLToken Source
Repositoryhttps://github.com/owner/repoRepo → Settings → Actions → Runners
Organizationhttps://github.com/ownerOrg → Settings → Actions → Runners
Enterprisehttps://github.com/enterprises/nameEnterprise → Settings → Actions → Runners

Each scope level has its own authentication tokens.

config.sh Flags

./config.sh \
  --url <GITHUB_URL> \              # GitHub repo, org, or enterprise URL
  --token <TOKEN> \                 # PAT or fine-grained token
  --name <RUNNER_NAME> \            # Display name for runner
  --labels docker,linux,ubuntu \    # Comma-separated labels
  --runnergroup "default" \         # Runner group assignment
  --work "_work" \                  # Workspace directory
  --ephemeral \                     # Ephemeral runner (runs one job then exits)
  --disableupdate                   # Prevent auto-update

Cross-References

Use alongside these skills for deeper context:

  • github-ci — Write and maintain GitHub Actions workflows that trigger runner jobs
  • github-docs — Deep syntax reference for GitHub Actions workflow keywords
  • ci-architecture — Design patterns for multi-runner deployments and runner group management

Related References

  • Load Installation for platform-specific setup (Linux, macOS, Windows, Docker, Kubernetes)
  • Load Registration & Configuration to understand tokens, labels, groups, and proxy configuration
  • Load ARC and Scaling to deploy Kubernetes-based runners with auto-scaling
  • Load Operations for service management, updates, token rotation, and troubleshooting
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