GitHub Actions Validator

A GitHub Actions validator checks your workflow YAML files for syntax errors, structural issues, and best practice violations before you push them to your repository. GitHub Actions workflows are defined in YAML files under .github/workflows/, and even small mistakes — a wrong indentation, a missing runs-on, or a circular job dependency — can cause your entire CI/CD pipeline to fail.

Debugging workflow YAML is painful. You make a change, push it, wait for GitHub to pick it up, watch it fail, read the error message, fix it, push again — a cycle that can take minutes per iteration. A validator catches these issues instantly in your browser, before you commit.

Our GitHub Actions validator parses your workflow YAML and checks for: required top-level keys (on, jobs), job-level requirements (runs-on, steps), step validation (uses or run), outdated action versions, circular needs dependencies, security concerns, and more. It also includes a prettifier that reformats your YAML with consistent indentation. Start from built-in templates for Node.js, Python, or Docker workflows. Everything runs in your browser — your workflow files are never uploaded.

1. Paste your workflow YAML — Copy the contents of your .github/workflows/*.yml file into the editor. Or click one of the template buttons (Node.js CI, Python CI, Docker Build & Push) to start from a working example.
2. Review validation results — The validator analyzes your YAML in real-time. The Validation tab shows all errors, warnings, and informational messages with clear descriptions.
3. Check the summary badges — Badges at the top show counts of errors (E), warnings (W), and info messages (I). A green "Valid" badge appears when no errors or warnings are found.
4. Fix issues — Each message explains the problem and often suggests a specific fix. Edit your YAML directly in the editor and watch the validation update instantly.
5. Prettify your YAML — Switch to the "Prettified" tab to see your workflow with consistent formatting and line numbers. Copy the prettified version to replace your original file.

• Real-time YAML validation — Parses and validates your workflow as you type. No need to push to GitHub to discover errors.
• Structural checks — Validates required keys (on, jobs, runs-on, steps), correct types (jobs must be a mapping, steps must be a sequence), and logical consistency.
• Circular dependency detection — Detects circular needs dependencies between jobs that would cause the workflow to hang indefinitely.
• Action version warnings — Flags outdated action versions (e.g., actions/checkout@v2) and suggests upgrading to the latest major version.
• Security checks — Warns about using secrets in conditional expressions, continue-on-error: true that may hide failures, and other security-sensitive patterns.
• Built-in templates — Start from production-ready templates for Node.js CI, Python CI, and Docker build-and-push workflows.
• YAML prettifier — Reformats your workflow YAML with consistent indentation and line numbers, preserving comments.
• 100% client-side — Your workflow files never leave your browser. Safe for validating workflows with secrets references and internal configurations.

• Pre-push validation — Validate your workflow YAML before pushing to avoid failed runs and wasted CI minutes.
• Debugging CI failures — When a workflow fails with a cryptic error, paste it into the validator to quickly identify structural issues.
• Learning GitHub Actions — Use the built-in templates as starting points and the validation messages as learning feedback to understand workflow structure.
• Workflow refactoring — When reorganizing jobs, adding dependencies, or upgrading action versions, validate the changes before committing.
• Code review assistance — Quickly validate workflow files during code review without checking out the branch and pushing.