Local Action Verification with act You are setting up a repository so that Jules (or any agent) can run GitHub Actions workflows locally using act to verify code changes pass CI before pushing. What You're Setting Up Two scripts and an agents.md section that enable local CI verification: install-act.sh — Installs act if missing (platform-aware, sudo fallback) run-act.sh — Runs act in the background with log polling to avoid agent timeouts AGENTS.md section — Instructions Jules reads to know how to use these scripts Setup Steps Step 1: Copy scripts to the repository Copy the scripts/ directory from this skill into the target repository at scripts/act/ : Target structure: scripts/act/ ├── install-act.sh └── run-act.sh Make sure the scripts are executable: chmod +x scripts/act/install-act.sh scripts/act/run-act.sh Step 2: Add instructions to AGENTS.md Append the following section to the repository's AGENTS.md file (create it if it doesn't exist). This is how Jules discovers the local verification capability:
Local CI Verification
Before pushing code or opening a PR, verify changes pass CI locally using
act
.
Prerequisites
Docker must be running
If
act
is not installed, run:
bash scripts/act/install-act.sh
How to Verify
1.
Read
.github/workflows/
to find the CI workflow and identify the job ID
2.
Run the verification script:
```bash
bash scripts/act/run-act.sh "push -j
<
JOB_ID
" With matrix: bash scripts/act/run-act.sh "push -j
--matrix : " 3. If the run fails, read the log output, fix the code, and re-run 4. After verification, clean up: rm -f act_output.log git checkout < any unintended file changes Configuration Timeout: ACT_TIMEOUT=900 bash scripts/act/run-act.sh "..." (default: 600s) Poll interval: ACT_POLL=15 bash scripts/act/run-act.sh "..." (default: 10s) Custom image: pass -P ubuntu-latest=node:20-bookworm in the arguments for faster pulls
Step 3: Update .gitignore
Append these entries to .gitignore if they don't already exist:
act artifacts
act_output.log
.secrets
Step 4: Print next steps for the user
Tell the user:
1. Docker must be installed and running on any machine (or Jules VM) where verification runs
2. act will be auto-installed on first use via scripts/act/install-act.sh
3. If workflows require secrets, create a .secrets file (KEY=VALUE format) — never commit it
4. Commit all generated files
Troubleshooting
- Docker not running:
actrequires Docker. Ensure the Docker daemon is started. - Image pull slow: First run downloads ~2GB+. Use
-P ubuntu-latest=node:20-bookwormfor faster pulls. - ARM64 issues: On Apple Silicon, add
--container-architecture linux/amd64to act arguments. - Secrets required: Create a
.secretsfile and pass--secret-file .secretsin the act arguments. - Timeout: Increase with
ACT_TIMEOUT=1200 bash scripts/act/run-act.sh "...".
Resource References
- Troubleshooting Guide — Detailed solutions for common issues