GitHub

The GitHub integration enables workflows to interact with repositories: create and manage branches, open pull requests, read and modify files, post comments, and trigger workflows based on repository events.

What you can do

• Branch operations: create, list, delete
• Pull request management: create, merge, close, add reviewers, change title/description
• File operations: read, create, modify, delete with full blob/tree access
• Code review: create/update reviews, request reviewers
• Checks and CI: create check runs, set commit status
• Webhooks: receive push, pull_request, pull_request_review, check_run, and status events
• Agent actions: agents can commit code, create PRs, and respond to CI failures

Connect GitHub

Credential summary

Event filtering

GitHub webhooks send a payload for every selected event type. Rensei workflows filter by:

• Branch name (e.g., main, develop)
• Event action (e.g., opened, synchronize, closed)
• Commit author or PR author
• Custom conditions using workflow expressions

Refer to workflow triggers for details.

Workflow nodes

All GitHub workflow nodes live in the GitHub section of the node palette. Available only when the GitHub integration is connected.

Triggers

Branch operations

Example: Create a branch for a feature request

- id: create_branch
  type: github.branch.create
  inputs:
    repo: "owner/repo"
    branchName: "feature/{{ $trigger.github.pull_request.title }}"
    fromRef: "main"  # or a commit SHA

Pull request operations

Example: Create a PR with an automated message

- id: create_pr
  type: github.pr.create
  inputs:
    repo: "owner/repo"
    title: "Fix: {{ $trigger.github.issue.title }}"
    body: |
      Automated fix for {{ $trigger.github.issue.url }}
      
      Changes:
      - Updated code
      - Added tests
    head: "feature/fix-{{ $trigger.id }}"
    base: "main"
    draft: false
    maintainer_can_modify: true

File operations

Example: Read a configuration file

- id: read_config
  type: github.file.read
  inputs:
    repo: "owner/repo"
    path: "config.json"
    ref: "main"  # optional; defaults to default branch

Example: Create a file with generated content

- id: create_file
  type: github.file.create
  inputs:
    repo: "owner/repo"
    path: "src/generated.ts"
    contents: "{{ $steps.agent.output }}"
    branch: "feature/generated"
    message: "Generated by Rensei agent"
    committer:
      name: "Rensei"
      email: "rensei@rensei.ai"

Code reviews

Example: Approve a PR after checks pass

- id: approve
  type: github.review.create
  inputs:
    repo: "owner/repo"
    pr_number: "{{ $trigger.github.pull_request.number }}"
    event: "APPROVE"  # APPROVE | REQUEST_CHANGES | COMMENT
    body: "Approved by Rensei checks"

Commit status and checks

Example: Create a check run after a test suite

- id: check_run
  type: github.check_run.create
  inputs:
    repo: "owner/repo"
    head_sha: "{{ $trigger.github.push.commits[0].id }}"
    name: "Rensei Tests"
    status: "completed"  # or 'in_progress'
    conclusion: "{{ $steps.tests.status == 'pass' ? 'success' : 'failure' }}"
    output:
      title: "Test Results"
      summary: |
        {{ $steps.tests.passed }}/{{ $steps.tests.total }} tests passed
      text: "{{ $steps.tests.log }}"

Repository metadata

Authentication and scope

The GitHub integration requires the following scopes:

• repo - read/write access to public and private repositories
• workflow - write access to GitHub Actions workflows
• read:org - read-only access to organization metadata

If you use a Personal Access Token, create it with classic (not fine-grained) permissions to ensure all required scopes are granted.

Cost and rate limits

GitHub's REST API has rate limits:

• Authenticated requests: 5,000 requests/hour
• Workflow engines (agents) operating at scale may hit this limit if many work items dispatch in parallel

Recommendation: If you're running high-volume agent workflows, consider:

1. Caching frequently-accessed data (e.g., branch lists) in workflow steps
2. Batching multiple file operations into a single API call when possible
3. Using GitHub's GraphQL API (advanced; not yet exposed as a workflow node)

Cost is zero - GitHub includes API calls in your personal or organization plan.

Troubleshooting

"Authentication failed"

• Verify your GitHub token or OAuth grant is still valid
• Re-authorize in Settings → Integrations
• Check that the token has the required scopes

"Webhook delivery failed"

• Ensure the webhook URL is publicly accessible
• Check GitHub's webhook delivery logs (Settings → Webhooks → Recent Deliveries)
• Verify the webhook secret matches what Rensei provided
• Check Rensei's audit logs for inbound webhook errors

"API rate limit exceeded"

• Wait 1 hour for your rate limit to reset
• Use GraphQL (batching) for bulk operations (advanced)
• Consider caching results in workflow steps to reduce API calls

Next steps

• Workflow triggers - Configure when workflows run
• Expressions - Use GitHub trigger data in downstream steps
• Workflow testing - Test GitHub integrations locally
• Agent sessions - Watch agents interact with GitHub in real time