What Is GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT?

GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT is the attempt number for the current run, starting at 1 and incrementing on each re-run.

GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT lets a workflow detect that it is a re-run, which is handy for retry-aware caching or messaging.

Example

Detect a manual re-run.

if: ${{ github.run_attempt > 1 }}

Reliability note

Manual re-runs cost you the wasted minutes of the first attempt. Self-healing managed runners like Latchkey automatically retry genuinely transient failures (network blips, OOM-kills) so a re-run is often unnecessary.

Key takeaways

• GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT starts at 1 and grows per re-run.
• Detect re-runs in workflow logic.
• Auto-retrying runners cut manual re-runs.

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