Skip to content

actions/upload-artifact & download-artifact (v4) Reference

Artifacts move files between jobs and out of a run. v4 changed the rules - here is what matters.

Upload build outputs, then download them in a later job or after the run. v4 is faster but stricter than v3.

Usage

.github/workflows/ci.yml

- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
  with:
    name: build-output
    path: dist/
    retention-days: 7

v4 gotchas

Artifact names must be unique within a run (no more overwriting).
v3 and v4 artifacts are not cross-compatible.
Immutable once uploaded - use unique names per matrix entry.

Related guides

actions/cache: Keys, Restore Keys & Best PracticesReference for actions/cache - how cache keys and restore-keys work, what to cache per ecosystem, and how to a… How to Speed Up GitHub Actions: 9 High-Impact TacticsMake GitHub Actions faster: caching, parallelization, test splitting, Docker layer caching, slimmer images, a…

Run this faster and cheaper on Latchkey managed runners. Start free →