GitHub Actions Deprecations: What Is Breaking and How to Fix It
GitHub deprecates runtimes, commands, and images on a schedule. Stay ahead of the warnings before they become failures.
Deprecations start as warnings and end as broken builds. This tracker lists the recurring ones and the fix for each. Check the GitHub changelog for exact dates.
Recurring deprecations
| Deprecation | Fix |
|---|---|
| Node 16 actions runtime | Upgrade actions to versions running on Node 20 |
save-state / set-output commands | Write to $GITHUB_STATE / $GITHUB_OUTPUT files |
| Older runner images (e.g. ubuntu-20.04) | Move to ubuntu-latest or a pinned current image |
| upload-artifact/download-artifact v3 | Migrate to v4 (note the breaking changes) |
| Deprecated action major versions | Bump uses: to the current major |
How to stay ahead
- Watch for deprecation warnings in your run logs and treat them as work, not noise.
- Use Dependabot to bump action versions automatically.
- Pin to majors (
@v4) so you get fixes without surprise breaks.
Related guides
actions/upload-artifact & download-artifact (v4) ReferenceReference for actions/upload-artifact and download-artifact v4 - naming, retention, sharing between jobs, and…
Migrating GitHub Actions to the Node 20 RuntimeHow to handle the GitHub Actions Node 16 → Node 20 runtime deprecation - bump action versions, fix warnings,…