Do the GitHub API rate limits apply to GitHub Actions?

Question

I have a CLI tool that downloads files from a GitHub repo and I wrote integration tests for this tool that use the actual GitHub API. I don't make the requests with authentication so I get hit by the rate limit when I run the tests too fast:

For unauthenticated requests, the rate limit allows for up to 60 requests per hour. Unauthenticated requests are associated with the originating IP address, and not the user making requests.

Does the same limit apply for CI scripts run in GitHub Actions?

Why not use [Authentication in a workflow](https://docs.github.com/en/free-pro-team@latest/actions/reference/authentication-in-a-workflow)? — Allan Chain, Nov 12 '20 at 10:50
Yeah, that's what I was planning to do, but I was still curious whether the limit is enforced. — Paul Razvan Berg, Nov 12 '20 at 10:54

VonC · Answer 1 · 2020-11-12T10:26:56.127

0

While GitHub Actions themselves have rate limits (from this issue, 20 workflow executions per minute), this is about, as Allan Chain points out in the comments) about GitHub REST API calls.

And the official page on REST API Rate limit is not clear on that rate, when execute from a GitHub Action worlflow.

But it does point out the call:

curl -H "Accept: application/vnd.github.v3+json" \
  https://api.github.com/rate_limit

So you can add that call (which does not count against your REST API rate limit) before and after your other REST API calls, and you will see how said rate is impacted.

edited Nov 12 '20 at 10:26

answered Nov 12 '20 at 07:28

VonC

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The question is about GitHub REST API limit in GitHub Actions, not GitHub Actions workflow limit – Allan Chain Nov 12 '20 at 09:29
@AllanChain Good point. I have rewritten the answer accordingly. – VonC Nov 12 '20 at 10:27

Do the GitHub API rate limits apply to GitHub Actions?

1 Answers1