action

Filter by specific actions within a GitHub event.

Type

string | string[]

Description

The action condition narrows down which specific action triggered the event. For example, a pull_request event can have actions like opened, closed, edited, labeled, etc.

Use this to create different rules for different PR lifecycle stages.

Syntax

# Single action
when:
  event: pull_request
  action: opened

# Multiple actions (any match)
when:
  event: pull_request
  action: [opened, reopened]

Common Pull Request Actions

Action	When It Triggers
opened	PR is first created
reopened	Previously closed PR is reopened
closed	PR is closed (merged or not)
edited	PR title or description is changed
labeled	Label is added to PR
unlabeled	Label is removed from PR
synchronize	New commits pushed to PR
ready_for_review	Draft PR marked as ready
converted_to_draft	PR converted to draft

Examples

Single Action

Trigger only when PR opens:

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
    then:
      update_fields:
        '1234567890': 'In Review'

Multiple Actions

Trigger on open or reopen:

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: [opened, reopened]
    then:
      update_fields:
        '1234567890': 'In Review'

Different Rules for Different Actions

Create separate rules for different actions:

rules:
  # When PR opens
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened
    then:
      update_fields:
        '1234567890': 'In Review'

  # When PR closes
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: closed
    then:
      update_fields:
        '1234567890': 'Done'

Label Actions

React to labels being added:

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: labeled
      label: 'ready-for-qa'
    then:
      update_fields:
        '1234567890': 'QA Requested'

Code Changes

Trigger when new commits are pushed:

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: synchronize
    then:
      update_fields:
        '1234567890': 'Changes Requested'

Workflow Configuration

Make sure your workflow listens for the actions you want to match:

# .github/workflows/asana-sync.yml
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, closed, labeled]  # <-- Specify which actions

# In rules:
rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: opened  # Must be in workflow types
    then:
      # ...

TIP

If you don't specify types: in your workflow, GitHub uses a default set. Explicitly list them to be clear about what triggers your workflow.

Combining with Other Conditions

Layer multiple conditions for precise matching:

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: closed
      merged: true    # Only when merged (not just closed)
    then:
      update_fields:
        '1234567890': 'Shipped'
      mark_complete: true

Validation Rules

• Optional: Not required, but very commonly used
• Type: String for single action, array of strings for multiple
• Array: Cannot be empty if using array format
• Case-sensitive: Use lowercase (e.g., opened, not Opened)

Common Errors

Empty Array

# ❌ Wrong - empty array not allowed
when:
  event: pull_request
  action: []

# ✅ Correct - single action or non-empty array
when:
  event: pull_request
  action: opened

Action Not in Workflow Types

# ❌ Wrong - workflow doesn't listen for 'edited'
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened]

rules:
  - when:
      event: pull_request
      action: edited  # This will never trigger!
    then:
      # ...

# ✅ Correct - add to workflow types
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, edited]

Wrong Action Name

# ❌ Wrong - there's no 'merged' action
when:
  event: pull_request
  action: merged

# ✅ Correct - use 'closed' with 'merged: true'
when:
  event: pull_request
  action: closed
  merged: true

See Also

• event - The GitHub event name
• merged - Filter by PR merge status
• label - Filter by specific label name
• GitHub PR Events - All pull_request actions