Claude Code Action Integration

Prerequisites

• •GitHub repository with Actions enabled
• •Anthropic API key (ANTHROPIC_API_KEY secret)
• •Repository write permissions configured
• •Understanding of GitHub Actions workflow syntax

Instructions

1. •Choose the appropriate workflow template from templates/workflows/ based on your use case (PR review, @claude mention, or issue triage)
2. •Copy the selected YAML file to your repository's .github/workflows/ directory
3. •Add the ANTHROPIC_API_KEY secret in your repository settings under Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions
4. •Configure repository permissions by enabling "Read and write permissions" and "Allow GitHub Actions to create and approve pull requests" in Settings > Actions > General
5. •Customize the workflow file if needed (model selection, allowed tools, custom prompts)
6. •Test the workflow on a draft PR or test issue to verify it triggers correctly
7. •Monitor API usage and costs after deployment

Trigger Conditions

• •User asks to "set up automated code review"
• •User wants "Claude to review PRs automatically"
• •User asks about "GitHub Actions with Claude"
• •User needs "@claude mention integration"
• •User wants "automated issue triage"

Overview

The claude-code-action is Anthropic's official GitHub Action for running Claude Code in CI/CD workflows. This skill provides ready-to-use workflow templates for common integration patterns.

Available Templates

Quick Start

Step 1: Choose a Template

Select the workflow template that matches your use case from templates/workflows/.

Step 2: Copy to Repository

Copy the YAML file to your repository's .github/workflows/ directory:

# Example: Set up PR review
cp claude-pr-review.yml /path/to/repo/.github/workflows/

Step 3: Configure Secrets

Add required secrets in your repository settings:

1. •Go to Settings > Secrets and variables > Actions
2. •Add ANTHROPIC_API_KEY with your Anthropic API key

Step 4: Configure Permissions

1. •Go to Settings > Actions > General
2. •Under "Workflow permissions", select "Read and write permissions"
3. •Check "Allow GitHub Actions to create and approve pull requests"

Template Details

PR Review Workflow

File: templates/workflows/claude-pr-review.yml

Triggers:

• •Pull request opened
• •New commits pushed to PR
• •PR marked ready for review
• •PR reopened

Features:

• •Comprehensive code review (quality, bugs, security, performance)
• •Inline comments on specific code issues
• •Summary comment with overall assessment
• •Concurrency control (one review per PR at a time)
• •Draft PR handling (skips drafts)

Review Categories:

1. •Code Quality - patterns, naming, organization, DRY
2. •Potential Bugs - null handling, edge cases, race conditions
3. •Security - injection, XSS, auth issues
4. •Performance - complexity, queries, caching
5. •Testing - coverage, edge cases, clarity

Mention Response Workflow

File: templates/workflows/claude-mention.yml

Triggers:

• •@claude mentioned in issue comment
• •@claude mentioned in PR comment

Features:

• •Responds to direct questions
• •Provides code explanations
• •Suggests fixes for reported issues
• •Answers architecture questions

Issue Triage Workflow

File: templates/workflows/claude-issue-triage.yml

Triggers:

• •New issue opened

Features:

• •Automatic label assignment
• •Priority assessment
• •Initial response to reporter
• •Related issue linking

Customization

Changing the Model

Edit the claude_args section in any workflow:

claude_args: |
  --model "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"  # or claude-opus-4-5-20251101

Restricting Tools

Modify the --allowedTools argument to limit what Claude can do:

--allowedTools "Read,Glob,Grep"  # Read-only, no bash

Custom Prompts

Edit the prompt section to customize Claude's behavior for your project's specific needs.

Examples

Example 1: Basic PR Review Setup

# .github/workflows/claude-review.yml
name: Claude PR Review

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize, ready_for_review]

jobs:
  review:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@v1
        with:
          prompt: "Review this PR for code quality and potential bugs"
        env:
          ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}

Example 2: @claude Mention Handler

# .github/workflows/claude-mention.yml
name: Claude Mention

on:
  issue_comment:
    types: [created]

jobs:
  respond:
    if: contains(github.event.comment.body, '@claude')
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@v1
        with:
          prompt: "Respond to this comment helpfully"
        env:
          ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}

Error Handling

Workflow Not Triggering

1. •Check workflow file is in .github/workflows/
2. •Verify YAML syntax is valid
3. •Ensure trigger conditions match your action

Authentication Errors

1. •Verify ANTHROPIC_API_KEY secret is set
2. •Check API key has not expired
3. •Ensure key has required permissions

Permission Denied Errors

1. •Enable "Read and write permissions" in repository settings
2. •Add required permissions block to workflow

Timeout Issues

1. •Increase timeout-minutes in workflow
2. •Consider using a faster model for large repos

Resources

• •claude-code-action GitHub - Official action repository
• •GitHub Actions Documentation - Actions reference
• •templates/workflows/claude-pr-review.yml - PR review template
• •templates/workflows/claude-mention.yml - Mention handler template
• •templates/workflows/claude-issue-triage.yml - Issue triage template

Best Practices

1. •Start with PR Review - Most common and valuable integration
2. •Use Sonnet for Speed - Faster reviews, lower cost
3. •Limit Tools - Only allow necessary tools for security
4. •Test on Draft PRs - Test workflow before enabling widely
5. •Monitor Costs - Watch API usage with track_progress enabled

Output

Checklist

Copy this checklist and track your progress:

• • Select appropriate workflow template (PR review, @claude mention, or issue triage)
• • Copy template YAML to .github/workflows/ directory
• • Add ANTHROPIC_API_KEY secret in repository settings
• • Enable "Read and write permissions" for GitHub Actions
• • Enable "Allow GitHub Actions to create and approve pull requests"
• • Customize claude_args model if needed (default: sonnet)
• • Customize --allowedTools for security requirements
• • Test workflow on a draft PR or test issue
• • Verify workflow triggers correctly
• • Monitor API usage and costs
• • Document custom prompts for team reference