Understanding the link between GitHub Actions minutes and GitHub storage can help you manage your workflows more effectively and optimize your use of GitHub Actions minutes.
Note: Refer to Cardinal Cloud GitHub Storage Guidelines for information on storage limitations and restrictions.
- GitHub Actions minutes refer to the amount of time your workflows, such as CI/CD pipelines, run on GitHub’s hosted runners. Each time you trigger GitHub Actions (e.g., for testing, building, or deploying code), it consumes a portion of your available minutes.
- GitHub storage is used to store artifacts generated by your workflows, including build outputs, logs, and packages. Each output file counts against your storage limit, which has a certain free quota based on your account type.
How They Are Connected
When you run GitHub Actions, you might generate artifacts (like build outputs, test reports, or logs) that GitHub stores. GitHub provides virtual machines (called "runners") to execute your workflows. The time spent running these workflows is counted as "GitHub Actions minutes." The longer your workflows run, the more likely you are to generate larger artifacts. Using more GitHub Actions minutes often leads to higher storage usage if your workflows produce artifacts.
Usage examples:
- If your CI pipelines produce test results or container images, they will be stored, contributing to your GitHub storage usage.
- If your workflows or jobs run for extended periods or in greater numbers, they will consume minutes at an increased rate.
- If your workflows require more complex or resource-intensive tasks, your GitHub Actions minutes will be consumed faster.
Optimizing Usage of GitHub Actions Minutes
You can reduce your consumption by optimizing workflows (e.g., using caching, skipping unnecessary jobs, or running lighter tasks). Additionally, self-hosted runners can also be used to avoid consuming GitHub's hosted runner minutes.
