GitHub Action version tags & the Marketplace listing — the fine print
Detail page for GitHub Action. The moving parts people most often trip on — what a version tag promises, and a long-reported snag when listing publicly — dated and sourced.
Last verified: 2026-06-08 · checked against docs.github.com/actions.
A version tag is a promise, and it's movable
People depend on @v1; re-pointing that tag carries your fix to everyone on their next run — or, if you're careless, a breaking change. Keep breaking changes on a new major version (v2), and tell security-sensitive recipients they can pin to an exact commit SHA so nothing moves under them without their say-so. [confirmed] See Releasing and maintaining actions.
The Marketplace listing may snag on a leftover workflow file
Widely reported (and long-documented) is that the very test workflow that proved your action works can block the public listing, so the safe move is to remove .github/workflows/ before listing. GitHub's current publishing docs no longer spell this rule out, and some people report listing with a workflow present, so treat it as a known-gotcha-to-rule-out rather than a hard guarantee. [unclear] (not in GitHub's current docs; community reports conflict — checked 2026-06-08)
Sources
- Releasing and maintaining actions — version tags, keeping the major tag current, pinning to a commit SHA
- Publishing actions in GitHub Marketplace — public repo + single root
action.yml, 2FA, listed immediately