What is the purpose of 'github.event' context in GitHub Actions workflows?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation and Infographic
github.event is the raw webhook payload. When a PR opens, github.event has all the PR data — title, number, base branch, labels, author. When a push happens, it has the commit info. You use it to make decisions: 'if this PR targets main and has the release label, run the release workflow'.
Full explanation below image
![Educational infographic showing GitHub Actions github.event context. Display workflow triggered by pullrequest event. Show github.event contents: pullrequest: number: 42, title: 'Add new feature', base.ref: 'main', head.ref: 'feature/new-thing', labels: [{name: 'release'}]. Show how to use in workflow: if: ${{ github.event.pullrequest.base.ref == 'main' }}. Compare event payloads for push vs pullrequest vs release events. Blue JSON data visualization with workflow decision logic. 1024x768 pixels.](/media/github/gh-100/GH-100-q189-infographic.webp)
Full Explanation
The 'github.event' context in GitHub Actions provides access to the complete webhook event payload that triggered the workflow run. Content varies by trigger event: (1) For 'push' events: github.event.commits (array of pushed commits), github.event.before/after (SHA hashes), github.event.pusher. (2) For 'pull_request' events: github.event.pull_request (PR details including number, title, labels, base/head branches). (3) For 'issues' events: github.event.issue (issue details). (4) For 'release' events: github.event.release (release metadata). Use cases: extract PR title to set a variable, check which files changed in a push, get issue labels to route to appropriate handler, extract release tag to publish. The event name (push, pull_request, etc.) is available separately as 'github.event_name'.