What does 'github.actor' contain in a workflow run triggered by a GitHub App?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation and Infographic
When a GitHub App triggers a workflow, github.actor shows the app's bot account username with the [bot] suffix.
Full explanation below image
![Educational infographic 1024x768 showing github.actor for different trigger types. Table: push by human -> actor: johnsmith. PR by bot -> actor: renovate[bot]. Workflow dispatch -> actor: janedoe. Schedule -> actor: github-actions[bot]. Highlight [bot] suffix format. Show conditional use: if: github.actor != 'dependabot[bot]'. github.triggeringactor difference explained for re-runs.](/media/github/gh-200/GH-200-q112-infographic.webp)
Full Explanation
The 'github.actor' context contains the username of the user or bot account that triggered the workflow run. For GitHub Apps, this is the app's machine user account with the format '{app-name}[bot]' (e.g., 'renovate[bot]', 'dependabot[bot]'). This is useful for conditional logic that checks whether a run was triggered by automation vs a human. The 'github.triggering_actor' is similar but can differ from 'actor' when a workflow is re-run (it shows who initiated the re-run). The GitHub App installation details are in the 'github.event' payload for relevant events.