Repository navigation
Inconsistent allowed contexts for reusable workflow secrets/inputs #40391
Description
Code of Conduct
- I have read and agree to the GitHub Docs project's Code of Conduct
What article on docs.github.com is affected?
- https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/workflows-and-actions/contexts
- https://docs.github.com/en/actions/reference/workflows-and-actions/reusable-workflows
What part(s) of the article would you like to see updated?
I have found inconsistencies between the actions/reference/workflows-and-actions/contexts.md and the actions/reference/workflows-and-actions/reusable-workflows.md pages.
The reusable-workflows.md page defines contexts for jobs.<job_id>.secrets.<secret_id> and jobs.<job_id>.with.<input_id> like so:
## `jobs.<job_id>.with.<input_id>`
[...]
Allowed expression contexts: `github`, and `needs`.## `jobs.<job_id>.secrets.<secret_id>`
[...]
Allowed expression contexts: `github`, `needs`, and `secrets`.This seems to match observed behavior that the following using After testing in a different and cleaner environment, this actually does not match the observed behavior, as the following using vars, using a reusable workflow that requires a secret, does not work:vars, using a reusable workflow that requires a secret, does work:
jobs:
job:
uses: job.yml
secrets:
MY_SECRET: ${{ vars.MY_SECRET }}Indeed, the contexts.md page defines these contexts like so:
| `jobs.<job_id>.secrets.<secrets_id>` | `github, needs, strategy, matrix, secrets, inputs, vars` | None |
| `jobs.<job_id>.with.<with_id>` | `github, needs, strategy, matrix, inputs, vars` | None |So I would have expected vars to work in this context, but it does not.
Also while we are at it, note the workflow keys are not consistent: secrets_id vs secret_id, and with_id vs input_id.
Therefore I would suggest to:
- Rename the workflow keys in the
contexts.mdpage to match those in thereusable-workflows.mdpage, - Update the "allowed expression contexts" in the
reusable-workflows.mdpage to match what is described in thecontexts.mdpage.
Additional information
No response
Activity
welcome commentedon Sep 16, 2025
Thanks for opening this issue. A GitHub docs team member should be by to give feedback soon. In the meantime, please check out the contributing guidelines.
matiboux commentedon Sep 16, 2025
Following new testing in a cleaner environment, it appears that the initial assumption was incorrect.
The issue and PR has been updated to consider the allowed expression contexts from
contexts.mdas the source of truth and resolve inconsistencies accordingly.Sharra-writes commentedon Sep 16, 2025
@matiboux Thanks for opening an issue and PR! I'll take this over to our SMEs to make sure all of this behavior is intended, and I'll let you know what I find out.
github-actions commentedon Nov 18, 2025
A stale label has been added to this issue, because it has been open for 30 days with no activity. If you think this issue should remain open, please add a new comment.
github-actions commentedon Jan 6, 2026
A stale label has been added to this issue, because it has been open for 30 days with no activity. If you think this issue should remain open, please add a new comment.
matiboux commentedon Jan 6, 2026
PR #40392 updated to keep the topic up to date.
github-actions commentedon Sep 7, 2026
A stale label has been added to this issue, because it has been open for 30 days with no activity. If you think this issue should remain open, please add a new comment.