How to Set Up the Claude Code GitHub Action

The Claude Code GitHub Action runs Claude Code inside your repository’s workflows. Mention @claude in an issue or PR comment and it analyses code, makes changes, and pushes commits. You need admin access to the repo.

1. The quick way

Install the GitHub CLI and run gh auth login first. Then, from inside the repo:

claude

/install-github-app

It installs the Claude GitHub App, saves your authentication secret, pushes a branch with the workflow files, and opens a pull request for you. Merge that PR and @claude works.

2. The manual way

Three steps, if you’d rather not run the command:

1. Install the Claude GitHub App on the repository (github.com/apps/claude). The action needs its Contents, Issues, and Pull requests permissions.
2. Add one repository secret: ANTHROPIC_API_KEY (a Claude API key) or CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN (a subscription token — generate it locally with claude setup-token).
3. Commit a workflow file.

3. Minimal workflow

.github/workflows/claude.yml:

name: Claude Code
on:
  issue_comment:
    types: [created]
  pull_request_review_comment:
    types: [created]
jobs:
  claude:
    if: contains(github.event.comment.body, '@claude')
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write
      pull-requests: write
      issues: write
      id-token: write
      actions: read
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
        with:
          fetch-depth: 1
      - uses: anthropics/claude-code-action@v1
        with:
          anthropic_api_key: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}

The non-boilerplate lines: id-token: write is required for the action’s default GitHub App authentication, actions: read lets Claude read CI results, and the if: keeps runners from starting on comments that don’t mention @claude. If you stored a subscription token instead, replace the anthropic_api_key line with claude_code_oauth_token: ${{ secrets.CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN }}.

4. Use it

Comment on any issue or PR:

@claude implement this feature based on the issue description
@claude fix the TypeError in the user dashboard component

Claude replies in a comment on the same thread and updates it as it works. Only users with write access to the repo can trigger a run, and bot actors are rejected unless you list them in allowed_bots.

5. Keep runs cheap

Pass CLI arguments through claude_args:

claude_args: "--max-turns 5 --model claude-sonnet-5"

Add a workflow-level timeout and GitHub’s concurrency controls so a runaway job can’t burn an afternoon of Actions minutes.

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Next: run Claude Code headless in a script or review a PR with Claude Code.