How do I run github actions only on pr

[sedsdrrt-eng]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

ARC (Actions Runner Controller)

Discussion Details

I hv work flow that runs on every push how do I change it so it only triggers on pr and not direct pushes?

[onurdilmen]

You just need to change the trigger. Replace on: push (or on: [push]) with pull_request:

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

If you also want to scope it to certain paths:

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
    paths:
      - "src/**"
      - "package.json"

A couple of notes:

• pull_request runs on the merge commit between the PR head and the target branch, so the workflow tests what would land — usually what you want.
• If you also need it to run on the final push to main (e.g. for deploys), keep both: on: { pull_request: { branches: [main] }, push: { branches: [main] } }.
• If you accept PRs from forks and the workflow needs secrets, use pull_request_target instead, but read the security caveats first since it runs against the base branch.

[aasimansari1]

Change your workflow trigger from push to pull_request. Here's how:

Before (triggers on every push):

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

After (triggers only on pull requests):

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]

This will trigger the workflow whenever a PR is opened, synchronized (new commits pushed to the PR branch), or reopened targeting main.

If you want even more control, you can specify which PR events trigger it:

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]

Common types values:

• opened – PR is created
• synchronize – new commits pushed to the PR branch
• reopened – a closed PR is reopened
• ready_for_review – PR is moved out of draft

Note: Inside a pull_request triggered workflow, github.sha refers to the merge commit SHA, and github.ref will be something like refs/pull/123/merge. Use github.head_ref to get the PR branch name.

Hope that helps!