murataslan1

Debug GitHub Actions workflows locally β€” with breakpoints. No more blind YAML commits.

18
0
100% credibility
Found Mar 22, 2026 at 18 stars -- GitGems finds repos before they trend. Get early access to the next one.
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AI Analysis
Go
AI Summary

ci-debugger is an open-source tool for running GitHub Actions workflows locally with interactive debugging features like breakpoints, step-by-step execution, and shell access inside simulated environments.

How It Works

1
😩 Frustrated with CI loops

You're tired of pushing code over and over to GitHub just to debug why your automated builds and tests keep failing.

2
πŸ” Discover ci-debugger

You find a friendly tool that lets you run and debug those automation recipes right on your own computer, step by step.

3
πŸ“₯ Set it up quickly

You grab the tool with an easy install, like from a trusted source or quick download, and it's ready in moments.

4
πŸ“‚ Open your project folder

You navigate to your project's directory where your build and test instructions are stored.

5
▢️ Launch a debug run

You start running your automation with special pauses enabled, so it stops at key moments for you to check things.

6
πŸ›‘ Pause and explore

The run halts right before or after tricky parts, letting you peek inside, run extra checks, or even chat with the environment like it's paused in real time.

7
πŸ“Š See the clear summary

A beautiful, colorful report appears showing exactly what worked, what broke, and how long each part took.

πŸŽ‰ Fix bugs locally

Now you spot and squash issues without any GitHub pushes, speeding up your work and making coding way less stressful.

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AI-Generated Review

What is ci-debugger?

ci-debugger lets you debug GitHub Actions workflows locally using Docker containers, with breakpoints to pause before or after steps, step-by-step execution, and interactive shell access inside the running container. Built in Go, it eliminates blind YAML commits by letting you inspect environment variables, drop into a shell via github action debug ssh, and continue without pushing to GitHub. Run it with commands like `ci-debugger run --step` or `--break-before "Run tests"` right from your project directory.

Why is it gaining traction?

Unlike act, which dumps massive unformatted logs without pauses, ci-debugger offers clean, color-coded output, break-on-error, and container shell drops that preserve state for real debugging of github ci workflows locally. Developers love skipping the 5-minute push-wait cycle, especially for complex yaml with expressions or multi-job dependencies. The interactive prompts (continue, skip, shell, inspect) make it feel like a real debugger for actions.

Who should use this?

CI engineers tweaking github workflows before commits, backend devs debugging test failures in ubuntu-latest jobs, or teams converting gitlab runner debug habits to GitHub. Ideal for anyone hitting cryptic errors in steps like pytest or builds, without full remote runner access.

Verdict

Promising for local github workflow debugging, with solid docs, tests, and brew/go installsβ€”but at 18 stars and 1.0% credibility, it's early and Linux-only with partial actions support. Try it if act frustrates you; contribute to mature it.

(198 words)

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