Check Runs - GitHub Docs

Use the REST API to manage check runs.

Create a check run

Note: The Checks API only looks for pushes in the repository where the check suite or check run were created. Pushes to a branch in a forked repository are not detected and return an empty pull_requests array.

Creates a new check run for a specific commit in a repository. Your GitHub App must have the checks:write permission to create check runs.

In a check suite, GitHub limits the number of check runs with the same name to 1000. Once these check runs exceed 1000, GitHub will start to automatically delete older check runs.

Parameters

Headers

Name, Type, Description

acceptstring

Setting to application/vnd.github+json is recommended.

Path parameters

Name, Type, Description

ownerstringRequired

The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

repostringRequired

The name of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.

Body parameters

Name, Type, Description

namestringRequired

The name of the check. For example, "code-coverage".

head_shastringRequired

The SHA of the commit.

details_urlstring

The URL of the integrator's site that has the full details of the check. If the integrator does not provide this, then the homepage of the GitHub app is used.

external_idstring

A reference for the run on the integrator's system.

statusstring

The current status.

Default: queued

Can be one of: queued, in_progress, completed

started_atstring

The time that the check run began. This is a timestamp in ISO 8601 format: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ.

conclusionstring

Required if you provide completed_at or a status of completed. The final conclusion of the check. Note: Providing conclusion will automatically set the status parameter to completed. You cannot change a check run conclusion to stale, only GitHub can set this.

Can be one of: action_required, cancelled, failure, neutral, success, skipped, stale, timed_out

completed_atstring

The time the check completed. This is a timestamp in ISO 8601 format: YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ.

outputobject

Check runs can accept a variety of data in the output object, including a title and summary and can optionally provide descriptive details about the run.

Properties of output

Name, Type, Description

titlestringRequired

The title of the check run.

summarystringRequired

The summary of the check run. This parameter supports Markdown. Maximum length: 65535 characters.

textstring

The details of the check run. This parameter supports Markdown. Maximum length: 65535 characters.

annotationsarray of objects

Adds information from your analysis to specific lines of code. Annotations are visible on GitHub in the Checks and Files changed tab of the pull request. The Checks API limits the number of annotations to a maximum of 50 per API request. To create more than 50 annotations, you have to make multiple requests to the Update a check run endpoint. Each time you update the check run, annotations are appended to the list of annotations that already exist for the check run. For details about how you can view annotations on GitHub, see "About status checks".

Properties of annotations

Name, Type, Description
`path`stringRequired The path of the file to add an annotation to. For example, `assets/css/main.css`.
`start_line`integerRequired The start line of the annotation. Line numbers start at 1.
`end_line`integerRequired The end line of the annotation.
`start_column`integer The start column of the annotation. Annotations only support `start_column` and `end_column` on the same line. Omit this parameter if `start_line` and `end_line` have different values. Column numbers start at 1.
`end_column`integer The end column of the annotation. Annotations only support `start_column` and `end_column` on the same line. Omit this parameter if `start_line` and `end_line` have different values.
`annotation_level`stringRequired The level of the annotation. Can be one of: `notice`, `warning`, `failure`
`message`stringRequired A short description of the feedback for these lines of code. The maximum size is 64 KB.
`title`string The title that represents the annotation. The maximum size is 255 characters.
`raw_details`string Details about this annotation. The maximum size is 64 KB.

imagesarray of objects

Adds images to the output displayed in the GitHub pull request UI.

Properties of images

Name, Type, Description
`alt`stringRequired The alternative text for the image.
`image_url`stringRequired The full URL of the image.
`caption`string A short image description.

actionsarray of objects

Displays a button on GitHub that can be clicked to alert your app to do additional tasks. For example, a code linting app can display a button that automatically fixes detected errors. The button created in this object is displayed after the check run completes. When a user clicks the button, GitHub sends the check_run.requested_action webhook to your app. Each action includes a label, identifier and description. A maximum of three actions are accepted. To learn more about check runs and requested actions, see "Check runs and requested actions."

Properties of actions

Name, Type, Description
`label`stringRequired The text to be displayed on a button in the web UI. The maximum size is 20 characters.
`description`stringRequired A short explanation of what this action would do. The maximum size is 40 characters.
`identifier`stringRequired A reference for the action on the integrator's system. The maximum size is 20 characters.

HTTP response status codes

Status code	Description
`201`	Created

Code samples

post/repos/{owner}/{repo}/check-runs

curl \
  -X POST \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR-TOKEN>"\
  -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" \
  https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/check-runs \
  -d '{"name":"mighty_readme","head_sha":"ce587453ced02b1526dfb4cb910479d431683101","status":"in_progress","external_id":"42","started_at":"2018-05-04T01:14:52Z","output":{"title":"Mighty Readme report","summary":"","text":""}}'

Response for in_progress conclusion

Status: 201

{
  "id": 4,
  "head_sha": "ce587453ced02b1526dfb4cb910479d431683101",
  "node_id": "MDg6Q2hlY2tSdW40",
  "external_id": "42",
  "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/github/hello-world/check-runs/4",
  "html_url": "https://github.com/github/hello-world/runs/4",
  "details_url": "https://example.com",
  "status": "in_progress",
  "conclusion": null,
  "started_at": "2018-05-04T01:14:52Z",
  "completed_at": null,
  "output": {
    "title": "Mighty Readme report",
    "summary": "There are 0 failures, 2 warnings, and 1 notice.",
    "text": "You may have some misspelled words on lines 2 and 4. You also may want to add a section in your README about how to install your app.",
    "annotations_count": 2,
    "annotations_url": "https://api.github.com/repos/github/hello-world/check-runs/4/annotations"
  },
  "name": "mighty_readme",
  "check_suite": {
    "id": 5
  },
  "app": {
    "id": 1,
    "slug": "octoapp",
    "node_id": "MDExOkludGVncmF0aW9uMQ==",
    "owner": {
      "login": "github",
      "id": 1,
      "node_id": "MDEyOk9yZ2FuaXphdGlvbjE=",
      "url": "https://api.github.com/orgs/github",
      "repos_url": "https://api.github.com/orgs/github/repos",
      "events_url": "https://api.github.com/orgs/github/events",
      "avatar_url": "https://github.com/images/error/octocat_happy.gif",
      "gravatar_id": "",
      "html_url": "https://github.com/octocat",
      "followers_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/followers",
      "following_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/following{/other_user}",
      "gists_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/gists{/gist_id}",
      "starred_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/starred{/owner}{/repo}",
      "subscriptions_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/subscriptions",
      "organizations_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/orgs",
      "received_events_url": "https://api.github.com/users/octocat/received_events",
      "type": "User",
      "site_admin": true
    },
    "name": "Octocat App",
    "description": "",
    "external_url": "https://example.com",
    "html_url": "https://github.com/apps/octoapp",
    "created_at": "2017-07-08T16:18:44-04:00",
    "updated_at": "2017-07-08T16:18:44-04:00",
    "permissions": {
      "metadata": "read",
      "contents": "read",
      "issues": "write",
      "single_file": "write"
    },
    "events": [
      "push",
      "pull_request"
    ]
  },
  "pull_requests": [
    {
      "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/github/hello-world/pulls/1",
      "id": 1934,
      "number": 3956,
      "head": {
        "ref": "say-hello",
        "sha": "3dca65fa3e8d4b3da3f3d056c59aee1c50f41390",
        "repo": {
          "id": 526,
          "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/github/hello-world",
          "name": "hello-world"
        }
      },
      "base": {
        "ref": "master",
        "sha": "e7fdf7640066d71ad16a86fbcbb9c6a10a18af4f",
        "repo": {
          "id": 526,
          "url": "https://api.github.com/repos/github/hello-world",
          "name": "hello-world"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}