🔍 GitHub Actions Node.js 24 Scanner

Scan all public repos for deprecated Node.js 20 Actions and update them to Node.js 24 compatible versions.

When to use

• You see Node.js 20 deprecation warnings in GitHub Actions logs
• You want to audit all repos for outdated actions
• You want to auto-fix deprecated action versions

⚠️ Node.js 20 → 24 Action Mapping

These actions run on Node.js 20 and MUST be updated:

These are already Node.js 24 compatible — no change needed:

📋 Steps

1. Fetch all public repos

gh repo list <username> --visibility=public --limit 200 --json name,defaultBranchRef --jq '"\(.name) \(.defaultBranchRef.name)"'

2. Find repos with workflows

for repo in $(gh repo list <username> --visibility=public --limit 200 --json name --jq '.[].name'); do
  files=$(gh api "repos/<username>/$repo/contents/.github/workflows" --jq '.[].name' 2>/dev/null)
  if [ -n "$files" ]; then
    echo "=== $repo ==="
    echo "$files"
  fi
done

3. Download and scan each workflow

Look for: actions/checkout@v4, actions/upload-artifact@v4, actions/setup-python@v5

4. Update each file via GitHub API

SHA=$(gh api repos/<username>/<repo>/contents/.github/workflows/<file> --jq '.sha')
CONTENT=$(gh api repos/<username>/<repo>/contents/.github/workflows/<file> --jq '.content' | base64 -d | sed 's|actions/checkout@v4|actions/checkout@v6|g' | sed 's|actions/upload-artifact@v4|actions/upload-artifact@v6|g' | sed 's|actions/setup-python@v5|actions/setup-python@v6|g' | base64 -w0)

gh api repos/<username>/<repo>/contents/.github/workflows/<file> --method PUT -f message="Update actions to Node.js 24" -f content="$CONTENT" -f sha="$SHA" -f branch="<default_branch>"

5. Handle repos with non-standard default branches

Some repos use master instead of main. Always check:

gh api repos/<username>/<repo> --jq '.default_branch'

6. Verify

After updating, re-scan to confirm no deprecated actions remain.

⚠️ Pitfalls

• Branch names: Always use the repo actual default branch (main or master), do not assume.
• SHA required: The PUT endpoint requires the current file SHA. If the file changed since you read it, you will get a 422 error — re-fetch the SHA.
• Other Node 20 actions: This covers the 3 most common deprecated actions. Other actions may also need updates.
• Composite actions: Some workflows use composite actions or third-party actions that may also be on Node 20.
• Forked repos: If a repo is a fork, you may not be able to push directly.

🔄 Automation

To run this check on a schedule, create a cron job with prompt:

"Scan all my public GitHub repos for deprecated Node.js 20 Actions and update them to Node.js 24 compatible versions."