act
Run GitHub Actions locally on your machine
69.9k|stable|v0.2.87
Local workflow execution — Run GitHub Actions workflows from .github/workflows/ without pushing to remote.
Docker-based isolation — Actions execute in containers matching GitHub's hosted runner environment.
Fast feedback loop — Test workflow changes immediately instead of committing and waiting for CI.
Task runner replacement — Use GitHub Actions as a local task runner alternative to Makefiles.
act lets you test GitHub Actions workflows locally before pushing, eliminating the commit-and-wait cycle. It runs actions in Docker containers that mirror GitHub's hosted runners, preserving environment variables and filesystem layout. Think of it as a local CI/CD environment that reuses your existing workflow definitions.
Requires Docker
Source on GitHub
pavilion