To debug a GitHub Actions cache issue, the most direct method is to enable . This reveals detailed cache keys, hit/miss logs, and download URLs in your workflow run. 🛠️ Essential Debugging Steps
While different tools have different specific commands, the process of "debugging the action cache" generally follows these steps: 1. Inspecting Input Digests
You’ve changed nothing, yet the build is recompiling everything from scratch. Key Strategies for Debugging 1. Inspecting the Input Root
Before diving into debugging, it’s essential to understand what we’re fixing. Action caching stores the outputs of specific build steps (actions) based on their inputs. The logic is simple: debug-action-cache
curl -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_GITHUB_TOKEN" \ "https://api.github.com/repos/OWNER/REPO/actions/caches"
As of mid-2026, GitHub has released (beta) which introduces:
This public link is valid for 7 days and shares a thread, including any personal information you added. This link or copies made by others cannot be deleted. If you share with third parties, their policies apply. Can’t copy the link right now. Try again later. To debug a GitHub Actions cache issue, the
- name: Restore cache id: cache-restore uses: actions/cache/restore@v3 with: path: vendor/bundle key: $ runner.os -gems-$ hashFiles('Gemfile.lock') restore-keys: $ runner.os -gems-
The Debug Action Cache is a valuable component of the debugging process, offering improved performance and reduced overhead. However, to ensure its effectiveness and reliability, it is essential to address potential issues related to cache invalidation, size management, and concurrency. By implementing the recommended strategies, developers can ensure a robust and efficient Debug Action Cache.
To view a complete list of all saved caches, their sizes, their creation times, and their explicit keys, run: Inspecting Input Digests You’ve changed nothing, yet the
For GitHub-based pipelines, configure the following parameters within your repository settings:
V4 debug logs include timing metrics: