actions / actions/actions-runner-controller
Add job metadata labels to runner pods when a job is assigned
Nobody has claimed this yet.
- Dominant language
- Go
- Stars
- 6.5k
- Forks
- 1.5k
- Avg merge
- 2d 2h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 27
Description
What would you like added?
When using ARC at the org level, there's no way to attribute runner pod costs to the specific repository or workflow that triggered the job. The EphemeralRunner status already receives job info (repository name, display name, workflow run ID) from the listener when a job is assigned, but this information is never propagated to the pod.
Proposal: Patch pod labels/annotations with job metadata when the controller reconciles an EphemeralRunner that has been assigned a job:
- actions.github.com/job-repository (label, sanitized)
- actions.github.com/job-display-name (label, sanitized)
- actions.github.com/job-repository-name (annotation, full value)
- actions.github.com/workflow-run-id (annotation)
Changes required:
- EphemeralRunner controller patches pod labels/annotations when job info is present on the status
- Scale set manager role needs patch verb on pods
- Label values are sanitized to meet K8s validation (63 chars, alphanumeric start/end)
Why is this needed?
This enables cost attribution via pod labels without requiring changes to individual workflows. It also allows us to only modify permissions on the listener pods, ensuring the actual runner pods don't have permissions to mutate pod configuration.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start with the EphemeralRunner controller reconciliation and trace how assigned job information is read from status and how the runner pod is updated. Check the scale set manager role permissions and the Kubernetes label-value constraints. Done means the requested labels and annotations appear with sanitized labels, full metadata annotations are preserved, and the required pod patch permission is covered.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- github-actions, go, kubernetes
- Domain
- ci-cd, devops, infrastructure
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Quiet
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 55/100