GitHub Environment Secrets vs Repository Secrets: A Comparative Guide

When it comes to managing and automating workflows with GitHub Actions, understanding secrets management is crucial. Two key elements of this are GitHub Environment Secrets and Repository Secrets. In this blog post, we will explore these two types of secrets, understand their use cases, and learn how they differ from each other.

Understanding GitHub Secrets

Before we dive into the details, it’s important to grasp what GitHub secrets are. Secrets are encrypted environment variables that you create in a repository or an environment in a repository. The secrets you create are available to use in GitHub Actions workflows. This allows you to store and use sensitive information in a secure and scalable manner.

GitHub Environment Secrets

Environment secrets are stored in specific environments and are available to use in workflows that reference the environment. These are the secrets you define in an environment, and they can be used in any job referencing that environment.

Here’s an example of using environment secrets:

jobs:
  deploy:
    environment:
      name: production
      url: ${{ steps.deploy.outputs.url }}
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Deploy to production
        id: deploy
        run: echo "Deploying to ${{ secrets.ENV_SECRET }}"

jobs:

deploy:

environment:

name: production

url: ${{ steps.deploy.outputs.url }}

steps:

- name: Checkout repository

uses: actions/checkout@v2

- name: Deploy to production

id: deploy

run: echo "Deploying to ${{ secrets.ENV_SECRET }}"

In the above example, ENV_SECRET is an environment secret that’s used when deploying to production. It is only available in the production environment.

GitHub Repository Secrets

On the other hand, repository secrets are scoped to the entire repository and can be accessed by any workflow running in the context of that repository.

Here’s an example of how to use repository secrets:

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Run tests
        run: echo "Running tests with ${{ secrets.REPO_SECRET }}"

jobs:

test:

runs-on: ubuntu-latest

steps:

- name: Checkout repository

uses: actions/checkout@v2

- name: Run tests

run: echo "Running tests with ${{ secrets.REPO_SECRET }}"

In the example above, REPO_SECRET is a repository secret that’s used when running tests. It is available to any job within the repository.

Differences between Environment Secrets and Repository Secrets

There are several differences between Environment Secrets and Repository Secrets, but the key differences are scope and availability.

Scope: Environment secrets are scoped to a specific environment, meaning they are only available to workflows that reference that environment. Repository secrets are scoped to the entire repository and can be accessed by any workflow running in the context of the repository.
Availability: Repository secrets are available to any GitHub Actions workflow in the repository. Environment secrets are only available to workflows that specifically reference the environment in which the secrets are defined.
Protection rules: Environments can have specific protection rules, like required reviewers or wait times. These protections apply to any secrets stored in the environment. Repository secrets don’t have such rules associated with them.

Conclusion

Understanding GitHub Secrets is crucial when working with GitHub Actions. Both Environment and Repository secrets have their uses and should be employed according to the specific requirements of your workflow.

Remember, Repository secrets are more generic, while Environment secrets provide an extra layer of control and are scoped to particular environments. Choose wisely based on the security needs and the scale of your workflow automation.