How to Configure GitHub Token for GitHub Actions - WordPress Development & Plugin Solutions

📌 Introduction

When running GitHub Actions workflows, GitHub automatically provides a special authentication token called GITHUB_TOKEN. This token allows workflows to interact with your repository — for example, to create releases, upload packages, or make commits.

By default, the GITHUB_TOKEN is available as a secret in every workflow run, but you need to make sure it has the right permissions enabled. This guide explains how to configure and manage it.

✅ What Is `GITHUB_TOKEN`?

It is an automatically generated secret that GitHub creates for every workflow run.
No manual creation is needed — GitHub provides it out of the box.
It is unique to each workflow run and expires when the workflow is finished.
You can reference it in workflows as: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

⚙️ Step 1: Check Token Permissions

By default, the GITHUB_TOKEN may have limited permissions. For workflows that need to create releases, write commits, or publish packages, you must enable Read and Write permissions.

Go to your repository on GitHub.
Click Settings.
From the sidebar, select Actions → General.
Scroll down to the section Workflow permissions.
Select Read and write permissions.
Click Save.

This ensures that secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN has enough access to create releases and perform other automated tasks.

⚙️ Step 2: Using `GITHUB_TOKEN` in Workflows

Once configured, you can use GITHUB_TOKEN inside any workflow step. Here’s an example for creating a release:


- name: Create GitHub Release
  uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v1
  with:
    generate_release_notes: true
  env:
    GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

This action will authenticate using the built-in token, no personal access token (PAT) is required.

🔒 Security Notes

The GITHUB_TOKEN is valid only for the duration of a workflow run.
You cannot use it outside of GitHub Actions (e.g., local scripts).
For permanent integrations or external tools, you should use a Personal Access Token (PAT) instead.

🎯 Conclusion

The GITHUB_TOKEN makes it easy to securely authenticate inside GitHub Actions workflows without managing your own credentials. Just make sure you configure its permissions properly, and you’ll be ready to create releases, push commits, and more — all automatically.

Github