Data and AI releases

548 this month · 176 companies

Xcode 27 runner image now runs on macOS 27

PreviewVerified

You can now validate your Apple apps against macOS 27 using the Xcode 27 runner image for GitHub-hosted macOS runners, available in public preview. The image previously ran on macOS 26. How you target the image stays the same.

Observability

Read on github.blog

Also shipped Sep 10, 2026GitHub in September 2026 →

External secret providers (Preview)

External secret providers are now in preview. If your organization already keeps API keys, database passwords, and similar values in AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, or Google Cloud Secret Manager, Snowflake can read those values when a query needs them, so you don't have to maintain a second copy in a Snowflake secret .

Preview
Source ↗

More from GitHub ActionsEvery GitHub Actions release →

Control GitHub Actions cache access with cache-mode

You can now use cache-mode to apply least-privilege access to the GitHub Actions cache at the workflow or job level. By granting each workflow or job only the cache access it needs, you can prevent unnecessary restores or saves and help protect trusted workflows from cache poisoning. This capability is now generally available on all plans.

GA
Source ↗

Ubuntu 26 generally available and latest migration

The Ubuntu 26.04 runner image for GitHub Actions is now out of public preview and fully supported for production workflows on both x64 and arm64. As part of this release, the ubuntu-latest label will migrate to Ubuntu 26.04, giving you the latest supported Ubuntu release by default.

GA
Source ↗

GitHub Actions: Early September 2026 updates

GitHub Actions now includes three updates that give you clearer visibility and finer-grained control over your workflows. New REST API for runner version deprecations A new REST API returns when registration and runtime support end for a given runner version, so you can plan runner upgrades before a version is deprecated.

Update
Source ↗

CodeQL 2.26.4 improves GitHub actions security detections

CodeQL is the static analysis engine behind GitHub code scanning, which finds and remediates security issues in your code. We’ve recently released CodeQL 2.26.4 , which adds support for Go 1.27, improves alert locations for Rust data flow queries, and includes accuracy improvements across C#, Java/Kotlin, and GitHub Actions.

Update
Source ↗

Node 20 is no longer available in GitHub Actions

This is the final notification that Node 20 is no longer available on GitHub Actions runners. Runners now use Node 24 for JavaScript actions. The temporary ACTIONS_ALLOW_USE_UNSECURE_NODE_VERSION opt-out is no longer available. If you maintain a JavaScript action, update its runs.using value to node24 and publish a new release as soon as possible.

Deprecation
Source ↗

Require proof of presence for high-impact actions

You can now require an interactive re-authentication or a multi-factor challenge before members take high-impact actions on GitHub Enterprise Cloud accounts. Proof of presence is an expansion of GitHub’s sudo mode for enterprises, enforcing a higher security bar when it’s needed.

Preview
Source ↗

Actions retention will cover checks, workflow runs, and statuses

Starting October 1, 2026, checks, workflow runs, and statuses will be governed by the same Actions retention setting that already controls how long artifacts and logs are kept, with a default of 90 days. Until now, checks, workflow runs, and statuses were retained for 400+ days regardless of your retention configuration.

Update
Source ↗