GitHub Actions removals · checked

Node 20 actions deprecated: forced onto Node 24 since 23 Sep 2026

Node 20 actions: removed from the runners 23 Sep 2026, 16 days ago. Every JavaScript action that declares node20 (or node16 or node12) runs on Node 24 instead, and the job carries an annotation naming it. The ACTIONS_ALLOW_USE_UNSECURE_NODE_VERSION opt-out no longer works, so an action that breaks on Node 24 has no way back. Self-hosted runners on macOS 13.4 or older, or on ARM32, are no longer supported. The fix: Bump each action to its first major on Node 24 (actions/checkout@v5, setup-node@v5, cache@v5, upload-artifact@v6, download-artifact@v7); in your own action.yml, set runs.using to node24. Check your workflows now, with nothing to install: grep -rnE "using: *['\"]?(node20|node16|node12)" action.yml .github/actions

$ grep -rnE "using: *['\"]?(node20|node16|node12)" action.yml .github/actions

Run it from the repository root; it needs nothing installed and sends nothing anywhere. It reads your own actions' action.yml only. For the actions your workflows use, list them with grep -rn "uses:" .github and bump each one named in the fix. The fix is in the first paragraph above. The dates come from this data.

The facts

What
Node 20 actions
Matches
Actions whose action.yml declares node20, node16, node12, including the repository's own
Effect
Warns; the job still runs
Announced
19 September 2025
Deprecated from
16 June 2026
In effect since
23 Sep 2026removed from the runners 23 Sep 2026, 16 days ago
After the date
Every JavaScript action that declares node20 (or node16 or node12) runs on Node 24 instead, and the job carries an annotation naming it. The ACTIONS_ALLOW_USE_UNSECURE_NODE_VERSION opt-out no longer works, so an action that breaks on Node 24 has no way back. Self-hosted runners on macOS 13.4 or older, or on ARM32, are no longer supported.
The fix
Bump each action to its first major on Node 24 (actions/checkout@v5, setup-node@v5, cache@v5, upload-artifact@v6, download-artifact@v7); in your own action.yml, set runs.using to node24.

Notes

  • Each action's runtime is what its action.yml declares at the tag or commit you pin, read from GitHub. The major tags in the table below were read on 9 Oct 2026.
  • Node 24 became the default on 16 June 2026; GitHub has announced no end date for Node 24 on Actions.

Sources

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Other GitHub Actions removals

Every removal, by date

actions-eol is a free tool from agentcheck, which runs scheduled checks of your endpoints and alerts you when an answer changes. Dates come from GitHub's own pages, read on the day shown; github.com only, since GitHub Enterprise Server keeps its own schedule.