Understanding and Troubleshooting GitHub Actions File Access Issues for WordPress Projects

In the realm of web development, automation via tools like GitHub Actions can significantly streamline your workflow. However, it’s not uncommon to encounter hurdles — especially related to permissions during automated commits and updates. Let’s explore a common scenario and discuss how to resolve permission-related challenges in your GitHub Actions workflow.

The Scenario

Imagine you’ve built a custom scraper that retrieves information from an external calendar, then stores this data in a JSON file. Your goal is to have GitHub Actions automatically update this JSON file on your repository whenever new data is fetched. Everything works smoothly until the commit stage, where your workflow fails, citing a lack of access permissions.

Typical Error Message

Often, the error appears as follows:

Run git config --global user.name "github-actions[bot]"
[main bc70e68] Update ice times [auto]
1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 26 deletions(-)
remote: Permission to [repository] denied to github-actions[bot].
fatal: unable to access '[repository URL]': The requested URL returned error: 403
Error: Process completed with exit code 128.

Why Is This Happening?

This issue primarily stems from insufficient permissions granted to the GitHub token used in your workflow. Although you may have created a token, it’s essential to ensure that it has the appropriate scope, particularly write access to the repository, for committing changes.

Key Points to Check

1. Repository Permissions
   Confirm that the GitHub token has write permissions for the repository. If you’re using the default GITHUB_TOKEN provided by GitHub Actions, verify your repository settings to ensure it allows permission modifications.

2. Token Scopes and Access Levels
   If you’ve generated a Personal Access Token (PAT), ensure it includes scopes like repo (for private repositories) and workflow if needed. Also, verify that the token is correctly configured in your workflow secrets.

3. Workflow Configuration
   In your workflow YAML file, double-check that the token is correctly referenced:

“`yaml
– name: Commit changes
env:
GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.YOUR_TOKEN_SECRET }}
run: |
git config –global user.name “github-actions[bot]”
git config –global user.email “github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com”