Actions "Input required and not supplied: token" in CI

By Kaveh Alemi·Latchkey

An action declared token as a required input and received an empty string. The most common cause is referencing a secret that is undefined or withheld (for example on a fork PR), so the expression resolves to nothing.

What this error means

A step fails immediately with "Error: Input required and not supplied: token". The action got with: token: set to an empty value.

Error: Input required and not supplied: token

Common causes

The referenced secret is empty or missing

A secret that is not defined at this scope, or withheld on a fork PR, evaluates to an empty string passed to the required input.

The token input was never wired up

The step omits with: token: (or passes a misspelled secret), so the action falls back to nothing for a required input.

How to fix it

Pass a valid token to the action

1. Confirm the secret exists at the right scope and name.
2. Wire it explicitly to the action's token input.
3. Use GITHUB_TOKEN when the action only needs repo scope.

- uses: some/action@v1
  with:
    token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

Guard the step for fork PRs

If the token is unavailable on fork PRs, skip the step there instead of letting it fail.

- if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository }}
  uses: some/action@v1
  with:
    token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

How to prevent it

• Wire required token inputs to a defined secret explicitly.
• Confirm secret scope and name before relying on it.
• Guard token-using steps on fork pull requests.

Frequently asked questions

Related guides

References

• GitHub Actions documentation
• Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions