How we SSH into GitHub Actions

An infrastructure provider developed an SSH feature for live debugging of running CI jobs, allowing developers to inspect ephemeral virtual machines instead of relying only on logs. The system combines iptables-based network tunneling, which dynamically forwards host ports to individual VM SSH services and cleans up rules transactionally; real-time DNS registration, using a custom CoreDNS and Redis-backed service to provide immediately resolvable, human-readable VM hostnames; and GitHub-integrated SSH key management, which fetches keys for the workflow initiator to limit access securely. To support debugging after a job finishes, the platform detects active SSH sessions and delays VM teardown for up to four minutes and fifty seconds, a limit chosen to remain below GitHub’s completion-hook timeout. The result is direct, temporary SSH access to CI runners without requiring users to configure VPNs, port forwarding, or credentials manually.

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