# actions/actions-runner-controller

Kubernetes controller for GitHub Actions self-hosted runners

Repository: https://github.com/actions/actions-runner-controller
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/actions-runner-controller
Language: Go
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: github-actions, kubernetes, operator
Last push: 2026-08-24T22:16:03+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 90/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 73, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2409, "days_push": 9, "days_rel": 103, "gap_med": 67, "n_releases_24m": 10}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 6464, forks 1467 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:43.609450+00:00)

## What it is
Actions Runner Controller (ARC) is a Kubernetes operator that orchestrates and autoscales self-hosted runners for GitHub Actions. It manages ephemeral, container-based runner scale sets that scale up and down based on workflow demand.

## Use cases
- autoscale self-hosted GitHub Actions runners on Kubernetes
- run ephemeral CI runners in containers
- scale runners based on queued workflows
- deploy GitHub Actions runners with Helm
- manage runner scale sets for a repository or organization
- replace long-lived self-hosted runners with disposable ones

## When to choose
- you run GitHub Actions at scale and need elastic self-hosted runner capacity
- you want ephemeral, cleanly-scaled runners on a Kubernetes cluster
- you need runners scoped to repositories, organizations, or enterprises with autoscaling

## When to avoid
- you only need GitHub-hosted runners
- you have no Kubernetes cluster and want simple VM-based runners
- you need a CI system other than GitHub Actions

## Facets
- artifact type: infra-config
- maturity: active
- function: container-orchestration, deployment, ci-cd, workflow-automation
- domain: cloud-computing
- platform: go, cloud, self-hosted
- tags: github-actions, kubernetes-operator, self-hosted-runners, autoscaling, helm, runner-scale-sets, devops, containers, automation, kubernetes, docker

## Member repositories
- actions/actions-runner-controller (main) score 90

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:43.609450+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:44:36.989498+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/actions/actions-runner-controller (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:43.609450+00:00, sha 12ea99dbfb3c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.