Actions Keep Alive 🚀

Keep your GitHub Actions workflows alive with health monitoring and status updates.

Features

✅ Cross-platform support (Windows, Linux, macOS)
✅ Service health monitoring (Tailscale, Docker, Ngrok, SSH)
✅ Customizable interval and messages
✅ Verbose mode for detailed information
✅ Graceful shutdown handling
✅ Beautiful console output with colors and emojis

Installation

NPX (No installation required)

npx actions-keep-alive

Global Installation

npm install -g actions-keep-alive

Local Installation

npm install actions-keep-alive

Usage

Basic Usage

# Keep alive with default settings (5 minutes interval)
npx actions-keep-alive

# Or if installed globally
actions-keep-alive

Custom Interval

# Update every 2 minutes (120 seconds)
npx actions-keep-alive --interval 120

# Update every 10 minutes
npx actions-keep-alive -i 600

Monitor Specific Services

# Monitor Tailscale only
npx actions-keep-alive --services tailscale

# Monitor multiple services
npx actions-keep-alive --services tailscale,docker,ngrok

# Short form
npx actions-keep-alive -s tailscale,docker

Custom Messages

npx actions-keep-alive --message "Building project..."
npx actions-keep-alive -m "Running tests..."

Verbose Mode

# Show detailed system and service information
npx actions-keep-alive --verbose
npx actions-keep-alive -v

Minimal Output

# Disable emoji and timestamps
npx actions-keep-alive --no-emoji --no-timestamp

# Disable health checks
npx actions-keep-alive --no-health

Combined Options

npx actions-keep-alive \
  --interval 180 \
  --services tailscale,docker \
  --message "Remote development session" \
  --verbose

GitHub Actions Integration

Example 1: Basic Keep Alive

name: Remote Development

on:
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  remote-access:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Setup Tailscale
        uses: tailscale/github-action@main
        with:
          authkey: ${{ secrets.TAILSCALE_AUTHKEY }}
      
      - name: Keep Workflow Alive
        run: npx actions-keep-alive --services tailscale

Example 2: Advanced Configuration

name: Development Environment

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      duration:
        description: 'Keep alive duration (minutes)'
        required: false
        default: '60'

jobs:
  dev-environment:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: ${{ github.event.inputs.duration }}
    
    steps:
      - name: Setup Services
        run: |
          # Setup your services here
          # Tailscale, Docker, etc.
          
      - name: Keep Alive with Monitoring
        run: |
          npx actions-keep-alive \
            --interval 300 \
            --services tailscale,docker \
            --message "Dev environment active" \
            --verbose

Example 3: Multi-Service Monitoring

name: Full Stack Development

on:
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  development:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
      
      - name: Setup Tailscale
        uses: tailscale/github-action@main
        with:
          authkey: ${{ secrets.TAILSCALE_AUTHKEY }}
      
      - name: Start Docker Services
        run: docker-compose up -d
      
      - name: Start Ngrok
        run: ngrok http 3000 &
      
      - name: Keep Everything Alive
        run: |
          npx actions-keep-alive \
            --interval 120 \
            --services tailscale,docker,ngrok \
            --verbose

Options Reference

| Option | Short | Description | Default | |--------|-------|-------------|---------| | --interval <seconds> | -i | Status update interval in seconds | 300 | | --message <text> | -m | Custom status message | - | | --services <list> | -s | Comma-separated list of services to monitor | All | | --no-emoji | - | Disable emoji in output | false | | --no-timestamp | - | Disable timestamp in output | false | | --no-health | - | Disable health checks | false | | --verbose | -v | Show detailed information | false | | --help | -h | Show help message | - |

Supported Services

• Tailscale - VPN service monitoring
• Docker - Container status and count
• Ngrok - Tunnel process monitoring
• SSH - SSH server availability

Platform Support

• ✅ Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS, etc.)
• ✅ Windows (with PowerShell/CMD)
• ✅ macOS
• ✅ GitHub Actions
• ✅ GitLab CI/CD
• ✅ Azure Pipelines
• ✅ Any CI/CD platform with Node.js support

Output Example

╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  🚀 Actions Keep Alive Started                              ║
╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Configuration:
  Interval: 300 seconds (5 minutes)
  Monitoring: tailscale, docker
  Health Checks: Enabled
  Verbose: Yes

System Information:
  Platform: linux (x64)
  Hostname: runner-abc123
  CPUs: 2
  Memory: 5GB free / 7GB total
  Uptime: 2h 15m

⏰ 03/02/2026, 10:30:15 Remote access still running... (#1)
   ✅ tailscale: running (version=1.56.0)
   ✅ docker: running (containers=3)

⏰ 03/02/2026, 10:35:15 Remote access still running... (#2)
   ✅ tailscale: running (version=1.56.0)
   ✅ docker: running (containers=3)

Programmatic Usage

const { keepAlive } = require('actions-keep-alive');

keepAlive({
  interval: 300,
  showTimestamp: true,
  showEmoji: true,
  services: ['tailscale', 'docker'],
  customMessage: 'Custom status message',
  healthChecks: true,
  verbose: false
});

Tips

1. Set appropriate timeout: Make sure your workflow timeout is longer than your expected session duration
2. Use verbose mode for debugging: When setting up, use -v to see what's happening
3. Monitor only needed services: Specify only the services you actually use for faster checks
4. Adjust interval based on needs: Shorter intervals for active monitoring, longer for background tasks

Troubleshooting

Command not found errors

Make sure the services you're monitoring are installed and in PATH.

Permission errors on Windows

Run your terminal as Administrator or use PowerShell.

GitHub Actions timeout

Set an appropriate timeout-minutes in your workflow job.

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Author

Created for the developer community to simplify GitHub Actions workflow management.