GitHub Actions status in your Mac menu bar
ShipBoard puts your GitHub Actions workflows in the macOS menu bar, job by job, and sends a native notification the moment a run fails — whoever triggered it. It needs only a read-only fine-grained token, stored in your Keychain.
What you see for each workflow
- The latest run of each workflow on the repository’s default branch — or the latest run on any ref for tag, schedule and manual workflows.
- Each job as a stage, with its steps underneath when you expand the run.
- The run’s branch and head commit message.
- Open run on GitHub to jump straight to the run page.
- Green for success; red for failure, timed out or startup failure; amber while queued or running; grey for cancelled or skipped.
Set it up
- Create a fine-grained personal access token. Under Repository access, choose the repositories to watch; under Permissions, set Actions and Metadata to Read-only.
- In ShipBoard, click +, choose GitHub, and paste the token. ShipBoard checks it with GitHub before saving it to your Keychain.
- Search your repositories and tick the workflows you want on the board.
What access ShipBoard needs
| Credential | A GitHub personal access token, stored in the macOS Keychain. |
|---|---|
| Recommended token | Fine-grained, with Actions: Read-only and Metadata: Read-only on the repositories you choose. |
| API calls | GET /user, /user/repos, /repos/{owner}/{repo}, …/actions/workflows, …/actions/workflows/{id}/runs, …/actions/runs/{id}/jobs |
ShipBoard only reads. It never re-runs, cancels or edits workflows. A classic token with the repo scope also works, but it grants far more than ShipBoard needs.
Good to know
- github.com only — GitHub Enterprise Server isn’t supported yet.
- The repository picker lists your 100 most recently pushed, non-archived repositories.
- One GitHub token (one account) at a time.
- Each check makes roughly two API calls per workflow. If you watch many workflows at a short interval, choose a longer refresh interval to stay inside GitHub’s hourly API limit.
GitHub Actions FAQ
Is a fine-grained token enough?
Yes. ShipBoard only reads Actions data and basic repository metadata, which is exactly what Actions: Read-only and Metadata: Read-only allow.
Does it show private repositories?
Yes — any repository the token can read.
Will I hear about runs someone else started?
Yes. GitHub’s own Actions notifications only cover runs you triggered; ShipBoard watches the workflows you pick, whoever started them.
Can it follow a branch other than the default?
Not yet. It follows the default branch, falling back to the latest run on any ref for workflows that don’t run on branches.
Will it tell me when a run fails?
Yes. macOS shows a native notification when a run goes from running to failed, and optionally when it succeeds. You can turn each one off in Settings.