Stop Hardcoding Secrets: 3 Better Ways to Handle GitHub Actions Auth

Stop Hardcoding Secrets: 3 Better Ways to Handle GitHub Actions Auth You've seen it. Maybe you've even done it. A workflow YAML file with an API key pasted directly into a run: step. Or a password passed as a command-line argument that shows up in plain text in the CI logs. Hardcoding secrets is a disaster waiting to happen. Even if your repo is private today, it might be public tomorrow. Even if it stays private, every developer with read access can now see your production credentials. Here are the three patterns I use to handle authentication securely in GitHub Actions.