Why am I still getting notifications for all PR Actions?

[Rod-at-DOH]

Why are you starting this discussion?

Question

What GitHub Actions topic or product is this about?

Actions Runner

Discussion Details

I am trying to reduce the number of notifications/emails I get from GitHub. To accomplish this, I have gone to GitHub notifications for my account, then System, the Actions. In the dropdown there I selected Only notify for failed workflows, which is what I want.

But it isn't working. I still get notifications/emails for all successful workflow actions as well as the failed one. Why is it not working for me? What else must I do?

[Romio1310]

If you set GitHub Actions to only notify you on failures but you're still getting alerts for successful runs, it's likely a glitch or settings sync issue. Try toggling the notification option off and on again, and make sure you're not "watching" the repo, which can override your settings. If it still doesn't work, using custom notification steps in your workflow file is the most reliable way to get only failure alerts.

[Rod-at-DOH]

I am watching the repo. I thought that would be necessary in order to receive any notifications. So, I guess it isn't. Huh. That isn't obvious. I'll try ignoring the watch (as it doesn't look to me like I can save the custom notifications, so I'll try ignoring it) the repo and see if that makes a difference.

[bruuhim]

Great detective work, @Romio1310 and @Rod-at-DOH! 🕵️ You found the issue!

✅ The Solution:

@Rod-at-DOH, you're absolutely right - "Watching" a repo overrides your Actions notification settings. Here's how the notification hierarchy works:

1. Repository Watch Status (highest priority) - overrides everything else
2. Actions Notification Settings (your "Only notify for failed workflows")
3. General Notification Settings

🛠️ What You Should Do:

1. Unwatch the repo or set it to "Participating and @mentions" instead of "All Activity"

   • Go to the repo → Click "Watch" dropdown → Select "Participating and @mentions"

2. Keep your Actions setting at "Only notify for failed workflows" (which you already did)

With this combination, you'll get:

• ❌ Notifications for failed workflow runs
• ✅ Notifications when you're mentioned or participating in discussions/PRs
• 🙅 NO notifications for successful workflow runs

💡 Pro Tip:

You can also customize notifications per-repo by using Custom watch settings:

• Go to the repo → Watch dropdown → Custom
• Uncheck "Actions" entirely if you only want to rely on your global Actions settings

That should fix your notification flood! 🚀

[probonopd]

Thing is, there is no "Actions" I could uncheck: