workflowstacks
devtools

Forge: Secure, Scalable Self‑Hosted GitHub Actions Runners for Startups

Forge lets founders run isolated, cost‑optimized GitHub Actions on Kubernetes or EC2 with built‑in OIDC, IAM and full observability—perfect for multi‑tenant, ephemeral workloads.

From the repo · “ForgeMT is a secure, scalable GitHub Actions runner platform for ephemeral workloads. Designed for multi-tenant environments, it automates isolated runner provisioning on Kubernetes or EC2, with built-in OIDC, IAM, cost optimization, and deep observability.”

213 stars11 forksHCLGuide quality 8/10 · reviewed Oct 20Updated 10/21/2026100% free · open source
What it does

Forge securely runs ephemeral workloads in multi-tenant environments, automating isolated runner provisioning on Kubernetes or EC2

When to use it
  • •You need to automate isolated workloads for multiple teams or projects
  • •You require a scalable and secure GitHub Actions runner platform
  • •You want to optimize costs and gain deep observability into your workloads
Ready-to-paste prompt
Create a new Forge runner using the command `forge/forge create runner --name my-runner --namespace my-namespace`
Heads up: Ensure you have the necessary dependencies installed, including Kubernetes or EC2, and that you have configured OIDC and IAM correctly to avoid authentication issues
Saves to your device
Use with Claude
New

Skip the builder — one click puts this in Claude, Cursor, Antigravity and more.

🛠️ Technical setup

Expect 20–40 minutes in a terminal — or let your AI agent drive it.

Try it instantly — no install
Claude Code
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/forge && curl -fsSL https://workflowstacks.com/api/skills/forge/claude-skill -o ~/.claude/skills/forge/SKILL.md
Open in another AI app

Opens the app with this repo with the prompt ready to go — no copy-paste needed.

Connect the whole catalog (MCP)
claude mcp add --transport http workflowstacks https://workflowstacks.com/api/mcp

Adds a WorkflowStacks connector to Claude Code: search and load any skill here by chatting.

How Forge: Secure, Scalable Self‑Hosted GitHub Actions Runners for Startups works
Codeflow
Free to inspect

Forge: Secure, Scalable Self‑Hosted GitHub Actions Runners for Startups is a large HCL project (~35k lines across 536 code files, plus 51 test files). It is a full software project: use it through its install path rather than reading it end to end. Last commit this month, Apache-2.0 license, has a test suite.

Size
Large codebase
~35k lines · 536 code files · ~5 h to skim
Setup
Developer setup
A real software project. Use it via its install path; don't expect to read it all.
Runs on
Python
No API keys detected
HCL 73%Python 23%Shell 3%
Where to start reading
  1. 1
    README.md
    Start here — what it does and how to install it
  2. 2
    pyproject.toml
    Dependencies and the commands it exposes
  3. 3
    examples/deployments/helpers/release_versions.yml
    A worked example — copy this to get going
What's in each folder
modules/Sub-packages / plugins824 files
examples/Examples you can copy190 files
docs/Documentation159 files
scripts/Helper scripts8 files
fuzz/Folder5 files
policy/Folder3 files
tests/Tests — proof it works67 files
.github/CI / automation (GitHub Actions)21 files
READMEHas testsDocumentedCI checksExamples includedApache-2.0 licenseUpdated this month
Quick Actions
Details
Creator
cisco-open
Language
HCL
Category
devtools
Published
5/12/2025

Are you the creator of this tool? and earn 85% of every sale.

Show it off in your README:

Featured on WorkflowStacks
[![Featured on WorkflowStacks](https://workflowstacks.com/api/badge/forge.svg)](https://workflowstacks.com/skills/forge?utm_source=github&utm_medium=badge)
🔥 Hot this week, in your inbox
Skills like this, every Monday.

The five fastest-growing open-source AI skills, ranked by GitHub star growth. One email a week, unsubscribe anytime.

Related skills

More devtools tools founders pair with this one.

devtools★ 194,091
firecrawl – Scalable Web Scraping and Search API for Founders
Use firecrawl to quickly search, scrape, and interact with web data at any scale. Ideal for founders building AI agents, data pipelines, or content tools. 190k+ GitHub stars.
devtools★ 118,797
browser-use: Automate Web Tasks
Founders use browser-use to automate online tasks with ease, ideal for startups needing AI-powered browser automation.
devtools★ 98,270
Playwright: Unified Cross‑Browser Testing for Faster Releases
Accelerate QA with Playwright’s single API that covers Chromium, Firefox and WebKit—perfect for founders building reliable web apps. 97k+ GitHub stars.
devtools★ 11,960
robotframework
Generic automation framework for acceptance testing and RPA
devtools★ 29,945
Kestra: Seamless Event‑Driven Orchestration for Mission‑Critical Apps
Scale your startup’s data pipelines and automated workflows with Kestra’s high‑availability Java platform—ideal for founders building reliable, low‑code orchestration. Backed by 29k+ GitHub stars.
devtools★ 206
sortie: Auto‑run tracker tickets as AI agent sessions
Founders can convert Jira, Linear or GitHub Project tickets into autonomous AI agent workflows, streamlining dev‑ops and automation without manual scripting.