How to pass data between steps using outputs in GitHub Actions

Step Outputs

Steps can emit named values that downstream steps in the same job consume via the steps context. This avoids writing temporary files and keeps pipelines clean.

Setting and Reading Outputs

steps:
  - name: Get version
    id: version
    run: echo "tag=$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

  - name: Use version
    run: echo "Deploying version ${{ steps.version.outputs.tag }}"

Write to $GITHUB_OUTPUT using the key=value format. The step must have an id to be referenced. Access via steps.<id>.outputs.<key>.

Passing Outputs Between Jobs

jobs:
  build:
    outputs:
      image-tag: ${{ steps.tag.outputs.tag }}
    steps:
      - id: tag
        run: echo "tag=${{ github.sha }}" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

  deploy:
    needs: build
    steps:
      - run: echo "Image tag: ${{ needs.build.outputs.image-tag }}"

Jobs expose outputs via the job-level outputs map. Downstream jobs access them via needs.<job-id>.outputs.<key>.