How to use GitHub Actions environments for staged deployments

What are Environments?

GitHub Environments model deployment targets (staging, production) with protection rules. A job referencing an environment pauses until all protection rules are satisfied.

Defining Environments

Create environments in Settings → Environments. Add protection rules: required reviewers (specific GitHub users must approve), wait timer (mandatory delay before deploy runs), or branch restrictions (only certain branches can deploy).

Using Environments in Workflows

jobs:
  deploy-staging:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: staging
    steps:
      - run: echo "Deploying to staging"

  deploy-production:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: deploy-staging
    environment:
      name: production
      url: https://myapp.com
    steps:
      - run: echo "Deploying to production"

The deploy-production job will pause at the environment gate and send a review request to the required reviewers. Only after approval does the job execute. Environment secrets are separate from repository secrets — values in the production environment override identically named repository secrets, allowing different API keys per environment.