Runner Scale Set Client Now in Public Preview

GitHub Actions has released a new runner scale set client in public preview—a standalone Go-based module that lets you build custom autoscaling solutions for GitHub Actions runners without Kubernetes. This new tool interfaces with the same scale set APIs that power the existing Actions Runner Controller (ARC), but provides flexibility for non-Kubernetes environments.

Key Capabilities

The client delivers platform-agnostic autoscaling with several important features:

• Multi-platform support: Works with containers, virtual machines, and bare metal servers across Windows, Linux, and macOS
• Full provisioning control: You define how runners are created, scaled, and destroyed based on your specific infrastructure requirements
• Native multi-label support: Assign multiple labels to each scale set for optimizing resources across different build types
• Agentic workflow support: Integrates with GitHub Copilot coding agent and other agentic scenarios
• Real-time telemetry: Monitor job execution and runner performance with built-in metrics

The client orchestrates API interactions with GitHub's scale set infrastructure while you maintain complete control over the actual runner provisioning. GitHub provides the APIs and client libraries; you're responsible for implementing your infrastructure automation and scaling strategies.

Relationship to Actions Runner Controller

The runner scale set client is not a replacement for Actions Runner Controller, which remains the recommended Kubernetes solution. Instead, it's a new tool for interfacing with the same scale set APIs to build custom autoscaling solutions outside of Kubernetes. Multi-label support will be added to ARC in version 0.14.0, available in March 2026.

The GitHub Actions Runner Scale Set Client is fully open source. Explore the source code, adapt it to your infrastructure needs, and review the official documentation for additional details.

Action Allowlisting Now Available for All Plans

Action allowlisting has been expanded to all GitHub plans—Free, Team, and Enterprise. This security feature lets you define exactly which actions and reusable workflows can run in your repositories, enforcing least privilege principles and protecting against potentially compromised actions. See the GitHub Actions permissions documentation for configuration details and best practices.

New Runner Images in Public Preview

Windows Server 2025 with Visual Studio 2026

A new Windows runner image with Visual Studio 2026 is now available in public preview. Use windows-2025-vs2026 in your workflow's runs-on: target to test against the latest tooling. This provides a safe validation path before VS 2026 is integrated into the default windows-2025 image on May 4, 2026.

macOS 26 Intel for Larger Runners

The macOS 26 Intel runner image is available in public preview for larger runners. Update your runs-on: target to macos-26-large to access the latest macOS and Xcode tooling for Intel-based workflows. Check the macOS runner documentation for complete software and version details.