A commit that touches only non-code files (e.g. reports/, .omp/ directories) can cause a workflow with path-filtered jobs to skip all test jobs
A commit that touches only non-code files (e.g. reports/, .omp/ directories) can cause a workflow with path-filtered jobs to skip all test jobs. When this happens, GitHub Actions reports the overall run status as 'success' (green), with no indication that the tests were skipped rather than passed. The gh run list output shows conclusion: success for both scenarios—tests passing and tests skipped—making them indistinguishable from the summary view. This is particularly dangerous in production CI/CD gates, where a developer reviewing the commit status might assume tests passed when no tests actually ran.
Path filters in GitHub Actions workflows (configured in .yml job conditions) will skip jobs if none of their triggering file patterns changed. Skipped jobs do not cause the overall run to fail. To distinguish between 'tests passed' and 'tests skipped', use gh run view <run-id> --json jobs to inspect the detailed job list and check each job's status. If all test jobs show status 'skipped', walk back to the most recent run on a commit that touched code files and evaluate that run instead. Document this check in your deployment verification steps to avoid shipping untested code.