Add CodeDelta to a GitHub repo

Before you start — check you're allowed

If your GitHub account comes from your employer, an admin may have locked some of this down. Two minutes here saves a confusing dead end later.

The three steps

Everything below happens in your browser, on github.com. During the free beta (to 31 July 2026) there's no license, no secret, no signup — the Action runs fully unlocked out of the box. Bringing your own license is covered further down.

1. Create the workflow file

   Still on GitHub, click the Add file ▸ Create new file button on your repo's main page. In the filename box, type this exact path (the slashes create the folders for you):

   .github/workflows/codedelta.yml

   Then paste this into the file body:

   # .github/workflows/codedelta.yml name: CodeDelta on: [pull_request] jobs: codedelta: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 with: { fetch-depth: 0 } - uses: code-delta-app/action@v1 with: mode: both

   Click Commit changes. You've just told GitHub: "on every pull request, run CodeDelta." No license line needed during the beta.

2. Open a pull request to trigger it

   Make any small change on a branch and open a pull request. GitHub automatically starts a throwaway Linux machine, downloads the CodeDelta engine, scans the changed code, and reports back. You can watch it live in the Actions tab.

   Prefer to run it on demand instead of on every PR? See the run-it-without-the-PR-gate options (a manual button, or a nightly schedule).

3. Read the result on the pull request

   Within a minute, a comment from CodeDelta appears on the pull request — a churn summary plus any AI/agent findings, right where reviewers already look. Full HTML reports are saved as build artifacts, and (if enabled) findings show in the Security tab.

   

   That's it — it now runs on every pull request, with nothing installed on anyone's machine.

Bringing your own license

During the beta you can skip this section entirely. To keep running past 31 July 2026 — or to use your own license sooner — add it as a secret; it overrides the built-in beta license automatically.

1. Get your license and copy it as text

   CodeDelta needs a license file (codedelta.lic). If you don't have one yet, register your interest and we'll send one.

   A GitHub secret stores text, so convert the file to one line of base64 first. On macOS or Linux, open Terminal and run:

   # macOS / Linux — copies the encoded license to your clipboard base64 -i codedelta.lic | pbcopy # macOS base64 -w0 codedelta.lic # Linux (then copy the output)

   On Windows, run in PowerShell:

   [Convert]::ToBase64String([IO.File]::ReadAllBytes("codedelta.lic")) | Set-Clipboard

   You now have the license as one long line of text on your clipboard.

2. Add it as a repository secret

   In your repository on GitHub, go to:

   Settings ▸ Secrets and variables ▸ Actions ▸ New repository secret

   Set the Name to CODEDELTA_LICENSE, paste the base64 text into Secret, and click Add secret. That's the only secret you'll need.

   

3. Point the workflow at it

   Edit .github/workflows/codedelta.yml and add one line under with::

   license: ${{ secrets.CODEDELTA_LICENSE }}

   From the next pull request, your own license is used instead of the beta one.

No-install alternatives

The pull-request Action above is the common path. If it doesn't fit, these run CodeDelta without installing anything either — full details on the CLI / CI page.

• On-demand / scheduled — run from the Actions tab manually, or nightly on a cron, with no pull-request coupling.
• Docker container — docker run ghcr.io/code-delta-app/codedelta scan … on any machine or runner that has Docker.
• Codespaces — open the repo in a Codespace and run codedelta in the browser terminal; it runs on your own GitHub account's compute.

Something not working?

The most common snags — "Actions is disabled," "I can't add a secret," "I see no comment," costs, and whether your code is uploaded — are answered in the GitHub integration FAQ.