Learning GitHub on GitHub
GitHub's learning resources have historically lived off-platform, through tools like Learning Lab and separate explainer videos. With the launch of GitHub Skills, the company is shifting that education directly into the workflow, using GitHub Actions to deliver interactive, hands-on courses.
GitHub Skills is designed to accommodate users at any experience level. Newcomers can start with foundational topics, while veteran developers can use the platform to keep pace with newer features and workflows. One example course, "GitHub Pages," walks users through setting up a site for an open source project or a personal blog, with the goal of publishing in under an hour.
Course mechanics and availability
The entire system is built on GitHub Actions, which provides a fast and customizable learning environment. The initial course catalog covers popular topics, from "Introduction to GitHub" to "Continuous integration."
The course template is also available as a free, open source project. Teams and organizations can use it to create their own tailored courses for internal training or community onboarding.
Costs and transition
Because GitHub Skills runs on GitHub Actions, taking a course is free in public repositories and on self-hosted runners. For private repositories, the courses are free up to the account's monthly GitHub Actions minutes allotment, after which standard billing applies.
As part of this launch, Learning Lab will be deprecated on September 1, 2022. Users are encouraged to migrate to GitHub Skills ahead of that date to access the latest content and an updated learning experience.
