This page covers configuration options specific to GitHub Enterprise Server (GHES) and GitHub Enterprise Cloud (GHEC) deployments.

GHES instances running versions that predate @actions/artifact v2.0.0 support cannot use actions/upload-artifact@v4+ or actions/download-artifact@v4+. Attempting to run compiled workflows on these instances produces a GHESNotSupportedError.

gh-aw includes a GHES compatibility mode toggle (aw.json ghes or gh aw compile --ghes) so GHES-targeted repositories can compile with explicit GHES mode enabled. Artifact actions continue using the latest non-v3 pins because v3 artifact actions are deprecated.

Set ghes: true in .github/workflows/aw.json to apply GHES compatibility to every workflow compiled in the repository:

{
  "ghes": true
}

Running gh aw init inside a GHES repository automatically detects the deployment and writes ghes: true to .github/workflows/aw.json. No manual configuration is required.

Pass --ghes to gh aw compile for a one-off compilation without modifying aw.json:

gh aw compile --ghes my-workflow.md

For gh CLI configuration, host authentication, and GH_HOST setup on GHES, see GitHub Enterprise Server Support in the CLI reference.

For Copilot-specific prerequisites, licensing requirements, and firewall configuration on GHES, see Copilot Engine Prerequisites on GHES.