curl -X PUT 'https://api.github.com/repos/example-owner/example-repo/actions/permissions/workflow' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \
  -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2026-03-10' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{}'

# PUT /repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/permissions/workflow (GitHub API)
Base URL: https://api.github.com
Auth: Authorization; GitHub token; required.
Request formats: application/json.
Last verified: 2026-10-20

> Set default workflow permissions for a repository

## Critical Gotchas
* GitHub recommends an `Accept: application/vnd.github+json` header and an explicit `X-GitHub-Api-Version` header.
* Fine-grained tokens only authorize repositories and permissions selected when the token is created.

## cURL
curl -X PUT 'https://api.github.com/repos/example-owner/example-repo/actions/permissions/workflow' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \
  -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2026-03-10' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{}'

## Parameters
| Name | In | Type | Required | Description |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| owner | path | string | Yes | The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive. |
| repo | path | string | Yes | The name of the repository without the `.git` extension. The name is not case... |
| default_workflow_permissions | body | string | No | The default workflow permissions granted to the GITHUB_TOKEN when running wor... |
| can_approve_pull_request_reviews | body | boolean | No | Whether GitHub Actions can approve pull requests. Enabling this can be a secu... |

## Response example
null

---
Need an API key? Get one at https://github.com/settings/tokens

PUT

PUT /repos/{owner}/{repo}/actions/permissions/workflow — GitHub API

GitHub token (required); https://api.github.com

GitHub API

Set default workflow permissions for a repository

Base URL: https://api.github.com
Auth: Authorization: Bearer <GITHUB_API_KEY>
Last verified: 2026-10-20 · upstream hash matched

Actions Try in browser→

Agents: curl -H "Accept: text/markdown" this URL
→ 272 tokens · Vary: Accept

Critical gotchas

GitHub recommends an Accept: application/vnd.github+json header and an explicit X-GitHub-Api-Version header.

Fine-grained tokens only authorize repositories and permissions selected when the token is created.

cURL

curl -X PUT 'https://api.github.com/repos/example-owner/example-repo/actions/permissions/workflow' \  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GITHUB_TOKEN" \  -H 'Accept: application/vnd.github+json' \  -H 'X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2026-03-10' \  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \  -d '{}'

Parameters

Name	In	Type	Required	Description
owner	path	string	Yes	The account owner of the repository. The name is not case sensitive.
repo	path	string	Yes	The name of the repository without the `.git` extension. The name is not case sensitive.
default_workflow_permissions	body	string	No	The default workflow permissions granted to the GITHUB_TOKEN when running workflows.
can_approve_pull_request_reviews	body	boolean	No	Whether GitHub Actions can approve pull requests. Enabling this can be a security risk.

Response 200 OK

null

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