Runner name Missing from a Setup job : Can't see which runner picked up the job

[vdidenko-dvps]

Why are you starting this discussion?

Bug

What GitHub Actions topic or product is this about?

Actions Runner

Discussion Details

Hi,

Recently noticed that Runner name is missing from the Setup job
Earlier, using this you could see which runner has actually picked up the job
Especially useful, when having larger github hosted runners being use

Was

Current runner version: '2.329.0'
Runner name: 'ubuntu-latest-8-cores_06575a530a42'
Runner group name: 'default'
Machine name: 'runnervmzdgdc'

Now

Current runner version: '2.329.0'
Runner Image Provisioner
Hosted Compute Agent
Version: 20251015.435
Commit: xyz
Build Date: 2025-10-15T21:28:41Z
Operating System
Ubuntu
24.04.3
LTS
Runner Image
Image: ubuntu-24.04
Version: 20250929.60.1
Included Software: https://github.com/actions/runner-images/blob/ubuntu24/20250929.60/images/ubuntu/Ubuntu2404-Readme.md
Image Release: https://github.com/actions/runner-images/releases/tag/ubuntu24%2F20250929.60

---

By how quick pipeline runs I assume it uses 'ubuntu-latest-8-cores and action perfomance metrics
Though there is no way to check easily without creating annotation for all the workflows

Could you please look into this?

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[tmilost]

Hi, Workarounds you can try:

1. Log the runner name with a custom step:
   Add a step to your workflow to print the runner name using the built-in environment variable RUNNER_NAME (only works for self-hosted runners or if the variable is available).

   - name: Show Runner Name
     run: echo "Runner name: $RUNNER_NAME"

2. Log the machine name:
   You can also print the machine's hostname, which sometimes helps identify the runner.

   - name: Show Hostname
     run: hostname

3. Check Job Metadata:
   In some cases, additional runner details might be available in the workflow run's metadata or logs, but this is less convenient than before.

[advissor]

Those are simply workarounds

There should be a proper github recommended approach

Adding echos and run hostname across lots of workflows isn't a right way

As we are paying for hosted github runners, we should be able to see when they are used in the UI/job, or in any other reliable and documented way