"This is the biggest thing we’ve done since the pull request." 😮

GitHub Actions launched yesterday to help developers automate their entire development workflows. Instead of jumping between ten different services every time you want run a workflow, you can set up an Action once. It's like having a magic code butler do all of the boring stuff, so you can focus on building.

Just like repos, they're also shareable and discoverable. While the tool is currently in private beta, expect thousands of open-sourced Actions to start popping up across the GitHub universe.

The launch comes as Microsoft finalizes their $7.5B acquisition of GitHub, setting their sights on GitHub's massive developer community. Microsoft is doubling down on open-source software, opening up their 60,000 patents to end the Linux patent wars just last week.

"We are not buying GitHub to turn it into Microsoft; we are buying GitHub because we believe in the importance of developers.” This comes from GitHub's incoming CEO Nat Friedman in a Reddit AMA.

You don't need to code to use tools like Actions. There's a whole suite of tools to help you automate everything at home and work:

• Apple's Shortcuts lets you automate your day-to-day from your iPhone. Built on top of Workflow, which Apple acquired last year, Shortcuts are deeply integrated into iOS 12 and Siri to let you trigger dozens of apps with one button-press. Get directions to your next calendar event, for instance.

• IFTTT helps your various apps and tools talk to each other with their drag-and-drop interface and thousands of pre-built recipes. The possibilities are endless: automatically turning on your lights when the pizza guy shows up, automatically post a photo to all of your various social medias, or even trigger a phone call to yourself to get you out of an awkward situation. 😬

• Zapier connects 500+ web apps to help you work better. Trigger email campaigns from Mailchimp when you add new prospects to a Google Sheet or HubSpot or track bugs reports in Asana.

These are just a few of the many productivity-boosting tools. Explore dozens more right here. Your schedule will thank you. 🙏