Nightly grid refresh with GitHub Actions

A scheduled workflow that fetches data and pushes a fresh version to an Instadash grid every night. No server, no cron daemon — GitHub runs it.

#ci#github#schedule

What it builds

✓A GitHub Actions workflow that runs at 03:00 UTC daily
✓Zero-dep Node script (Node 20+ has fetch built in)
✓Each run creates a new grid version with diff view
✓Free — fits inside the 2000 free Actions minutes/month

The key step

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 3 * * *'           # 03:00 UTC daily
  workflow_dispatch: {}
 
jobs:
  refresh:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with: { node-version: '20' }
      - env: { INSTADASH_KEY: ${{ secrets.INSTADASH_KEY }} }
        run: node refresh.mjs

note ▸

This is the core of the recipe. The full file (including setup, error handling, and the surrounding scaffolding) lives in the GitHub folder linked below — clone or copy it directly.

Run it

bash⎘ copy

git clone https://github.com/instadashio/instadash-recipes
cd instadash-recipes/github-actions-nightly
gh secret set INSTADASH_KEY
cp .env.example .env       # fill in your keys
gh workflow run "Nightly Instadash refresh"