GitHub Actions Gotcha: 'Re-run' Runs the Old Workflow, Not the Latest One

💡 Today I spent way too long debugging why my GitHub Action kept failing with the same error — even after I had already fixed the workflow file locally.

The issue? I was clicking “Re-run all jobs” on the failed run in GitHub Actions. That button re-runs that exact workflow from that exact commit snapshot. It does not pick up any new changes you have pushed to the repository.

The correct way to trigger a fresh run with the latest code: Go to Actions → your workflow name → Run workflow (the button in the top-right). This triggers a brand new workflow_dispatch run from your current main branch.

🔧 Bonus fix from the same session: The underlying error was a Node.js deprecation warning. actions/checkout@v4 and actions/setup-node@v4 were built on Node.js 20, which GitHub is phasing out. The clean fix was to upgrade both actions to @v5, which natively runs on Node.js 24 — no environment variable workarounds needed.