Can't Download Non-Zipped Artifacts

Describe the bug

Can't download non-zipped artifacts that were uploaded with archive: false.

Affected version

gh version 2.88.1 (2026-03-12)
https://github.com/cli/cli/releases/tag/v2.88.1

Steps to reproduce the behavior

Upload non-zipped artifact in GHA using actions/upload-artifact with archive: false
Try to download the artifact with gh run download
Get an error message: error downloading <artifact>: error extracting zip archive: zip: not a valid zip file

Expected vs actual behavior

Expected to be able to download non-zipped artifacts after they were announced, but the CLI tries to unzip all artifacts.

@BagToad

After talking about it with @BagToad we think that unarchived artifacts should be downloaded as if -n had been passed.

Acceptance Criteria

Scenario 1

Given I have uploaded an artifact during a workflow with the following step:

- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    name: my-non-zipped-artifact
    path: ./world.txt
    archive: false

When I run gh run download <run_id>
Then the file exists under './world.txt'

Scenario 2

Given I have uploaded an artifact during a workflow with the following step:

- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    name: my-non-zipped-artifact
    path: ./world.txt
    archive: false

When I run gh run download-n 'world.txt' <run_id>
Then the file exist…

Cool, I didn't know about this feature. I think my main concern is where the file should be placed. With the implementation in your PR, and not providing the -n flag, we end up with files being downloaded to ./foo.txt/foo.txt which is kind of weird? I also don't know whether filenames get the same sanitization as the archive names. It seems like on Actions when archive: false, the name key is ignored?

Thank you for your issue! We have categorized it as an enhancement (feature or improvement) request, and it has been added to our backlog. In doing so, we are not committing to implementing this feature at this time, but, we will consider it for future releases based on community feedback and our own product roadmap.

Unless you see the help wanted Contributions welcome label, we are not currently looking for external contributions for this feature.

If you come across this issue and would like to see it implemented, please add a thumbs up! This will help us prioritize the feature. Please only comment if you have additional information or viewpoints to contribute.

@BagToad

After talking about it with @BagToad we think that unarchived artifacts should be downloaded as if -n had been passed.

Acceptance Criteria

Scenario 1

Given I have uploaded an artifact during a workflow with the following step:

- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    name: my-non-zipped-artifact
    path: ./world.txt
    archive: false

When I run gh run download <run_id>
Then the file exists under './world.txt'

Scenario 2

Given I have uploaded an artifact during a workflow with the following step:

- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
  with:
    name: my-non-zipped-artifact
    path: ./world.txt
    archive: false

When I run gh run download-n 'world.txt' <run_id>
Then the file exists under './world.txt'

Scenario 3

When I run gh run download --help
Then I see an explanation of this new behaviour

For maintainers, this acceptance test should cover this case:

# Set up env
env REPO=${SCRIPT_NAME}-${RANDOM_STRING}

# Use gh as a credential helper
exec gh auth setup-git

# Create a repository with a file so it has a default branch
exec gh repo create ${ORG}/${REPO} --add-readme --private

# Defer repo cleanup
defer gh repo delete --yes ${ORG}/${REPO}

# Clone the repo
exec gh repo clone ${ORG}/${REPO}

# commit the workflow file
cd ${REPO}
exec git config user.email "[email protected]"
exec git config user.name "Test User"
mkdir .github/workflows
mv ../workflow.yml .github/workflows/workflow.yml
exec git add .github/workflows/workflow.yml
exec git commit -m 'Create workflow file'
exec git push -u origin main

# Sleep because it takes a second for the workflow to register
sleep 1

# Check the workflow is indeed created
exec gh workflow list
stdout 'Test Workflow Name'

# Run the workflow
exec gh workflow run 'Test Workflow Name'

# It takes some time for a workflow run to register
sleep 10

# Get the run ID we want to watch
exec gh run list --json databaseId --jq '.[0].databaseId'
stdout2env RUN_ID

# Wait for workflow to complete
exec gh run watch ${RUN_ID} --exit-status

# Download all artifacts (includes both zipped and non-zipped)
exec gh run download ${RUN_ID}

# Check that we downloaded the zipped artifact and extracted into a dir with its name
exists ./my-zipped-artifact/hello.txt

# Non-zipped artifacts should be downloaded directly to the destination dir, not isolated
exists ./world.txt

# Clean up
rm ./my-zipped-artifact
rm ./world.txt

# Download only the non-zipped artifact by name to current dir
exec gh run download -n 'world.txt' ${RUN_ID}

# Check that we downloaded the non-zipped artifact into the current dir
exists ./world.txt

-- workflow.yml --
name: Test Workflow Name

on:
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - run: |
          echo hello > hello.txt
          echo world > world.txt

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: my-zipped-artifact
          path: ./hello.txt
          archive: true

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: my-non-zipped-artifact
          path: ./world.txt
          archive: false

I've marked this help wanted for your PR #13013.

Note: related to #12435

Disable archive: false until gh CLI supports non-zip artifacts

the -n workaround doesn't work currently:

> gh run download 27698677946 \
               --repo vcmi/vcmi-dependencies \
               --dir asd \
               -n "dependencies-ios.txz"
error downloading dependencies-ios.txz: error extracting zip archive: zip: not a valid zip file

feat: upload evidence files one artifact each and link them from the …

feat: upload validation evidence per file and link it from the proof …

ci: the accidental /zip endpoint returns the PNG now

ci: split into two jobs and embed the render preview (#16)

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Can't Download Non-Zipped Artifacts #13012

Describe the bug

Affected version

Steps to reproduce the behavior

Expected vs actual behavior

Acceptance Criteria

Scenario 1

Scenario 2

Acceptance Criteria

Scenario 1

Scenario 2

Scenario 3

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Can't Download Non-Zipped Artifacts #13012

Description

Describe the bug

Affected version

Steps to reproduce the behavior

Expected vs actual behavior

Acceptance Criteria

Scenario 1

Scenario 2

Activity

williammartin commented on Mar 25, 2026

github-actions commented on Mar 25, 2026

williammartin commented on Mar 25, 2026

Acceptance Criteria

Scenario 1

Scenario 2

Scenario 3

williammartin commented on Mar 25, 2026

williammartin commented on Mar 25, 2026

iTrooz commented on May 7, 2026

kambala-decapitator commented on Jun 18, 2026

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