Clarify that working-directory only applies to run steps

[aniruddhaadak80]

Why:

Closes: #42699

What's being changed (if available, include any code snippets, screenshots, or gifs):

Summary

The jobs.<job_id>.steps[*].working-directory section described the keyword without stating that it only applies to steps that use run. This pull request adds that missing constraint.

Root cause

This is a content-accuracy gap rather than a code defect, so there is no code path to fix. The section's only statement about the keyword was:

Using the working-directory keyword, you can specify the working directory of where to run the command.

The word "command" hints at run, but the page never states the rule, so a reader can reasonably add working-directory to a step that calls an action with uses. That step is invalid, which is the confusion the issue describes.

The constraint is real and enforced. In the workflow JSON schema, the step definition carries:

"not": {
  "working-directory": ["run"],
  "shell": ["run"]
}

That makes a step which sets working-directory without run invalid. The same not block already covers shell, so the gap is specific to working-directory being left undocumented in prose.

Changes

• content/actions/reference/workflows-and-actions/workflow-syntax.md - added two sentences to the jobs.<job_id>.steps[*].working-directory section stating that you can only use working-directory in a step that runs a command with run, and cannot use it in a step that calls an action with uses.

The existing YAML example and the follow-up paragraph pointing at defaults.run.working-directory are unchanged. The wording reuses the "run steps" term that the surrounding sections already use.

Testing

This is a content-only change, so there is no unit test that fails before the fix and passes after; the gate that applies to content/ edits here is the content linter. I ran it against the edited file:

$ npx tsx src/content-linter/scripts/lint-content.ts -p "content/actions/reference/workflows-and-actions/workflow-syntax.md" --verbose
- Running content linter

i 🕦 Markdownlint finished in 35.0 s
√ No errors found

EXITCODE=0

npm run lint-content, which lints changed and staged files by default, also reports no errors and exits 0.

One environment note for anyone reproducing this: package.json requires Node ^24 || ^26, while the machine I used has Node v22.23.2, which does not have RegExp.escape. src/data-directory/lib/filename-to-key.ts calls RegExp.escape at import time, so the linter aborts on stock Node 22 before it inspects any content. I supplied a RegExp.escape polyfill through NODE_OPTIONS=--import for the run above, and changed no repository file to do so. On CI, which runs a supported Node version, the linter runs without that shim.

Check off the following:

• A subject matter expert (SME) has reviewed the technical accuracy of the content in this PR. In most cases, the author can be the SME. Open source contributions may require an SME review from GitHub staff.
• The changes in this PR meet the docs fundamentals that are required for all content.
• All CI checks are passing and the changes look good in the review environment.

Fixes #42699

[github-actions]

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Table of review links

Note: Please update the URL for your staging server or codespace.

The table shows the files in the content directory that were changed in this pull request. This helps you review your changes on a staging server. Changes to the data directory are not included in this table.

Source	Review	Production	What Changed
actions/reference/workflows-and-actions/workflow-syntax.md	fpt ghec ghes@ 3.22 3.21 3.20 3.19 3.18 3.17	fpt ghec ghes@ 3.22 3.21 3.20 3.19 3.18 3.17

Key: fpt: Free, Pro, Team; ghec: GitHub Enterprise Cloud; ghes: GitHub Enterprise Server

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[subatoi]

This issue isn't open to contributors, so I'm going to close this out