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Start with the first relevant error in the failed GitHub Actions step—not a wholesale workflow rewrite. Chromatic failures can come from Actions setup or secrets, Storybook’s production build, story rendering, visual changes, Git context, or a pull-request check that never reported. Identify which layer failed, then apply the matching fix.
Find the failing layer before changing the workflow
Open the failed run, expand the first failed step, and note the exact error text and the point at which it occurs. A failure during dependency installation needs a different fix from a production build error or a pending pull-request status.
| Where it fails | What to investigate |
|---|---|
| Checkout or dependency installation | Repository access, package installation, and the workflow’s working directory. |
| Storybook build | The production build command, compiler output, configuration, and dependencies. |
| Story extraction or rendering | Runtime errors in Storybook and whether the local production build contains stories. |
| Chromatic verification or upload | The build URL, exact CLI message, connectivity, and any timeout. |
| Commit association or baseline | Git availability, history, checked-out ref, and the commit metadata Chromatic receives. |
| GitHub pull-request check | Whether the Chromatic step ran and the relevant project check is enabled. |
Chromatic documents CLI exit codes 0 (OK), 1 (BUILD_HAS_CHANGES), 2 (BUILD_HAS_ERRORS), 3 (BUILD_FAILED), 4 (BUILD_NO_STORIES), and 5 (BUILD_WAS_LIMITED). An exit code alone is not enough to choose a fix: read the accompanying message and inspect the build result in Chromatic’s UI. The action also exposes a code output and build-related outputs; these can help report results in a workflow but do not replace reviewing the build. See Chromatic’s CLI documentation and GitHub Actions guide.
Check the action, project token, and repository setup
Chromatic’s documented baseline workflow checks out the repository, installs dependencies, then runs chromaui/action with the project token supplied from a GitHub Actions secret:
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- name: Checkout repository
uses: actions/checkout@v4
- name: Install dependencies
run: npm ci
- name: Publish to Chromatic
uses: chromaui/action@latest
with:
projectToken: ${{ secrets.CHROMATIC_PROJECT_TOKEN }}Treat this as a workflow shape, not a promise that a particular action tag is current. Chromatic documents @latest for automatic updates, @vX to follow a major version, and @vX.Y.Z to pin a version. Check the current Chromatic action instructions and repository tags before copying or changing a tag; pinning trades automatic updates for a fixed version.
Store and scope the token correctly
- In the repository that owns the workflow, open GitHub’s repository settings and configure an Actions secret named
CHROMATIC_PROJECT_TOKEN. - Use
${{ secrets.CHROMATIC_PROJECT_TOKEN }}in the action’sprojectTokeninput. - Confirm the workflow runs in that repository and that the token belongs to the intended Chromatic project.
Forked repositories do not receive repository-level secrets. Do not commit the token as ordinary workflow text or print it in logs: Chromatic warns that anyone with access to a plaintext token can run builds against the project.
Check the working directory in a monorepo
Make sure the action runs from the Storybook subproject, that its package.json contains the expected build script (or the configured alternate script), and that the token matches that project. If an earlier step already built Storybook, configure storybookBuildDir to point at the generated output. Chromatic documents these workflow options in its GitHub Actions guide.
Fix “Failed to build Storybook” in production mode
Chromatic builds Storybook in production mode. A Storybook that runs in development can therefore fail during Chromatic’s build because of a compiler, dependency, or configuration problem that does not appear in storybook dev. Reproduce the production build locally first, for example with npm run build-storybook, then fix the underlying error before treating the failure as specific to GitHub Actions. Chromatic also suggests serving the generated output locally to reproduce its behavior. See the CLI documentation.
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“Failed to extract stories from your Storybook”
Chromatic’s troubleshooting guidance associates this message with a runtime error in Storybook. Build and open the Storybook locally, then check the browser console for the runtime failure. Fix that error and confirm the production build works before rerunning the workflow.
“Cannot run a build with no stories”
First confirm the local build actually contains stories. Chromatic’s Quickstart identifies disabled snapshots—including a top-level chromatic: { disableSnapshot: true }—as one possible cause. Remove a broad disable or re-enable the intended snapshots if that setting is responsible; do not assume the message means the repository has no story files. See Chromatic’s Quickstart troubleshooting.
When the local production build succeeds but CI still fails
Run the Chromatic CLI with diagnostics to capture additional context:
npx chromatic --dry-run --debug --diagnostics-fileReview the resulting logs and diagnostics for process or environment differences. Redact the project token and sensitive project details before sharing any output publicly. Chromatic documents these options in its CLI and configuration reference.
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Separate visual changes from build failures
A successfully rendered story with a visual difference is a review outcome, not necessarily a broken build. The GitHub Action’s exitZeroOnChanges default is true, so detected changes can leave the action successful while awaiting review. Set exitZeroOnChanges: false when the team deliberately wants visual changes to fail the workflow check:
- name: Publish to Chromatic
uses: chromaui/action@latest
with:
projectToken: ${{ secrets.CHROMATIC_PROJECT_TOKEN }}
exitZeroOnChanges: falseReview the differences in Chromatic: accept intended changes or reject them and change the code when the visuals are not intended. Do not use automatic acceptance to hide build errors.
exitZeroOnChanges and autoAcceptChanges do different jobs. The former controls whether detected changes can exit successfully without being accepted; the latter accepts changes on a configured branch. Use automatic acceptance only for a deliberately selected baseline branch and review policy. Details are in the GitHub Actions guide and configuration reference.
Restore Git history and the right commit context
Chromatic uses Git to associate builds with pull requests and detect baselines. If the log shows a git log -n 1 error, check whether Git is installed and whether the job checkout includes usable repository history. Chromatic notes that Docker images may lack Git; its CI guide says Docker images need Git version 2.28.0 or later. Also verify that .git exists in the job’s checkout and that the history available is sufficient for the project. See Quickstart troubleshooting and Automate with CI.
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Investigate detached HEAD or unexpected baselines
GitHub Actions can produce a detached-HEAD issue with a pull_request trigger or when checkout lacks a ref. Inspect the failing run’s actual checked-out SHA and ref before changing branch settings. Chromatic recommends running the action on push events because a pull_request run can use an ephemeral merge commit and lead to lost or unexpected baselines in some scenarios. That is a workflow trade-off, not a universal requirement to remove pull-request triggers. See Chromatic’s detached HEAD FAQ and GitHub Actions guide.
Check commit-to-build association
If the Chromatic build is attached to the wrong commit or pull request, compare its commit hash with the commit shown in GitHub. Check that the project is linked to the intended repository. If you manually supply Git context, Chromatic describes setting CHROMATIC_SHA, CHROMATIC_BRANCH, and CHROMATIC_SLUG together, with values that consistently identify the intended commit, branch, and repository. Do not set only one of these to compensate for a mismatch in the others. See Chromatic’s CI guide.
Resolve pending or unsynchronized pull-request checks
A required check that remains pending may never have reported a result. Chromatic says the check state is driven by its build result; a skipped workflow step or disabled Chromatic check can leave GitHub waiting. Confirm that the project is linked to the intended Git provider, the relevant UI Test or UI Review check is enabled in Chromatic project settings, and the action runs for commits that require the status. A build with visual changes awaiting review can also remain pending until someone reviews and approves them. See Mandatory PR checks and Automate with CI.
Do not skip the whole action when GitHub expects its status
If a conditional causes the Chromatic step not to run, GitHub may never receive the status it requires. Chromatic recommends using its --skip behavior instead of skipping the CI step in situations where a skipped build should resolve the status. Confirm the intended behavior against the CI guide and mandatory-check guide.
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Choose required checks deliberately
Require a Chromatic pull-request check when visual review is intended to block merging. Make sure the specific check required in GitHub is enabled in the Chromatic project and that the workflow reports it for every relevant commit. Assign clear review ownership so changes awaiting approval do not become an unexplained blocker. Chromatic notes there is no API or setting to mark a check passed independently of the build result; see Mandatory PR checks.
Diagnose “Build verification timed out” and intermittent failures
For “Build verification timed out,” first determine whether the Storybook server stopped early or the network connection was interrupted. An increased time limit may help a genuinely slow build, but it will not repair a crashed server or lost connection. Chromatic identifies STORYBOOK_BUILD_TIMEOUT and CHROMATIC_TIMEOUT as environment variables for increasing the time allowed. Change them only after inspecting which step is slow or interrupted. See Chromatic’s timeout FAQ.
For slow Git operations, Chromatic’s configuration reference lists gitTimeout with a default of 20 seconds for an individual Git operation and gives a larger value as an example. Treat that as a configuration value documented by Chromatic, not a universal timeout for an entire build. If logs point to an intermittent service or build issue, preserve the build URL and logs and rerun; Chromatic recommends rerunning in that situation. See the configuration reference and Quickstart troubleshooting.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Chromatic visual change always mean the GitHub Actions job should fail?
No. The GitHub Action defaults exitZeroOnChanges to true; whether changes fail the job is a workflow policy choice.
Should I switch every Chromatic workflow from pull_request to push?
No. A push trigger can avoid some synthetic merge-commit and baseline complications, but inspect the actual ref and commit context before changing triggers.
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