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+# Outdated GitHub Actions action version check
+
+Dependabot is used to [check for outdated action versions](https://docs.github.com/en/github/administering-a-repository/keeping-your-actions-up-to-date-with-dependabot) used in the template workflows.
+
+The files under `/workflow-templates/dependabot/workflow-template-copies/.github/workflows/` are duplicates of the files under `/workflow-templates/`. This is done as a workaround for the lack of support for defining exact workflow folders in the Dependabot configuration (it always checks the YAML files in the `.github/workflows/` subfolder of the path specified via the `updates.directory` configuration key of [`dependabot.yml`](https://docs.github.com/en/github/administering-a-repository/configuration-options-for-dependency-updates#about-the-dependabotyml-file).
+
+So do not merge the PRs from Dependabot for the files under `/workflow-templates/dependabot-copies/.github/workflows/`. The equivalent workflow templates directly under `/workflow-templates/` must be updated instead. The Dependabot PRs for these files are used only as notifications of available action updates.
+
+Dependabot's PRs will occasionally try to pin to the patch version of the action (e.g., updating `uses: foo/bar@v1` to `uses: foo/bar@v2.3.4`). When the action author has [provided a major version ref](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/creating-actions/about-actions#using-release-management-for-actions), use that instead (e.g., `uses: foo/bar@v2`). Once the major version has been updated in the workflow, Dependabot should not submit an update PR again until the next major version bump.
+
+Dependabot will automatically close its PR once the workflow has been updated.
+
+Run `task fix` after making any changes to the workflow templates under `/workflow-templates/`. That script will synchronize the copies. The repository has a CI workflow to check the sync.