How to set up a self-hosted macOS runner for GitHub Actions

This page documents registering a self-hosted runner on your own Mac first. XenoCI appears only briefly below as a managed option when you need one. data_asof: 2026-10-01.

1. Register a self-hosted runner on your Mac

• Open the repo or org Settings → Actions → Runners → New self-hosted runner.
• Choose macOS, and ARM64 on Apple Silicon.
• Download the runner package and extract it into a folder, following the UI instructions.
• Register with ./config.sh --url <repo-or-org-URL> --token <token> using the token from that screen.
• Start the listener with ./run.sh. If the Mac sleeps or logs out, jobs may not be picked up—keep power and the session available. To run as a service, follow GitHub Docs on configuring the self-hosted runner application as a service.
• Install and update Xcode, simulators, signing certs, and dependencies on that Mac yourself. Disk is not wiped per job, so watch leftover secrets and artifacts.

2. Workflow runs-on example (your Mac)

Labels must match what the runner actually carries. Example using the common Apple Silicon defaults:

name: build
on: [push, workflow_dispatch]

jobs:
  ios:
    runs-on: [self-hosted, macOS, ARM64]
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: xcodebuild -scheme App -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 16' test

3. Own Mac vs managed (facts table)

No speed benchmarks here. The table lists only facts checked against the public docs and rates.js. data_asof: 2026-10-01.

On a pure per-minute list price, XenoCI list price KRW 100 is not lower than GitHub-hosted standard macOS ($0.062/min). The differences are no monthly subscription, prepaid credits valid for 1 year from purchase, 100 free credits each month, per-second billing, and a fresh Apple Silicon M4 VM per job. (docs, changelog correction 2026-09-30, rates.js; data_asof 2026-10-01)

4. When you want managed: one XenoCI paragraph

If keeping a Mac online is hard or you want a fresh VM per job, install the XenoCI GitHub app and change runs-on to xenoci-macos. Connection steps are in GitHub Actions integration and getting started.

name: build
on: [push, workflow_dispatch]

jobs:
  ios:
    runs-on: xenoci-macos
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: xcodebuild -scheme App -destination 'platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 16' test

5. Read next

See GitHub Actions integration, getting started for credits and isolation, runner images overview for Xcode, and Compare with GitHub Actions plus the FAQ for minute billing.