so the issue you faced here (which wasn't well communicated on our part) is that the automation API is technically preview at this monent, so in order to get us to GA for it, we've been adding backward incompatible features with the CLI. We are now finished with that Upgrding the CLI should not force any dependency upgrades to your applications unless the Automation API requires a specific version. If you need to guard against upgraded CLI versions then you can change your CLI installation as follows:

- name: Install pulumi
  uses: pulumi/action-install-pulumi-cli@v1.0.2
  with:
    pulumi-version: 2.22.0

This is definitely the safest way for you to opt-in to changes