diff --git a/.github/workflows/validate-links.yml b/.github/workflows/validate-links.yml
index 5bdcc869..92275f16 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/validate-links.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/validate-links.yml
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ jobs:
     - name: Run link validation
       id: validate
       run: |
-        make validate-github > validation_results.json
-        echo "::set-output name=has_broken_links::$(python -c "import json; data=json.load(open('validation_results.json')); print('true' if data['broken_links'] else 'false')")"
+        make validate-github
+        echo "has_broken_links=$(python -c "import json; data=json.load(open('validation_results.json')); print('true' if data['newly_broken'] else 'false')")" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
 
     - name: Upload validation results
       if: always()
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ jobs:
             issue.title.includes(today)
           );
 
-          return existingIssue ? existingIssue.number : null;
+          core.setOutput('issue_number', existingIssue ? existingIssue.number : '');
 
     - name: Create or update issue
       if: steps.validate.outputs.has_broken_links == 'true'
@@ -75,25 +75,21 @@ jobs:
           const today = new Date().toISOString().split('T')[0];
 
           let issueBody = `## 🔗 Broken Links Report\n\n`;
-          issueBody += `This automated scan found **${results.broken_links.length}** broken link(s) in the repository.\n\n`;
+          issueBody += `This automated scan found **${results.newly_broken_links.length}** new broken link(s) in the repository.\n\n`;
           issueBody += `### Broken Links:\n\n`;
 
-          for (const link of results.broken_links) {
+          for (const link of results.newly_broken_links) {
             issueBody += `- **${link.name}**\n`;
             issueBody += `  - URL: ${link.url}\n`;
-            issueBody += `  - Status: ${link.status || 'Error'}\n`;
-            issueBody += `  - Row: ${link.row_num}\n\n`;
           }
 
           issueBody += `### Summary\n\n`;
-          issueBody += `- Total links checked: ${results.total_links}\n`;
-          issueBody += `- Active links: ${results.active_links}\n`;
-          issueBody += `- Broken links: ${results.broken_links.length}\n`;
+          issueBody += `- Broken links: ${results.newly_broken_links.length}\n`;
           issueBody += `- Scan completed: ${results.timestamp}\n\n`;
           issueBody += `---\n`;
           issueBody += `*This issue was automatically created by the [link validation workflow](${context.serverUrl}/${context.repo.owner}/${context.repo.repo}/actions/workflows/validate-links.yml).*`;
 
-          const existingIssueNumber = ${{ steps.check_issue.outputs.result }};
+          const existingIssueNumber = ${{ steps.check_issue.outputs.result }} || 0;
 
           if (existingIssueNumber) {
             await github.rest.issues.update({
diff --git a/scripts/validate_links.py b/scripts/validate_links.py
index b814db8b..c7b07c19 100644
--- a/scripts/validate_links.py
+++ b/scripts/validate_links.py
@@ -396,6 +396,7 @@ def validate_links(csv_file, max_links=None, ignore_overrides=False):
         "locked_fields": locked_field_count,
         "broken_links": broken_links,
         "newly_broken_links": newly_broken_links,
+        "timestamp": datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d:%H-%M-%S"),
     }
 
 
@@ -416,10 +417,17 @@ def main():
 
         if args.github_action:
             # Output JSON for GitHub Action
-            print("\n::set-output name=validation-results::" + json.dumps(results))
+            # Always print the JSON results for capture by the workflow
+            print(json.dumps(results))
+
+            # Also write to GITHUB_OUTPUT if available
+            # github_output = os.getenv("GITHUB_OUTPUT")
+            # if github_output:
+            with open("validation_results.json", "w") as f:
+                json.dump(results, f)
 
             # Set action failure if broken links found
-            if results["broken"] > 0:
+            if results["newly_broken"] > 0:
                 print(f"\n::error::Found {results['newly_broken']} newly broken links")
                 sys.exit(1)