Dependabot workflow (ahmetb/kubectl-tree)

The Dependabot workflow from ahmetb/kubectl-tree, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Dependabot workflow from the ahmetb/kubectl-tree repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its Apache-2.0 license.

Below, Latchkey shows a faster, safer version produced by its optimization engine.

The workflow

name: Dependabot

on:
  pull_request:

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  auto-merge:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: ${{ github.actor == 'dependabot[bot]' }}
    steps:
    - name: Dependabot metadata
      id: metadata
      uses: dependabot/fetch-metadata@v3

    - name: Enable auto-merge for Dependabot PRs
      if: ${{ steps.metadata.outputs.update-type != 'version-update:semver-major' }}
      run: gh pr merge --auto --merge "$PR_URL"
      env:
        PR_URL: ${{ github.event.pull_request.html_url }}
        GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

The same workflow, on Latchkey

Removes redundant runs and caps runaway jobs. Added and changed lines are highlighted.

name: Dependabot
 
on:
  pull_request:
 
permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  auto-merge:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    if: ${{ github.actor == 'dependabot[bot]' }}
    steps:
    - name: Dependabot metadata
      id: metadata
      uses: dependabot/fetch-metadata@v3
 
    - name: Enable auto-merge for Dependabot PRs
      if: ${{ steps.metadata.outputs.update-type != 'version-update:semver-major' }}
      run: gh pr merge --auto --merge "$PR_URL"
      env:
        PR_URL: ${{ github.event.pull_request.html_url }}
        GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 

What changed

• Run on Latchkey managed runners with one line (runs-on), which apply the fixes below automatically and self-heal transient failures. This example uses latchkey-small; pick the runner size that fits the job.
• Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.
• Add a job timeout so a hung step cannot burn hours of runner time.

1 third-party action is referenced by a movable tag. Pin it to the commit SHA (Latchkey resolves and applies this automatically) so a repointed tag cannot change what runs.

This workflow runs 1 job per trigger. On Latchkey the same minutes cost up to 58% less than GitHub-hosted, with zero queue time.