release workflow (ahmetb/kubectl-tree)

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

What it does

This is the release 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: release
on:
  push:
    tags:
    - 'v*.*.*'
jobs:
  goreleaser:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - name: Checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v4
      with:
        fetch-depth: 0
    - name: Setup Go
      uses: actions/setup-go@v6
      with:
        go-version-file: go.mod
    - name: GoReleaser
      uses: goreleaser/goreleaser-action@v7
      with:
        version: latest
        args: release --clean
      env:
        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    - name: Update new version in krew-index
      uses: rajatjindal/krew-release-bot@v0.0.51

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: release
on:
  push:
    tags:
    - 'v*.*.*'
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  goreleaser:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
    - name: Checkout
      uses: actions/checkout@v4
      with:
        fetch-depth: 0
    - name: Setup Go
      uses: actions/setup-go@v6
      with:
        go-version-file: go.mod
    - name: GoReleaser
      uses: goreleaser/goreleaser-action@v7
      with:
        version: latest
        args: release --clean
      env:
        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    - name: Update new version in krew-index
      uses: rajatjindal/krew-release-bot@v0.0.51
 

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• Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.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.

2 third-party actions are referenced by a movable tag. Pin them 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.

Actions used in this workflow