Tests: node.js workflow (airbnb/javascript)

The Tests: node.js workflow from airbnb/javascript, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

Source: airbnb/javascript.github/workflows/node.ymlLicense MITView source

C: CI health grade
56/100: Health score
6: Jobs per trigger
3: Fixes in the optimized version

In short

CI health: C (fair)
The optimized version below points runs-on at Latchkey managed runners and adds run de-duplication and job timeouts.

What it does

This is the Tests: node.js workflow from the airbnb/javascript repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its MIT license.

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

The workflow

workflow (.yml)

name: 'Tests: node.js'

on: [pull_request, push]

permissions:
  contents: read

jobs:
  matrix:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      latest: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.requireds }}
    steps:
      - uses: ljharb/actions/node/matrix@main
        id: set-matrix
        with:
          versionsAsRoot: true
          type: 'majors'
          preset: '^12 || ^14 || ^16 || >= 17'

  base:
    needs: [matrix]
    name: 'base config'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        node-version: ${{ fromJson(needs.matrix.outputs.latest) }}
        eslint:
          - 8
          - 7
        package:
          - eslint-config-airbnb-base
        exclude:
          - node-version: 10
            eslint: 8
            package: eslint-config-airbnb-base

    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: ljharb/actions/node/install@main
        name: 'nvm install ${{ matrix.node-version }} && npm install'
        with:
          before_install: cd "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
          after_install: |
            npm install --no-save "eslint@${{ matrix.eslint }}"
      - run: node -pe "require('eslint/package.json').version"
        name: 'eslint version'
      - run: npm run travis
      - uses: codecov/codecov-action@v5

  react:
    needs: [matrix]
    name: 'react config'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        node-version: ${{ fromJson(needs.matrix.outputs.latest) }}
        eslint:
          - 8
          - 7
        package:
          - eslint-config-airbnb
        react-hooks:
          - 4

    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: ljharb/actions/node/install@main
        name: 'nvm install ${{ matrix.node-version }} && npm install'
        with:
          before_install: cd "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
          after_install: |
            npm install --no-save "eslint@${{ matrix.eslint }}"
      - run: node -pe "require('eslint/package.json').version"
        name: 'eslint version'
      - run: npm install --no-save "eslint-plugin-react-hooks@${{ matrix.react-hooks }}"
        if: ${{ matrix.react-hooks > 0}}
      - run: npm run travis
      - uses: codecov/codecov-action@v5

  prepublish-base:
    name: 'prepublish tests (base config)'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        eslint:
          - 8
          - 7
        package:
          - eslint-config-airbnb-base

    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: ljharb/actions/node/install@main
        name: 'nvm install lts/* && npm install'
        with:
          before_install: cd "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"
          node-version: lts/*
          after_install: |
            npm install --no-save "eslint@${{ matrix.eslint }}"
      - run: node -pe "require('eslint/package.json').version"
        name: 'eslint version'
      - run: npm run pretravis
      - run: npm run prepublishOnly
      - run: npm run posttravis

  prepublish-react:
    name: 'prepublish tests (react config)'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        eslint:
          - 8
          - 7
        package:
          - eslint-config-airbnb
        react-hooks:
          - 4

    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: ljharb/actions/node/install@main
        name: 'nvm install lts/* && npm install'
        with:
          before_install: cd "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"
          node-version: lts/*
          after_install: |
            npm install --no-save "eslint@${{ matrix.eslint }}"
      - run: npm install --no-save "eslint-plugin-react-hooks@${{ matrix.react-hooks }}"
        if: ${{ matrix.react-hooks > 0}}
      - run: node -pe "require('eslint/package.json').version"
        name: 'eslint version'
      - run: npm run pretravis
      - run: npm run prepublishOnly
      - run: npm run posttravis

  node:
    name: 'node 10+'
    needs: [base, prepublish-base, react, prepublish-react]
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - run: 'echo tests completed'

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

workflow (.yml), optimized

name: 'Tests: node.js'

on: [pull_request, push]

permissions:
  contents: read

concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

jobs:
  matrix:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    outputs:
      latest: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.requireds }}
    steps:
      - uses: ljharb/actions/node/matrix@main
        id: set-matrix
        with:
          versionsAsRoot: true
          type: 'majors'
          preset: '^12 || ^14 || ^16 || >= 17'

  base:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    needs: [matrix]
    name: 'base config'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    runs-on: latchkey-small

    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        node-version: ${{ fromJson(needs.matrix.outputs.latest) }}
        eslint:
          - 8
          - 7
        package:
          - eslint-config-airbnb-base
        exclude:
          - node-version: 10
            eslint: 8
            package: eslint-config-airbnb-base

    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: ljharb/actions/node/install@main
        name: 'nvm install ${{ matrix.node-version }} && npm install'
        with:
          before_install: cd "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
          after_install: |
            npm install --no-save "eslint@${{ matrix.eslint }}"
      - run: node -pe "require('eslint/package.json').version"
        name: 'eslint version'
      - run: npm run travis
      - uses: codecov/codecov-action@v5

  react:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    needs: [matrix]
    name: 'react config'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    runs-on: latchkey-small

    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        node-version: ${{ fromJson(needs.matrix.outputs.latest) }}
        eslint:
          - 8
          - 7
        package:
          - eslint-config-airbnb
        react-hooks:
          - 4

    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: ljharb/actions/node/install@main
        name: 'nvm install ${{ matrix.node-version }} && npm install'
        with:
          before_install: cd "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
          after_install: |
            npm install --no-save "eslint@${{ matrix.eslint }}"
      - run: node -pe "require('eslint/package.json').version"
        name: 'eslint version'
      - run: npm install --no-save "eslint-plugin-react-hooks@${{ matrix.react-hooks }}"
        if: ${{ matrix.react-hooks > 0}}
      - run: npm run travis
      - uses: codecov/codecov-action@v5

  prepublish-base:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: 'prepublish tests (base config)'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        eslint:
          - 8
          - 7
        package:
          - eslint-config-airbnb-base

    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: ljharb/actions/node/install@main
        name: 'nvm install lts/* && npm install'
        with:
          before_install: cd "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"
          node-version: lts/*
          after_install: |
            npm install --no-save "eslint@${{ matrix.eslint }}"
      - run: node -pe "require('eslint/package.json').version"
        name: 'eslint version'
      - run: npm run pretravis
      - run: npm run prepublishOnly
      - run: npm run posttravis

  prepublish-react:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: 'prepublish tests (react config)'
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        eslint:
          - 8
          - 7
        package:
          - eslint-config-airbnb
        react-hooks:
          - 4

    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: ljharb/actions/node/install@main
        name: 'nvm install lts/* && npm install'
        with:
          before_install: cd "packages/${{ matrix.package }}"
          node-version: lts/*
          after_install: |
            npm install --no-save "eslint@${{ matrix.eslint }}"
      - run: npm install --no-save "eslint-plugin-react-hooks@${{ matrix.react-hooks }}"
        if: ${{ matrix.react-hooks > 0}}
      - run: node -pe "require('eslint/package.json').version"
        name: 'eslint version'
      - run: npm run pretravis
      - run: npm run prepublishOnly
      - run: npm run posttravis

  node:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: 'node 10+'
    needs: [base, prepublish-base, react, prepublish-react]
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - run: 'echo tests completed'

What changed

Run on Latchkey managed runners with one line (runs-on), which apply the fixes below automatically and self-heal transient failures. Each Linux x64 job moves to the Latchkey size matching its vCPU count, latchkey-small for a standard 2 vCPU runner; macOS, Windows and arm64 jobs stay as written.
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.

What Latchkey heals here

This workflow has steps that commonly fail on transient issues (network, registries, flaky browsers). On Latchkey managed runners they are detected, retried, and self-healed instead of failing your build:

Dependency installs

This workflow runs 6 jobs (10 with the matrix expanded) per trigger. All of them run on a standard GitHub-hosted Linux x64 runner, which in a private repository bills $0.006 a minute against $0.0025 on latchkey-small, 58% lower; in a public repository like this one they are free. Estimate the monthly difference with your own run counts.

Actions used in this workflow

ljharb/actions/node/matrix
actions/checkout
ljharb/actions/node/install
codecov/codecov-action

Frequently asked questions

What does the Tests: node.js workflow (airbnb/javascript) workflow do?

This is the Tests: node.js workflow from the airbnb/javascript repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its MIT license.

What CI health grade does this workflow get?

This Automation and other workflow grades C. Paste your own workflow into the Latchkey grader to see its grade and the exact fixes.

How can I improve this Automation and other workflow?

Add run de-duplication and job timeouts. Latchkey applies these automatically on managed runners when you point runs-on at Latchkey.

References

GitHub Actions documentation