CI workflow (AR-js-org/AR.js)

The CI workflow from AR-js-org/AR.js, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the CI workflow from the AR-js-org/AR.js 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

name: CI
on:
  - push
  - pull_request

# A workflow run is made up of one or more jobs that can run sequentially or in parallel
jobs:

  check-and-test:

    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Use Node.js from .nvmrc
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version-file: ".nvmrc"

      - name: Get npm cache directory
        id: npm-cache-dir
        shell: bash
        run: echo "dir=$(npm config get cache)" >> ${GITHUB_OUTPUT}

      - uses: actions/cache@v4
        id: npm-cache # use this to check for `cache-hit` ==> if: steps.npm-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
        with:
          path: ${{ steps.npm-cache-dir.outputs.dir }}
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-node-

      - name: Npm update
        run: npm update
      - name: Npm install
        run: npm install
      - name: Tests
        run: npm run format-check

The same workflow, on Latchkey

Estimated ~20% faster on cache hits, plus fewer wasted runs and a safer supply chain. Added and changed lines are highlighted.

name: CI
on:
  - push
  - pull_request
 
# A workflow run is made up of one or more jobs that can run sequentially or in parallel
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
 
  check-and-test:
    timeout-minutes: 30
 
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
      - name: Use Node.js from .nvmrc
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version-file: ".nvmrc"
 
      - name: Get npm cache directory
        id: npm-cache-dir
        shell: bash
        run: echo "dir=$(npm config get cache)" >> ${GITHUB_OUTPUT}
 
      - uses: actions/cache@v4
        id: npm-cache # use this to check for `cache-hit` ==> if: steps.npm-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
        with:
          path: ${{ steps.npm-cache-dir.outputs.dir }}
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-node-
 
      - name: Npm update
        run: npm update
      - name: Npm install
        run: npm install
      - name: Tests
        run: npm run format-check

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.
• Cache dependency installs on the setup step so they are served from cache.
• Add a job timeout so a hung step cannot burn hours of runner time.

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 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