Node Publish Package workflow (archiverjs/node-archiver)

The Node Publish Package workflow from archiverjs/node-archiver, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Node Publish Package workflow from the archiverjs/node-archiver 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: Node Publish Package

on:
  release:
    types: [published]

permissions:
  id-token: write  # Required for OIDC
  contents: read
  
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6.0.2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6.4.0
        with:
          node-version: 20.20.2
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test

  publish-npm:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6.0.2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6.4.0
        with:
          node-version: 24.15.0
          registry-url: https://registry.npmjs.org/
          package-manager-cache: false
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm publish

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: Node Publish Package
 
on:
  release:
    types: [published]
 
permissions:
  id-token: write  # Required for OIDC
  contents: read
  
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6.0.2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6.4.0
        with:
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version: 20.20.2
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test
 
  publish-npm:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    needs: build
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6.0.2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6.4.0
        with:
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version: 24.15.0
          registry-url: https://registry.npmjs.org/
          package-manager-cache: false
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm publish
 

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.
• 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 2 jobs per trigger. On Latchkey the same minutes cost up to 58% less than GitHub-hosted, with zero queue time.

Actions used in this workflow