Release workflow (arxhr007/Aliens_eye)

The Release workflow from arxhr007/Aliens_eye, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Release workflow from the arxhr007/Aliens_eye 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: Release

on:
  push:
    tags: ["v*"]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: "3.12"
      - run: pip install build twine
      - run: python -m build
      - run: twine check dist/*
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: dist
          path: dist/

  publish-pypi:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: pypi
    permissions:
      id-token: write
    steps:
      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: dist
          path: dist/
      - uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
        with:
          skip-existing: true

  github-release:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write
    steps:
      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: dist
          path: dist/
      - uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
        with:
          files: dist/*
          generate_release_notes: true

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: Release
 
on:
  push:
    tags: ["v*"]
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          cache: 'pip'
          python-version: "3.12"
      - run: pip install build twine
      - run: python -m build
      - run: twine check dist/*
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: dist
          path: dist/
 
  publish-pypi:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    needs: build
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    environment: pypi
    permissions:
      id-token: write
    steps:
      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: dist
          path: dist/
      - uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
        with:
          skip-existing: true
 
  github-release:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    needs: build
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    permissions:
      contents: write
    steps:
      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: dist
          path: dist/
      - uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
        with:
          files: dist/*
          generate_release_notes: true
 

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.

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 3 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