build workflow (AsahiLinux/asahi-installer)

The build workflow from AsahiLinux/asahi-installer, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the build workflow from the AsahiLinux/asahi-installer 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: build

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main ]
  workflow_dispatch:
  workflow_call:
    outputs:
      installer_ver:
        description: asahi-installer built version string
        value: ${{ jobs.build.outputs.installer_ver }}

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      installer_ver: ${{ steps.compile.outputs.installer_ver }}

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
          fetch-tags: true
          submodules: recursive

      - name: Install build dependencies
        run: |
          sudo apt-get update
          sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu
          sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y 7zip jq
          rustup target install aarch64-unknown-none-softfloat

      - name: Build asahi-installer
        id: compile
        run: |
          ./build.sh
          echo "installer_ver=$(cat releases/latest).tar.gz" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

      - name: Upload artefact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: installer-build
          path: |
            releases/*

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: build
 
on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main ]
  workflow_dispatch:
  workflow_call:
    outputs:
      installer_ver:
        description: asahi-installer built version string
        value: ${{ jobs.build.outputs.installer_ver }}
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    outputs:
      installer_ver: ${{ steps.compile.outputs.installer_ver }}
 
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
          fetch-tags: true
          submodules: recursive
 
      - name: Install build dependencies
        run: |
          sudo apt-get update
          sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu
          sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y 7zip jq
          rustup target install aarch64-unknown-none-softfloat
 
      - name: Build asahi-installer
        id: compile
        run: |
          ./build.sh
          echo "installer_ver=$(cat releases/latest).tar.gz" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
      - name: Upload artefact
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: installer-build
          path: |
            releases/*
 

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.

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