Create Release workflow (badges/shields)

The Create Release workflow from badges/shields, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: badges/shields.github/workflows/create-release.ymlLicense Apache-2.0View source

What it does

This is the Create Release workflow from the badges/shields repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its Apache-2.0 license.

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

The workflow

workflow (.yml)

name: Create Release

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [closed]

permissions:
  contents: write
  packages: write

jobs:
  create-release:
    if: |
      github.event_name == 'pull_request' &&
      github.event.action == 'closed' &&
      github.event.pull_request.merged == true &&
      contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'release')

    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Get current date
        id: date
        run: echo "::set-output name=date::$(date --rfc-3339=date)"

      - name: Checkout branch "master"
        uses: actions/checkout@v7
        with:
          ref: 'master'

      - name: Tag release in GitHub
        uses: tvdias/github-tagger@v0.0.2
        with:
          repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          tag: server-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}

      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v4
        with:
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64

      - name: Login to DockerHub
        uses: docker/login-action@v4
        with:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Build and push snapshot release to DockerHub
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v7
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
          tags: shieldsio/shields:server-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
          build-args: |
            version=server-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}

      - name: Login to GHCR
        uses: docker/login-action@v4
        with:
          registry: ghcr.io
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Build and push snapshot release to GHCR
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v7
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
          tags: ghcr.io/badges/shields:server-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
          build-args: |
            version=server-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: Create Release
 
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [closed]
 
permissions:
  contents: write
  packages: write
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  create-release:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    if: |
      github.event_name == 'pull_request' &&
      github.event.action == 'closed' &&
      github.event.pull_request.merged == true &&
      contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'release')
 
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    steps:
      - name: Get current date
        id: date
        run: echo "::set-output name=date::$(date --rfc-3339=date)"
 
      - name: Checkout branch "master"
        uses: actions/checkout@v7
        with:
          ref: 'master'
 
      - name: Tag release in GitHub
        uses: tvdias/github-tagger@v0.0.2
        with:
          repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          tag: server-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
 
      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v4
        with:
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
 
      - name: Login to DockerHub
        uses: docker/login-action@v4
        with:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}
 
      - name: Build and push snapshot release to DockerHub
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v7
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
          tags: shieldsio/shields:server-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
          build-args: |
            version=server-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
 
      - name: Login to GHCR
        uses: docker/login-action@v4
        with:
          registry: ghcr.io
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
      - name: Build and push snapshot release to GHCR
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v7
        with:
          context: .
          push: true
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
          tags: ghcr.io/badges/shields:server-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}
          build-args: |
            version=server-${{ steps.date.outputs.date }}

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.

4 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:

Container pulls and builds

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

actions/checkout docker/setup-buildx-action docker/login-action docker/build-push-action