AppleMETA workflow (blacktop/ipsw)

The AppleMETA workflow from blacktop/ipsw, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: blacktop/ipsw.github/workflows/apple-meta.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the AppleMETA workflow from the blacktop/ipsw 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

workflow (.yml)

name: "AppleMETA"

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "00 01,13 * * *"

permissions:
  contents: write

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v7
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Set up Go
        uses: actions/setup-go@v6
        with:
          go-version: "1.26"
          cache: false
      - name: Cache go.mod
        uses: actions/cache@v5
        with:
          path: |
            ~/.cache/go-build
            ~/go/pkg/mod
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-go-
      - name: Run build
        run: |
          make build
      - name: Run download git --json --webkit
        run: ./ipsw download git --json --api ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} --output /tmp
      - name: Switch branch
        run: |
          git stash
          git checkout apple_meta
      - name: Commit JSON
        run: |
          go install github.com/josephburnett/jd@v1.5.1
          jd -set /tmp/tag_links.json github/tag_links.json || true
          mv /tmp/tag_links.json github/tag_links.json
          git --no-pager diff github/tag_links.json
          git config --local user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
          git config --local user.name "github-actions[bot]"
          git commit -am "AppleMETA refresh"
          git push

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: "AppleMETA"
 
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "00 01,13 * * *"
 
permissions:
  contents: write
 
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v7
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Set up Go
        uses: actions/setup-go@v6
        with:
          go-version: "1.26"
          cache: false
      - name: Cache go.mod
        uses: actions/cache@v5
        with:
          path: |
            ~/.cache/go-build
            ~/go/pkg/mod
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-go-
      - name: Run build
        run: |
          make build
      - name: Run download git --json --webkit
        run: ./ipsw download git --json --api ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} --output /tmp
      - name: Switch branch
        run: |
          git stash
          git checkout apple_meta
      - name: Commit JSON
        run: |
          go install github.com/josephburnett/jd@v1.5.1
          jd -set /tmp/tag_links.json github/tag_links.json || true
          mv /tmp/tag_links.json github/tag_links.json
          git --no-pager diff github/tag_links.json
          git config --local user.email "41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
          git config --local user.name "github-actions[bot]"
          git commit -am "AppleMETA refresh"
          git push

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.
Add a job timeout so a hung step cannot burn hours of runner time.

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 actions/setup-go actions/cache