Build/release workflow (cerebroapp/cerebro)

The Build/release workflow from cerebroapp/cerebro, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

CI health: F - at risk

Point runs-on at Latchkey and get caching, run de-duplication, job timeouts, SHA-pinned actions, self-healing for flaky steps, and up to 58% lower cost, applied automatically.

Grade your own workflow free or run it on Latchkey →

Source: cerebroapp/cerebro.github/workflows/build.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the Build/release workflow from the cerebroapp/cerebro 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: Build/release

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - '*'

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
        - uses: actions/checkout@v3
        - name: Use Node.js 16
          uses: actions/setup-node@v3
          with:
            node-version: 16
        - run: yarn
        - run: yarn test --detectOpenHandles --forceExit

  release:
    needs: test
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}

    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [macos-latest, ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]

    steps:
      - name: Check out Git repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Install Node.js, NPM and Yarn
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: 16

      - name: Build & Release Electron app
        uses: samuelmeuli/action-electron-builder@v1
        with:
          github_token: ${{ secrets.github_token }}
          release: 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: Build/release
 
on:
  push:
    tags:
      - '*'
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  test:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
        - uses: actions/checkout@v3
        - name: Use Node.js 16
          uses: actions/setup-node@v3
          with:
            cache: 'npm'
            node-version: 16
        - run: yarn
        - run: yarn test --detectOpenHandles --forceExit
 
  release:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    needs: test
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
 
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [macos-latest, ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]
 
    steps:
      - name: Check out Git repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
      - name: Install Node.js, NPM and Yarn
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version: 16
 
      - name: Build & Release Electron app
        uses: samuelmeuli/action-electron-builder@v1
        with:
          github_token: ${{ secrets.github_token }}
          release: 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.

1 third-party action is referenced by a movable tag. Pin it to the commit SHA (Latchkey resolves and applies this automatically) so a repointed tag cannot change what runs.

This workflow runs 2 jobs (4 with the matrix expanded) 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-node