pre-release workflow (ChatGPTBox-dev/chatGPTBox)

The pre-release workflow from ChatGPTBox-dev/chatGPTBox, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: ChatGPTBox-dev/chatGPTBox.github/workflows/pre-release-build.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the pre-release workflow from the ChatGPTBox-dev/chatGPTBox 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: pre-release
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
#  push:
#    branches:
#      - master
#    paths:
#      - "src/**"
#      - "!src/**/*.json"
#      - "build.mjs"
#    tags-ignore:
#      - "v*"

permissions:
  id-token: "write"
  contents: "write"

jobs:
  build_and_release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v7
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: 22
          cache: 'npm'
          cache-dependency-path: '**/package-lock.json'
      - name: Detect Node version
        run: echo "NODE_VERSION=$(node -p 'process.versions.node')" >> $GITHUB_ENV
      - run: npm ci
      - name: Cache Webpack filesystem cache
        uses: actions/cache@v6
        with:
          path: |
            .cache/webpack
            node_modules/.cache/webpack
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-node${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}-webpack-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json', 'build.mjs') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-node${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}-webpack-
      - run: npm run build

      - uses: josStorer/get-current-time@v2
        id: current-time
        with:
          format: YYYY_MMDD_HHmm

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: Chromium_Build_${{ steps.current-time.outputs.formattedTime }}
          path: build/chromium/*

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: Firefox_Build_${{ steps.current-time.outputs.formattedTime }}
          path: build/firefox/*

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: Chromium_Build_WithoutKatex_${{ steps.current-time.outputs.formattedTime }}
          path: build/chromium-without-katex-and-tiktoken/*

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: Firefox_Build_WithoutKatex_${{ steps.current-time.outputs.formattedTime }}
          path: build/firefox-without-katex-and-tiktoken/*

      - uses: marvinpinto/action-automatic-releases@v1.2.1
        with:
          repo_token: "${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
          automatic_release_tag: "latest"
          prerelease: true
          title: "Development Build"
          files: |
            build/chromium.zip
            build/firefox.zip
            build/chromium-without-katex-and-tiktoken.zip
            build/firefox-without-katex-and-tiktoken.zip

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: pre-release
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
#  push:
#    branches:
#      - master
#    paths:
#      - "src/**"
#      - "!src/**/*.json"
#      - "build.mjs"
#    tags-ignore:
#      - "v*"
 
permissions:
  id-token: "write"
  contents: "write"
 
jobs:
  build_and_release:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v7
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: 22
          cache: 'npm'
          cache-dependency-path: '**/package-lock.json'
      - name: Detect Node version
        run: echo "NODE_VERSION=$(node -p 'process.versions.node')" >> $GITHUB_ENV
      - run: npm ci
      - name: Cache Webpack filesystem cache
        uses: actions/cache@v6
        with:
          path: |
            .cache/webpack
            node_modules/.cache/webpack
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-node${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}-webpack-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json', 'build.mjs') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-node${{ env.NODE_VERSION }}-webpack-
      - run: npm run build
 
      - uses: josStorer/get-current-time@v2
        id: current-time
        with:
          format: YYYY_MMDD_HHmm
 
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: Chromium_Build_${{ steps.current-time.outputs.formattedTime }}
          path: build/chromium/*
 
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: Firefox_Build_${{ steps.current-time.outputs.formattedTime }}
          path: build/firefox/*
 
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: Chromium_Build_WithoutKatex_${{ steps.current-time.outputs.formattedTime }}
          path: build/chromium-without-katex-and-tiktoken/*
 
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: Firefox_Build_WithoutKatex_${{ steps.current-time.outputs.formattedTime }}
          path: build/firefox-without-katex-and-tiktoken/*
 
      - uses: marvinpinto/action-automatic-releases@v1.2.1
        with:
          repo_token: "${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}"
          automatic_release_tag: "latest"
          prerelease: true
          title: "Development Build"
          files: |
            build/chromium.zip
            build/firefox.zip
            build/chromium-without-katex-and-tiktoken.zip
            build/firefox-without-katex-and-tiktoken.zip

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.

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 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-node actions/cache actions/upload-artifact