CI on node.js workflow (dankogai/js-base64)

The CI on node.js workflow from dankogai/js-base64, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the CI on node.js workflow from the dankogai/js-base64 repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its BSD-3-Clause license.

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

The workflow

# cf.
# https://docs.github.com/en/actions/automating-builds-and-tests/building-and-testing-nodejs#starting-with-the-nodejs-workflow-template
# https://dev.classmethod.jp/articles/caching-dependencies-in-workflow-execution-on-github-actions/
name: CI on node.js

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main ]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: read
      security-events: write
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [26, 24, 22]
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      - uses: actions/cache@v3
        id: node_modules_cache_id
        env:
          cache-name: cache-node-modules
        with:
          path: '**/node_modules'
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ env.cache-name }}-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
      - run: echo '${{ toJSON(steps.node_modules_cache_id.outputs) }}'
      - if: ${{ steps.node_modules_cache_id.outputs.cache-hit != 'true' }}
        run: npm install
      - run: npm test

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.

# cf.
# https://docs.github.com/en/actions/automating-builds-and-tests/building-and-testing-nodejs#starting-with-the-nodejs-workflow-template
# https://dev.classmethod.jp/articles/caching-dependencies-in-workflow-execution-on-github-actions/
name: CI on node.js
 
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  push:
    branches: [ main ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ main ]
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    permissions:
      contents: read
      security-events: write
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [26, 24, 22]
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      - uses: actions/cache@v3
        id: node_modules_cache_id
        env:
          cache-name: cache-node-modules
        with:
          path: '**/node_modules'
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-build-${{ env.cache-name }}-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
      - run: echo '${{ toJSON(steps.node_modules_cache_id.outputs) }}'
      - if: ${{ steps.node_modules_cache_id.outputs.cache-hit != 'true' }}
        run: npm install
      - run: npm test
 

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.

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 (3 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