Update template workflow (datachain-ai/datachain)

The Update template workflow from datachain-ai/datachain, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Update template workflow from the datachain-ai/datachain 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

name: Update template

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '5 1 * * *'  # every day at 01:05

  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  update:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Check out the repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v7

      - name: Update template
        uses: iterative/py-template@main
        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.UPDATE_TEMPLATE_TOKEN || secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: Update template
 
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '5 1 * * *'  # every day at 01:05
 
  workflow_dispatch:
 
jobs:
  update:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - name: Check out the repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v7
 
      - name: Update template
        uses: iterative/py-template@main
        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.UPDATE_TEMPLATE_TOKEN || secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 

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.

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 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