CI workflow (DavidAnson/markdownlint)

The CI workflow from DavidAnson/markdownlint, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the CI workflow from the DavidAnson/markdownlint 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

name: CI

on:
  pull_request:
  push:
    branches-ignore:
      - 'dependabot/**'
  schedule:
    - cron: '30 12 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}

    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        os: [macos-latest, ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]
        node-version: [ 22, 24, 26 ]

    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v6
    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v6
      with:
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
    - name: Install Dependencies
      run: npm install
    - name: Run CI Tests
      run: npm run ci

  pnpm:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v6
    - name: Use pnpm latest
      uses: pnpm/action-setup@v6
      with:
        version: latest
    - name: Use Node.js LTS
      uses: actions/setup-node@v6
      with:
        node-version: lts/*
    - name: Install dependencies
      run: pnpm install
    - name: Run CI Tests
      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.

name: CI
 
on:
  pull_request:
  push:
    branches-ignore:
      - 'dependabot/**'
  schedule:
    - cron: '30 12 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch:
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
 
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        os: [macos-latest, ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]
        node-version: [ 22, 24, 26 ]
 
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v6
    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v6
      with:
        cache: 'npm'
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
    - name: Install Dependencies
      run: npm install
    - name: Run CI Tests
      run: npm run ci
 
  pnpm:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v6
    - name: Use pnpm latest
      uses: pnpm/action-setup@v6
      with:
        version: latest
    - name: Use Node.js LTS
      uses: actions/setup-node@v6
      with:
        cache: 'npm'
        node-version: lts/*
    - name: Install dependencies
      run: pnpm install
    - name: Run CI Tests
      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.

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.

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 2 jobs (10 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