CodeQL workflow (DavidAnson/markdownlint)

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

What it does

This is the CodeQL 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: "CodeQL"

on:
  pull_request:
  push:
    branches-ignore:
      - 'dependabot/**'
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  analyze:
    name: Analyze
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      security-events: write

    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        language: ['javascript']

    steps:
    - name: Checkout repository
      uses: actions/checkout@v6

    - name: Initialize CodeQL
      uses: github/codeql-action/init@v4
      with:
        config-file: ./.github/codeql-config.yaml
        languages: ${{ matrix.language }}

    - name: Perform CodeQL Analysis
      uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@v4

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: "CodeQL"
 
on:
  pull_request:
  push:
    branches-ignore:
      - 'dependabot/**'
  workflow_dispatch:
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  analyze:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Analyze
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    permissions:
      security-events: write
 
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        language: ['javascript']
 
    steps:
    - name: Checkout repository
      uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
    - name: Initialize CodeQL
      uses: github/codeql-action/init@v4
      with:
        config-file: ./.github/codeql-config.yaml
        languages: ${{ matrix.language }}
 
    - name: Perform CodeQL Analysis
      uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@v4
 

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• Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.
• Add a job timeout so a hung step cannot burn hours of runner time.

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