Node CI workflow (decaporg/decap-cms)

The Node CI workflow from decaporg/decap-cms, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: decaporg/decap-cms.github/workflows/nodejs.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the Node CI workflow from the decaporg/decap-cms 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: Node CI

concurrency:
  group: ci-${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
      - master
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]

jobs:
  changes:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    outputs:
      cms: ${{ steps.filter.outputs.cms }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: dorny/paths-filter@v2
        id: filter
        with:
          filters: |
            cms:
              - '!website/**'

  build-unit:
    needs: changes
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
        node-version: [24.x]
        include:
          - os: ubuntu-latest
            node-version: 22.x
      fail-fast: true
    if: ${{ needs.changes.outputs.cms == 'true' }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
          check-latest: true
          cache: 'npm'
      - name: log versions
        run: node --version && npm --version
      - name: install dependencies (skip Cypress binary)
        run: npm ci
        env:
          CYPRESS_INSTALL_BINARY: 0
      - name: run lint + types + unit tests
        run: npm run test:ci

  e2e:
    needs: changes
    if: ${{ needs.changes.outputs.cms == 'true' }}
    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-24.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Use Node.js 24.x
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 24.x
          check-latest: true
          cache: 'npm'
      - name: Cache Nx local cache
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: .nx/cache
          key: nx-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
          restore-keys: |
            nx-${{ runner.os }}-
      - name: Cache Cypress binary
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: ~/.cache/Cypress
          key: cypress-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
          restore-keys: |
            cypress-${{ runner.os }}-
      - name: install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      - name: build demo site
        run: npm run build:demo
      - name: test package integrity
        run: npm run test:package-integrity
      - name: run e2e tests
        run: npm run test:e2e:run-ci
        env:
          CYPRESS_RECORD_KEY: ${{ secrets.CYPRESS_RECORD_KEY }}
          NODE_OPTIONS: --max-old-space-size=4096
          TZ: Europe/Amsterdam
          GITHUB_EVENT_NAME: ${{ github.event_name }}
          GITHUB_BASE_REF: ${{ github.base_ref }}
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: failure()
        with:
          name: cypress-results
          path: |
            cypress/screenshots
            cypress/videos

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: Node CI
 
concurrency:
  group: ci-${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
      - master
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]
 
jobs:
  changes:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    outputs:
      cms: ${{ steps.filter.outputs.cms }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: dorny/paths-filter@v2
        id: filter
        with:
          filters: |
            cms:
              - '!website/**'
 
  build-unit:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    needs: changes
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
        node-version: [24.x]
        include:
          - os: ubuntu-latest
            node-version: 22.x
      fail-fast: true
    if: ${{ needs.changes.outputs.cms == 'true' }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
          check-latest: true
          cache: 'npm'
      - name: log versions
        run: node --version && npm --version
      - name: install dependencies (skip Cypress binary)
        run: npm ci
        env:
          CYPRESS_INSTALL_BINARY: 0
      - name: run lint + types + unit tests
        run: npm run test:ci
 
  e2e:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    needs: changes
    if: ${{ needs.changes.outputs.cms == 'true' }}
    runs-on: depot-ubuntu-24.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Use Node.js 24.x
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 24.x
          check-latest: true
          cache: 'npm'
      - name: Cache Nx local cache
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: .nx/cache
          key: nx-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
          restore-keys: |
            nx-${{ runner.os }}-
      - name: Cache Cypress binary
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: ~/.cache/Cypress
          key: cypress-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
          restore-keys: |
            cypress-${{ runner.os }}-
      - name: install dependencies
        run: npm ci
      - name: build demo site
        run: npm run build:demo
      - name: test package integrity
        run: npm run test:package-integrity
      - name: run e2e tests
        run: npm run test:e2e:run-ci
        env:
          CYPRESS_RECORD_KEY: ${{ secrets.CYPRESS_RECORD_KEY }}
          NODE_OPTIONS: --max-old-space-size=4096
          TZ: Europe/Amsterdam
          GITHUB_EVENT_NAME: ${{ github.event_name }}
          GITHUB_BASE_REF: ${{ github.base_ref }}
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: failure()
        with:
          name: cypress-results
          path: |
            cypress/screenshots
            cypress/videos

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.

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
End-to-end and browser tests

This workflow runs 3 jobs (5 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

actions/checkout dorny/paths-filter actions/setup-node actions/cache actions/upload-artifact