Check security alerts workflow (DevExpress/testcafe)

The Check security alerts workflow from DevExpress/testcafe, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Check security alerts workflow from the DevExpress/testcafe 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: Check security alerts

on:
  schedule:
  - cron: "30 1 * * *"
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  check:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with: 
          node-version: latest
      - uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          github-token: ${{ secrets.ACTIVE_TOKEN }}
          script: |
            const {default: SecurityChecker} = await import('${{ github.workspace }}/.github/scripts/security-checker.mjs')

            const securityChecker = new SecurityChecker(github, context, '${{secrets.SECURITY_ISSUE_REPO}}');

            await securityChecker.check();
  
  keepalive-job:
    name: Keepalive Workflow
    if: ${{ always() }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: gautamkrishnar/keepalive-workflow@v2
        with:
          gh_token: ${{ secrets.ACTIVE_TOKEN }}

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: Check security alerts
 
on:
  schedule:
  - cron: "30 1 * * *"
  workflow_dispatch:
 
jobs:
  check:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with: 
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version: latest
      - uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          github-token: ${{ secrets.ACTIVE_TOKEN }}
          script: |
            const {default: SecurityChecker} = await import('${{ github.workspace }}/.github/scripts/security-checker.mjs')
 
            const securityChecker = new SecurityChecker(github, context, '${{secrets.SECURITY_ISSUE_REPO}}');
 
            await securityChecker.check();
  
  keepalive-job:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Keepalive Workflow
    if: ${{ always() }}
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    permissions:
      contents: write
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: gautamkrishnar/keepalive-workflow@v2
        with:
          gh_token: ${{ secrets.ACTIVE_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.
• 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.

This workflow runs 2 jobs per trigger. On Latchkey the same minutes cost up to 58% less than GitHub-hosted, with zero queue time.

Actions used in this workflow