ghcr workflow (ergochat/ergo)

The ghcr workflow from ergochat/ergo, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the ghcr workflow from the ergochat/ergo 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: 'ghcr'

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - "master"
      - "stable"
    tags:
      - 'v*'

env:
  REGISTRY: ghcr.io
  IMAGE_NAME: ${{ github.repository }}

jobs:
  build:
    name: Build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout Git repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v6

      - name: Authenticate to container registry
        uses: docker/login-action@v2
        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
        with:
          registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
          username: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Extract metadata
        id: meta
        uses: docker/metadata-action@v4
        with:
          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}

      - name: Setup Docker buildx driver
        id: buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v2

      - name: Build and publish image
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v3
        with:
          context: .
          push: ${{ github.event_name != 'pull_request' }}
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: 'ghcr'
 
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - "master"
      - "stable"
    tags:
      - 'v*'
 
env:
  REGISTRY: ghcr.io
  IMAGE_NAME: ${{ github.repository }}
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Build
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - name: Checkout Git repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
      - name: Authenticate to container registry
        uses: docker/login-action@v2
        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request'
        with:
          registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
          username: ${{ github.repository_owner }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
      - name: Extract metadata
        id: meta
        uses: docker/metadata-action@v4
        with:
          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
 
      - name: Setup Docker buildx driver
        id: buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v2
 
      - name: Build and publish image
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v3
        with:
          context: .
          push: ${{ github.event_name != 'pull_request' }}
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
 

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.

4 third-party actions are referenced by a movable tag. Pin them 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:

• Container pulls and builds

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