Run tests on pull requests workflow (ericmjl/nxviz)

The Run tests on pull requests workflow from ericmjl/nxviz, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Run tests on pull requests workflow from the ericmjl/nxviz 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: Run tests on pull requests

on: [pull_request]

concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.event.pull_request.number || github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

jobs:
  run-tests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: Run test suite

    defaults:
      run:
        shell: bash -l {0}

    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: prefix-dev/setup-pixi@v0.8.1
        with:
          cache: true
          environments: tests

      - name: Run tests
        run: pixi run test

      - name: Upload code coverage
        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v2
        with:
          verbose: true

  bare-install:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: Run bare installation test

    strategy:
      matrix:
        python-version: ['3.12', '3.13']

    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Setup Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}

      - name: Install package
        run: |
          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
          pip install -e .

      - name: Import smoke test
        run: python -c "import nxviz"

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: Run tests on pull requests
 
on: [pull_request]
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.event.pull_request.number || github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  run-tests:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    name: Run test suite
 
    defaults:
      run:
        shell: bash -l {0}
 
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
      - uses: prefix-dev/setup-pixi@v0.8.1
        with:
          cache: true
          environments: tests
 
      - name: Run tests
        run: pixi run test
 
      - name: Upload code coverage
        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v2
        with:
          verbose: true
 
  bare-install:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    name: Run bare installation test
 
    strategy:
      matrix:
        python-version: ['3.12', '3.13']
 
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
      - name: Setup Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          cache: 'pip'
          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
 
      - name: Install package
        run: |
          python -m pip install --upgrade pip
          pip install -e .
 
      - name: Import smoke test
        run: python -c "import nxviz"
 

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.

2 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:

• Dependency installs

This workflow runs 2 jobs (3 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