End-to-end install tests workflow (evanw/esbuild)

The End-to-end install tests workflow from evanw/esbuild, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the End-to-end install tests workflow from the evanw/esbuild 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: End-to-end install tests

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 */6 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  contents: read  #  to fetch code (actions/checkout)

jobs:
  validate:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Setup Node.js environment
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: 18

      # The version of Deno is pinned because version 1.25.1 was causing test
      # flakes due to random segfaults.
      - name: Setup Deno 1.24.0
        uses: denoland/setup-deno@main
        with:
          deno-version: v1.24.0

      - name: Test npm
        run: |
          npm i -g npm@next-7
          time make test-e2e-npm

      - name: Test pnpm
        run: |
          npm i -g pnpm@next-7
          time make test-e2e-pnpm

      - name: Test yarn (classic)
        run: |
          npm i -g yarn@latest
          time make test-e2e-yarn

      - name: Test yarn (berry)
        run: |
          npm i -g yarn@latest
          time make test-e2e-yarn-berry

      - name: Test deno
        run: |
          time make test-e2e-deno

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: End-to-end install tests
 
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 */6 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch:
 
permissions:
  contents: read  #  to fetch code (actions/checkout)
 
jobs:
  validate:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
      - name: Setup Node.js environment
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version: 18
 
      # The version of Deno is pinned because version 1.25.1 was causing test
      # flakes due to random segfaults.
      - name: Setup Deno 1.24.0
        uses: denoland/setup-deno@main
        with:
          deno-version: v1.24.0
 
      - name: Test npm
        run: |
          npm i -g npm@next-7
          time make test-e2e-npm
 
      - name: Test pnpm
        run: |
          npm i -g pnpm@next-7
          time make test-e2e-pnpm
 
      - name: Test yarn (classic)
        run: |
          npm i -g yarn@latest
          time make test-e2e-yarn
 
      - name: Test yarn (berry)
        run: |
          npm i -g yarn@latest
          time make test-e2e-yarn-berry
 
      - name: Test deno
        run: |
          time make test-e2e-deno
 

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.

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:

• End-to-end and browser tests

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