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Exercises check workflow (exercism/python)

The Exercises check workflow from exercism/python, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: exercism/python.github/workflows/ci-workflow.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the Exercises check workflow from the exercism/python 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)
# This workflow will install Python dependencies, run tests and lint with a single version of Python
# For more information see: https://help.github.com/actions/language-and-framework-guides/using-python-with-github-actions

name: Exercises check

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  pull_request:

jobs:
  housekeeping:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0

    - name: Set up Python
      uses: actions/setup-python@ece7cb06caefa5fff74198d8649806c4678c61a1
      with:
        python-version: 3.13.5

    - name: Download & Install dependencies
      run: |
        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
        pip install flake8 requests
        git clone https://github.com/exercism/problem-specifications .problem-specifications
        pip install -r requirements-generator.txt

    # - name: Check readmes
    #   run: |
    #     ./bin/check-readmes.sh

    - name: Generate tests
      run: |
       bin/generate_tests.py --verbose -p .problem-specifications --check

    - name: Lint with flake8
      run: |
        # stop the build if there are Python syntax errors or undefined names
        flake8 . --count --select=E9,F63,F7,F82 --show-source --statistics
        # exit-zero treats all errors as warnings. The GitHub editor is 127 chars wide
        flake8 . --count --exit-zero --max-complexity=10 --max-line-length=127 --statistics

    - name:  Test template status
      continue-on-error: true
      run: |
        ./bin/template_status.py -v -p .problem-specifications

  canonical_sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    needs: housekeeping
    strategy:
      matrix:
        python-version: [3.10.6, 3.11.2, 3.12, 3.13.5]
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0

    - uses: actions/setup-python@ece7cb06caefa5fff74198d8649806c4678c61a1
      with:
        python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}

    - name: Install pytest
      run: pip install pytest~=8.4.0

    - name: Check exercises
      run: |
        ./bin/test_exercises.py

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.

# This workflow will install Python dependencies, run tests and lint with a single version of Python
# For more information see: https://help.github.com/actions/language-and-framework-guides/using-python-with-github-actions
 
name: Exercises check
 
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  pull_request:
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  housekeeping:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0
 
    - name: Set up Python
      uses: actions/setup-python@ece7cb06caefa5fff74198d8649806c4678c61a1
      with:
        cache: 'pip'
        python-version: 3.13.5
 
    - name: Download & Install dependencies
      run: |
        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
        pip install flake8 requests
        git clone https://github.com/exercism/problem-specifications .problem-specifications
        pip install -r requirements-generator.txt
 
    # - name: Check readmes
    #   run: |
    #     ./bin/check-readmes.sh
 
    - name: Generate tests
      run: |
       bin/generate_tests.py --verbose -p .problem-specifications --check
 
    - name: Lint with flake8
      run: |
        # stop the build if there are Python syntax errors or undefined names
        flake8 . --count --select=E9,F63,F7,F82 --show-source --statistics
        # exit-zero treats all errors as warnings. The GitHub editor is 127 chars wide
        flake8 . --count --exit-zero --max-complexity=10 --max-line-length=127 --statistics
 
    - name:  Test template status
      continue-on-error: true
      run: |
        ./bin/template_status.py -v -p .problem-specifications
 
  canonical_sync:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    needs: housekeeping
    strategy:
      matrix:
        python-version: [3.10.6, 3.11.2, 3.12, 3.13.5]
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0
 
    - uses: actions/setup-python@ece7cb06caefa5fff74198d8649806c4678c61a1
      with:
        cache: 'pip'
        python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
 
    - name: Install pytest
      run: pip install pytest~=8.4.0
 
    - name: Check exercises
      run: |
        ./bin/test_exercises.py

What changed

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:

This workflow runs 2 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 actions/setup-python