Node.js CI workflow (francisrstokes/super-expressive)

The Node.js CI workflow from francisrstokes/super-expressive, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

CI health: F - at risk

Point runs-on at Latchkey and get caching, run de-duplication, job timeouts, SHA-pinned actions, self-healing for flaky steps, and up to 58% lower cost, applied automatically.

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Source: francisrstokes/super-expressive.github/workflows/tests.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the Node.js CI workflow from the francisrstokes/super-expressive 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)

name: Node.js CI

on: [push]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [12.x, 14.x]

    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v1
      with:
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
    - run: npm i
    - run: npm run test:coverage
      env:
        CI: true

    - name: Report on coverage
      if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
      uses: slavcodev/coverage-monitor-action@1.1.0
      with:
        github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        clover_file: "coverage/clover.xml"
        threshold_alert: 50
        threshold_warning: 90

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: Node.js CI
 
on: [push]
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [12.x, 14.x]
 
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v1
      with:
        cache: 'npm'
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
    - run: npm i
    - run: npm run test:coverage
      env:
        CI: true
 
    - name: Report on coverage
      if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
      uses: slavcodev/coverage-monitor-action@1.1.0
      with:
        github_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        clover_file: "coverage/clover.xml"
        threshold_alert: 50
        threshold_warning: 90

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.
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 1 job (2 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-node