Master Build, Test & Deploy workflow (gchq/CyberChef)

The Master Build, Test & Deploy workflow from gchq/CyberChef, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

CI health: D - needs work

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

Grade your own workflow free or run it on Latchkey →

Source: gchq/CyberChef.github/workflows/master.ymlLicense Apache-2.0View source

What it does

This is the Master Build, Test & Deploy workflow from the gchq/CyberChef repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its Apache-2.0 license.

Below, Latchkey shows a faster, safer version produced by its optimization engine.

The workflow

workflow (.yml)

name: "Master Build, Test & Deploy"

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

permissions:
  contents: read

jobs:
  main:
    permissions:
      contents: write
      pages: write
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0 # v7.0.0

      - name: Set node version
        uses: actions/setup-node@48b55a011bda9f5d6aeb4c2d9c7362e8dae4041e # v6.4.0
        with:
          node-version: 24
          registry-url: "https://registry.npmjs.org"

      - name: Install
        run: |
          npm ci
          npm run setheapsize

      - name: Lint
        run: npx grunt lint

      - name: Unit Tests
        run: |
          npm test
          npm run testnodeconsumer

      - name: Production Build
        if: success()
        run: npx grunt prod --msg=""

      - name: Generate sitemap
        run: npx grunt exec:sitemap

      - name: Setup Chrome
        id: setup-chrome
        if: success()
        run: |
          npx @puppeteer/browsers install chrome@148
          echo chromedir=$(dirname $(find `pwd`/chrome/* -name chrome -print -quit)) >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

      - name: UI Tests
        if: success()
        run: |
          export PATH=${{ steps.setup-chrome.outputs.chromedir }}:$PATH
          sudo apt-get install xvfb
          xvfb-run --server-args="-screen 0 1200x800x24" npx grunt testui

      - name: Prepare for GitHub Pages
        if: success()
        run: npx grunt copy:ghPages

      - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
        if: success() && github.ref == 'refs/heads/master'
        uses: crazy-max/ghaction-github-pages@1d6ee9b181a81033a16bd707a1401afa978daab4 # v5.0.0
        with:
          target_branch: gh-pages
          build_dir: ./build/prod
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

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: "Master Build, Test & Deploy"
 
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
  push:
    branches:
      - master
 
permissions:
  contents: read
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  main:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    permissions:
      contents: write
      pages: write
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0 # v7.0.0
 
      - name: Set node version
        uses: actions/setup-node@48b55a011bda9f5d6aeb4c2d9c7362e8dae4041e # v6.4.0
        with:
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version: 24
          registry-url: "https://registry.npmjs.org"
 
      - name: Install
        run: |
          npm ci
          npm run setheapsize
 
      - name: Lint
        run: npx grunt lint
 
      - name: Unit Tests
        run: |
          npm test
          npm run testnodeconsumer
 
      - name: Production Build
        if: success()
        run: npx grunt prod --msg=""
 
      - name: Generate sitemap
        run: npx grunt exec:sitemap
 
      - name: Setup Chrome
        id: setup-chrome
        if: success()
        run: |
          npx @puppeteer/browsers install chrome@148
          echo chromedir=$(dirname $(find `pwd`/chrome/* -name chrome -print -quit)) >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
      - name: UI Tests
        if: success()
        run: |
          export PATH=${{ steps.setup-chrome.outputs.chromedir }}:$PATH
          sudo apt-get install xvfb
          xvfb-run --server-args="-screen 0 1200x800x24" npx grunt testui
 
      - name: Prepare for GitHub Pages
        if: success()
        run: npx grunt copy:ghPages
 
      - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
        if: success() && github.ref == 'refs/heads/master'
        uses: crazy-max/ghaction-github-pages@1d6ee9b181a81033a16bd707a1401afa978daab4 # v5.0.0
        with:
          target_branch: gh-pages
          build_dir: ./build/prod
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

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.

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
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

actions/checkout actions/setup-node