CI workflow (handlebars-lang/handlebars.js)

The CI workflow from handlebars-lang/handlebars.js, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: handlebars-lang/handlebars.js.github/workflows/ci.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the CI workflow from the handlebars-lang/handlebars.js 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: CI

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master
  pull_request: {}

jobs:
  lint:
    name: Lint
    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v6

      - name: Setup pnpm
        uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: '24'
          cache: 'pnpm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile

      - name: Lint
        run: pnpm run lint

  test:
    name: Test (Node)
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.operating-system }}
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        operating-system: ['ubuntu-latest', 'windows-latest']
        # https://nodejs.org/en/about/releases/
        # Node 20 is supported at runtime (see "engines" in package.json) but is not
        # part of this pnpm matrix because pnpm >=11 requires Node >=22.13. It is
        # validated separately in the "Test (Node 20)" job below using npm.
        node-version: ['22', '24']

    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v6
        with:
          submodules: true

      - name: Setup pnpm
        uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
          cache: 'pnpm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile

      - name: Test
        run: pnpm run test

      - name: Test (Publish)
        run: pnpm exec vitest run --project publish

      - name: Test (Integration)
        if: matrix.operating-system == 'ubuntu-latest'
        run: pnpm run test:integration

  test-node20:
    # Node 20 is a supported runtime (see "engines" in package.json) but cannot run
    # the pinned pnpm (pnpm >=11 requires Node >=22.13), so it is excluded from the
    # main "test" matrix. This job validates Node 20 compatibility of the library by
    # installing with npm and running the full unit test suite, which imports the
    # library source directly (no build/tooling step required).
    name: Test (Node 20)
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v6
        with:
          submodules: true

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: '20'

      # No package-lock.json is committed (the repo uses pnpm-lock.yaml), so install
      # with `npm install` rather than `npm ci`. --legacy-peer-deps mirrors the
      # existing bundler integration tests.
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm install --legacy-peer-deps

      - name: Test (unit)
        run: npm run test:unit

  browser:
    name: Test (Browser)
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v6
        with:
          submodules: true

      - name: Setup pnpm
        uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: '24'
          cache: 'pnpm'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile

      - name: Install Playwright
        run: |
          pnpm exec playwright install-deps
          pnpm exec playwright install

      - name: Build
        run: pnpm run build

      - name: Test
        run: |
          pnpm run test:browser-smoke
          pnpm run test:browser

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: CI
 
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master
  pull_request: {}
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  lint:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Lint
    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
      - name: Setup pnpm
        uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4
 
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: '24'
          cache: 'pnpm'
 
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
 
      - name: Lint
        run: pnpm run lint
 
  test:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Test (Node)
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.operating-system }}
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        operating-system: ['ubuntu-latest', 'windows-latest']
        # https://nodejs.org/en/about/releases/
        # Node 20 is supported at runtime (see "engines" in package.json) but is not
        # part of this pnpm matrix because pnpm >=11 requires Node >=22.13. It is
        # validated separately in the "Test (Node 20)" job below using npm.
        node-version: ['22', '24']
 
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v6
        with:
          submodules: true
 
      - name: Setup pnpm
        uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4
 
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
          cache: 'pnpm'
 
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
 
      - name: Test
        run: pnpm run test
 
      - name: Test (Publish)
        run: pnpm exec vitest run --project publish
 
      - name: Test (Integration)
        if: matrix.operating-system == 'ubuntu-latest'
        run: pnpm run test:integration
 
  test-node20:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    # Node 20 is a supported runtime (see "engines" in package.json) but cannot run
    # the pinned pnpm (pnpm >=11 requires Node >=22.13), so it is excluded from the
    # main "test" matrix. This job validates Node 20 compatibility of the library by
    # installing with npm and running the full unit test suite, which imports the
    # library source directly (no build/tooling step required).
    name: Test (Node 20)
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v6
        with:
          submodules: true
 
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version: '20'
 
      # No package-lock.json is committed (the repo uses pnpm-lock.yaml), so install
      # with `npm install` rather than `npm ci`. --legacy-peer-deps mirrors the
      # existing bundler integration tests.
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm install --legacy-peer-deps
 
      - name: Test (unit)
        run: npm run test:unit
 
  browser:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Test (Browser)
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v6
        with:
          submodules: true
 
      - name: Setup pnpm
        uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4
 
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: '24'
          cache: 'pnpm'
 
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: pnpm install --frozen-lockfile
 
      - name: Install Playwright
        run: |
          pnpm exec playwright install-deps
          pnpm exec playwright install
 
      - name: Build
        run: pnpm run build
 
      - name: Test
        run: |
          pnpm run test:browser-smoke
          pnpm run test:browser

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.

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 4 jobs (7 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 pnpm/action-setup actions/setup-node