Release workflow (highlightjs/highlight.js)
The Release workflow from highlightjs/highlight.js, 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.
What it does
This is the Release workflow from the highlightjs/highlight.js repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its BSD-3-Clause license.
Below, Latchkey shows a faster, safer version produced by its optimization engine.
The workflow
name: Release
on:
push:
tags:
- "*alpha*"
- "*pre*"
- "*beta*"
- "1[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+"
permissions:
contents: read
jobs:
prerelease:
permissions:
contents: write # for git push
name: Release
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Checkout highlight.js
uses: actions/checkout@v7
- name: Tag is ${{ github.ref }}.
# we have to repeat ourselves here since the environment is not actually updated
# until the next step executes, so we can't access $TAG_NAME yet
run: |
echo "TAG_NAME=${GITHUB_REF/refs\/tags\//}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
echo "MAJOR_VERSION=$(echo ${GITHUB_REF/refs\/tags\//} | cut -d'.' -f1)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
- name: Make sure we are pushing a tag...
if: ${{ !contains(github.ref,'refs/tags/') }}
run: false
# run: echo "TAG_NAME=0.0.0-test0" >> $GITHUB_ENV
- if: contains(github.ref, 'beta') || contains(github.ref, 'pre') || contains(github.ref, 'alpha')
run: |
echo "NPM_TAG=beta" >> $GITHUB_ENV
echo "RELEASING=beta" >> $GITHUB_ENV
- if: ${{ !(contains(github.ref, 'beta') || contains(github.ref, 'pre') || contains(github.ref, 'alpha')) }}
run: |
echo "NPM_TAG=latest" >> $GITHUB_ENV
echo "RELEASING=stable" >> $GITHUB_ENV
- name: match-tag-to-package-version
uses: geritol/match-tag-to-package-version@0.2.0
env:
TAG_PREFIX: refs/tags/ # Optional, default prefix refs/tags/
- name: Use Node.js 20.x
uses: actions/setup-node@v6
with:
node-version: 20.x
- name: Build Node.js package
run: |
npm install
node ./tools/build.js -t node
npm test
- name: Publish highlight.js to NPM
id: publish
uses: JS-DevTools/npm-publish@v4
with:
check-version: true
token: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
package: ./build/package.json
tag: ${{ env.NPM_TAG }}
- if: steps.publish.outputs.type != 'none'
run: |
echo "Version changed: ${{ steps.publish.outputs.old-version }} => ${{ steps.publish.outputs.version }}"
# if stable release
- name: Stable Release
if: env.RELEASING == 'stable'
run: echo "BRANCH_NAME=${MAJOR_VERSION}-stable" >> $GITHUB_ENV
# else (beta)
- name: Beta Release
if: env.RELEASING == 'beta'
run: echo "BRANCH_NAME=main" >> $GITHUB_ENV
- name: Confirm release is either stable or beta
if: ${{ !(env.RELEASING == 'stable' || env.RELEASING == 'beta') }}
run: |
echo We seem to be releasing `${RELEASING}`.
false
- name: Checkout cdn-release
uses: actions/checkout@v7
with:
repository: 'highlightjs/cdn-release'
path: 'cdn-release'
token: ${{ secrets.CDN_REPO_TOKEN }}
ref: ${{ env.BRANCH_NAME }}
- name: Build CDN package
run: node ./tools/build.js -t cdn :common
- name: Commmit & Push cdn-release ${{ env.TAG_NAME }}
working-directory: ./cdn-release
run: |
rm -r ./build
mv ../build/ ./build/
mv ./build/DIGESTS.md .
git config user.name github-actions
git config user.email github-actions@github.com
git add ./build/
git add ./DIGESTS.md
git commit -m'Update to version ${{ env.TAG_NAME }}'
git tag ${TAG_NAME}
git push -f --atomic origin ${BRANCH_NAME} ${TAG_NAME}
- name: Publish cdn-assets to NPM
id: publish_cdn
uses: JS-DevTools/npm-publish@v4
with:
check-version: true
token: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
package: ./cdn-release/build/package.json
tag: ${{ env.NPM_TAG }}
# log.info('Updating CDN repo at %s' % settings.HLJS_CDN_SOURCE)
# run(['nodejs', 'tools/build.js', '--target', 'cdn', ':common'])
# os.chdir(settings.HLJS_CDN_SOURCE)
# run(['git', 'pull', '-f'])
# lines = run(['git', '--git-dir', os.path.join(settings.HLJS_CDN_SOURCE, '.git'), 'tag'])
# build_dir = os.path.join(settings.HLJS_CDN_SOURCE, 'build')
# if version in lines:
# log.info('Tag %s already exists in the local CDN repo' % version)
# else:
# if os.path.exists(build_dir):
# shutil.rmtree(build_dir)
# shutil.move(os.path.join(settings.HLJS_SOURCE, 'build'), build_dir)
# run(['git', 'add', '.'])
# run(['git', 'commit', '-m', 'Update to version %s' % version])
# run(['git', 'tag', version])
# run(['git', 'push'])
# run(['git', 'push', '--tags'])
# npm_publish(build_dir)
# os.chdir(settings.HLJS_SOURCE)
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: Release on: push: tags: - "*alpha*" - "*pre*" - "*beta*" - "1[0-9]+.[0-9]+.[0-9]+" permissions: contents: read concurrency: group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }} cancel-in-progress: true jobs: prerelease: timeout-minutes: 30 permissions: contents: write # for git push name: Release runs-on: latchkey-small steps: - name: Checkout highlight.js uses: actions/checkout@v7 - name: Tag is ${{ github.ref }}. # we have to repeat ourselves here since the environment is not actually updated # until the next step executes, so we can't access $TAG_NAME yet run: | echo "TAG_NAME=${GITHUB_REF/refs\/tags\//}" >> $GITHUB_ENV echo "MAJOR_VERSION=$(echo ${GITHUB_REF/refs\/tags\//} | cut -d'.' -f1)" >> $GITHUB_ENV - name: Make sure we are pushing a tag... if: ${{ !contains(github.ref,'refs/tags/') }} run: false # run: echo "TAG_NAME=0.0.0-test0" >> $GITHUB_ENV - if: contains(github.ref, 'beta') || contains(github.ref, 'pre') || contains(github.ref, 'alpha') run: | echo "NPM_TAG=beta" >> $GITHUB_ENV echo "RELEASING=beta" >> $GITHUB_ENV - if: ${{ !(contains(github.ref, 'beta') || contains(github.ref, 'pre') || contains(github.ref, 'alpha')) }} run: | echo "NPM_TAG=latest" >> $GITHUB_ENV echo "RELEASING=stable" >> $GITHUB_ENV - name: match-tag-to-package-version uses: geritol/match-tag-to-package-version@0.2.0 env: TAG_PREFIX: refs/tags/ # Optional, default prefix refs/tags/ - name: Use Node.js 20.x uses: actions/setup-node@v6 with: cache: 'npm' node-version: 20.x - name: Build Node.js package run: | npm install node ./tools/build.js -t node npm test - name: Publish highlight.js to NPM id: publish uses: JS-DevTools/npm-publish@v4 with: check-version: true token: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }} package: ./build/package.json tag: ${{ env.NPM_TAG }} - if: steps.publish.outputs.type != 'none' run: | echo "Version changed: ${{ steps.publish.outputs.old-version }} => ${{ steps.publish.outputs.version }}" # if stable release - name: Stable Release if: env.RELEASING == 'stable' run: echo "BRANCH_NAME=${MAJOR_VERSION}-stable" >> $GITHUB_ENV # else (beta) - name: Beta Release if: env.RELEASING == 'beta' run: echo "BRANCH_NAME=main" >> $GITHUB_ENV - name: Confirm release is either stable or beta if: ${{ !(env.RELEASING == 'stable' || env.RELEASING == 'beta') }} run: | echo We seem to be releasing `${RELEASING}`. false - name: Checkout cdn-release uses: actions/checkout@v7 with: repository: 'highlightjs/cdn-release' path: 'cdn-release' token: ${{ secrets.CDN_REPO_TOKEN }} ref: ${{ env.BRANCH_NAME }} - name: Build CDN package run: node ./tools/build.js -t cdn :common - name: Commmit & Push cdn-release ${{ env.TAG_NAME }} working-directory: ./cdn-release run: | rm -r ./build mv ../build/ ./build/ mv ./build/DIGESTS.md . git config user.name github-actions git config user.email github-actions@github.com git add ./build/ git add ./DIGESTS.md git commit -m'Update to version ${{ env.TAG_NAME }}' git tag ${TAG_NAME} git push -f --atomic origin ${BRANCH_NAME} ${TAG_NAME} - name: Publish cdn-assets to NPM id: publish_cdn uses: JS-DevTools/npm-publish@v4 with: check-version: true token: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }} package: ./cdn-release/build/package.json tag: ${{ env.NPM_TAG }} # log.info('Updating CDN repo at %s' % settings.HLJS_CDN_SOURCE) # run(['nodejs', 'tools/build.js', '--target', 'cdn', ':common']) # os.chdir(settings.HLJS_CDN_SOURCE) # run(['git', 'pull', '-f']) # lines = run(['git', '--git-dir', os.path.join(settings.HLJS_CDN_SOURCE, '.git'), 'tag']) # build_dir = os.path.join(settings.HLJS_CDN_SOURCE, 'build') # if version in lines: # log.info('Tag %s already exists in the local CDN repo' % version) # else: # if os.path.exists(build_dir): # shutil.rmtree(build_dir) # shutil.move(os.path.join(settings.HLJS_SOURCE, 'build'), build_dir) # run(['git', 'add', '.']) # run(['git', 'commit', '-m', 'Update to version %s' % version]) # run(['git', 'tag', version]) # run(['git', 'push']) # run(['git', 'push', '--tags']) # npm_publish(build_dir) # os.chdir(settings.HLJS_SOURCE)
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 useslatchkey-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.
2 third-party actions are referenced by a movable tag. Pin them 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
This workflow runs 1 job per trigger. On Latchkey the same minutes cost up to 58% less than GitHub-hosted, with zero queue time.