Run tests workflow (holgern/pyedflib)

The Run tests workflow from holgern/pyedflib, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Run tests workflow from the holgern/pyedflib 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: Run tests
on:
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - '*'
jobs:
  run:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-2019, windows-latest, macos-latest]
        python-version: ["3.8", "3.9", "3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13"]

    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - name: Setup Python
      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
      with:
        python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
    - name: Install packages
      run: |
        pip install pytest
        pip install -e .
        pip install -r requirements-test.txt
        pytest

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: Run tests
on:
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - '*'
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  run:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-2019, windows-latest, macos-latest]
        python-version: ["3.8", "3.9", "3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13"]
 
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - name: Setup Python
      uses: actions/setup-python@v5
      with:
        cache: 'pip'
        python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
    - name: Install packages
      run: |
        pip install pytest
        pip install -e .
        pip install -r requirements-test.txt
        pytest
 

What changed

• Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.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

This workflow runs 1 job (24 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