Build Beta workflow (horsicq/Detect-It-Easy)

The Build Beta workflow from horsicq/Detect-It-Easy, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Build Beta workflow from the horsicq/Detect-It-Easy 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

name: Build Beta

on:
  # Triggers the workflow on push or pull request events but only for the "main" branch
  push:
    branches: [ "master" ]

  # Allows you to run this workflow manually from the Actions tab
  workflow_dispatch:

# the jobs are based on these notes:
# https://github.com/horsicq/Detect-It-Easy/blob/master/docs/BUILD.md
jobs:
  build-ubuntu-24:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
          
      # Clone Detect-It-Easy repository
      - name: Clone Detect-It-Easy
        run: |
          git clone --recursive https://github.com/horsicq/DIE-engine die_source

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          sudo apt-get update
          sudo apt-get install qtbase5-dev qtscript5-dev qttools5-dev-tools libqt5svg5-dev qtchooser qt5-qmake build-essential -y
      - name: Build
        run: |
          cd die_source
          bash -x build_dpkg.sh
      - name: Upload Release as Download
        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_TOKEN }}
        with:
          tag_name: Beta
          release_name: Beta
          draft: false
          prerelease: true
          files: |
            ${{ github.workspace }}/die_source/release/*.deb
            

The same workflow, on Latchkey

Removes redundant runs and caps runaway jobs. Added and changed lines are highlighted.

name: Build Beta
 
on:
  # Triggers the workflow on push or pull request events but only for the "main" branch
  push:
    branches: [ "master" ]
 
  # Allows you to run this workflow manually from the Actions tab
  workflow_dispatch:
 
# the jobs are based on these notes:
# https://github.com/horsicq/Detect-It-Easy/blob/master/docs/BUILD.md
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build-ubuntu-24:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
          
      # Clone Detect-It-Easy repository
      - name: Clone Detect-It-Easy
        run: |
          git clone --recursive https://github.com/horsicq/DIE-engine die_source
 
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          sudo apt-get update
          sudo apt-get install qtbase5-dev qtscript5-dev qttools5-dev-tools libqt5svg5-dev qtchooser qt5-qmake build-essential -y
      - name: Build
        run: |
          cd die_source
          bash -x build_dpkg.sh
      - name: Upload Release as Download
        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v2
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_TOKEN }}
        with:
          tag_name: Beta
          release_name: Beta
          draft: false
          prerelease: true
          files: |
            ${{ github.workspace }}/die_source/release/*.deb
            
 

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.
• 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

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