docs_pages_workflow workflow (iamlab-cmu/frankapy)

The docs_pages_workflow workflow from iamlab-cmu/frankapy, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the docs_pages_workflow workflow from the iamlab-cmu/frankapy 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: docs_pages_workflow
 
# execute this workflow automatically when a we push to master
on:
  push:
    branches: [ master ]
 
jobs:
 
  build_docs_job:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    container: ubuntu:focal
 
    steps:
 
    - name: Prereqs
      env:
        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
      run: |
        apt-get update
        apt-get install -y git
        git clone --depth 1 "https://token:${GITHUB_TOKEN}@github.com/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git" .
      shell: bash
 
    - name: Setup ROS environment
      uses: ros-tooling/setup-ros@0.2.1
      with:
        required-ros-distributions: noetic
 
    - name: Execute script to build our documentation and update pages
      env:
        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
      run: "docs/buildDocs.sh"
      shell: bash

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: docs_pages_workflow
 
# execute this workflow automatically when a we push to master
on:
  push:
    branches: [ master ]
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
 
  build_docs_job:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    container: ubuntu:focal
 
    steps:
 
    - name: Prereqs
      env:
        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
      run: |
        apt-get update
        apt-get install -y git
        git clone --depth 1 "https://token:${GITHUB_TOKEN}@github.com/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git" .
      shell: bash
 
    - name: Setup ROS environment
      uses: ros-tooling/setup-ros@0.2.1
      with:
        required-ros-distributions: noetic
 
    - name: Execute script to build our documentation and update pages
      env:
        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
      run: "docs/buildDocs.sh"
      shell: bash
 

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.