Static Analysis workflow (ianare/exif-py)

The Static Analysis workflow from ianare/exif-py, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Static Analysis workflow from the ianare/exif-py 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

#
# Run static code analysis.
#
name: Static Analysis

on:
  - push

jobs:
  static-check:
    name: Run Static Analysis
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4

    - name: Set up Python
      uses: actions/setup-python@v4
      with:
        python-version: "3.11"

    - name: Cache dependencies
      uses: actions/cache@v3
      with:
        path: ~/.cache/pip
        key: ${{ runner.os }}-dev-${{ hashFiles('pyproject.toml') }}
        restore-keys: |
          ${{ runner.os }}-dev-

    - name: Install dependencies
      run: |
        pip install virtualenv==20.31.2
        make venv install-all

    - name: Static analysis of the code
      run: |
        source .venv/bin/activate
        make analyze

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.

#
# Run static code analysis.
#
name: Static Analysis
 
on:
  - push
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  static-check:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Run Static Analysis
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
    - name: Set up Python
      uses: actions/setup-python@v4
      with:
        cache: 'pip'
        python-version: "3.11"
 
    - name: Cache dependencies
      uses: actions/cache@v3
      with:
        path: ~/.cache/pip
        key: ${{ runner.os }}-dev-${{ hashFiles('pyproject.toml') }}
        restore-keys: |
          ${{ runner.os }}-dev-
 
    - name: Install dependencies
      run: |
        pip install virtualenv==20.31.2
        make venv install-all
 
    - name: Static analysis of the code
      run: |
        source .venv/bin/activate
        make analyze
 

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• Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.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

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