Build base template workflow (imba/imba)

The Build base template workflow from imba/imba, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Build base template workflow from the imba/imba 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 base template

on: [push]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [14.x]

    steps:
      - name: Clone base template
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
        with:
          repository: imba/imba-base-template
          path: imba-base-template
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      - name: link and build
        run: |
          npm install -g lerna
          lerna exec npm install
          npm run bootstrap
          npm link imba
          npm install --prefix ./imba-base-template
          npm run build --prefix ./imba-base-template

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: Build base template
 
on: [push]
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [14.x]
 
    steps:
      - name: Clone base template
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
        with:
          repository: imba/imba-base-template
          path: imba-base-template
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      - name: link and build
        run: |
          npm install -g lerna
          lerna exec npm install
          npm run bootstrap
          npm link imba
          npm install --prefix ./imba-base-template
          npm run build --prefix ./imba-base-template
 

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• Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.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

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