CodeQL workflow (iterative/cml)

The CodeQL workflow from iterative/cml, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the CodeQL workflow from the iterative/cml repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its Apache-2.0 license.

Below, Latchkey shows a faster, safer version produced by its optimization engine.

The workflow

name: CodeQL

on:
  pull_request:
    paths-ignore:
      - '**.md'
      - assets/**
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 0 * * *' # everyday @ 0000 UTC

concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref_name }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

jobs:
  analyze:
    name: Analyze
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      actions: read
      contents: read
      security-events: write
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: github/codeql-action/init@v2
        with:
          languages: javascript
      - uses: github/codeql-action/autobuild@v2
      - uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@v2

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: CodeQL
 
on:
  pull_request:
    paths-ignore:
      - '**.md'
      - assets/**
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 0 * * *' # everyday @ 0000 UTC
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref_name }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  analyze:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Analyze
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    permissions:
      actions: read
      contents: read
      security-events: write
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - uses: github/codeql-action/init@v2
        with:
          languages: javascript
      - uses: github/codeql-action/autobuild@v2
      - uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@v2
 

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.
• Add a job timeout so a hung step cannot burn hours of runner time.

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