Build Chrome Extension workflow (jackwener/OpenCLI)

The Build Chrome Extension workflow from jackwener/OpenCLI, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: jackwener/OpenCLI.github/workflows/build-extension.ymlLicense Apache-2.0View source

What it does

This is the Build Chrome Extension workflow from the jackwener/OpenCLI 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

workflow (.yml)

name: Build Chrome Extension

on:
  push:
    branches: [ "main" ]
    tags: [ "ext-v*" ]
    paths:
      - 'extension/**'
      - '.github/workflows/build-extension.yml'
  pull_request:
    branches: [ "main" ]
    paths:
      - 'extension/**'
      - '.github/workflows/build-extension.yml'

permissions:
  contents: write

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout Code
        uses: actions/checkout@v6

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: 22
          cache: 'npm'
          cache-dependency-path: extension/package-lock.json

      - name: Install extension dependencies
        run: npm ci
        working-directory: extension

      - name: Build extension
        run: npm run build
        working-directory: extension

      - name: Prepare extension package
        run: npm run package:release -- --out ../extension-package
        working-directory: extension

      - name: Create Extension ZIP
        run: |
          EXT_VERSION=$(node -p "require('./extension/package.json').version")
          cd extension-package
          zip -r ../opencli-extension-v${EXT_VERSION}.zip .

      - name: Upload Artifacts (Action Run)
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: opencli-extension-build
          path: opencli-extension-v*.zip
          retention-days: 7

      - name: Attach to GitHub Release
        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v3.0.0
        with:
          files: opencli-extension-v*.zip
          draft: false
          prerelease: false
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: Build Chrome Extension
 
on:
  push:
    branches: [ "main" ]
    tags: [ "ext-v*" ]
    paths:
      - 'extension/**'
      - '.github/workflows/build-extension.yml'
  pull_request:
    branches: [ "main" ]
    paths:
      - 'extension/**'
      - '.github/workflows/build-extension.yml'
 
permissions:
  contents: write
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - name: Checkout Code
        uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: 22
          cache: 'npm'
          cache-dependency-path: extension/package-lock.json
 
      - name: Install extension dependencies
        run: npm ci
        working-directory: extension
 
      - name: Build extension
        run: npm run build
        working-directory: extension
 
      - name: Prepare extension package
        run: npm run package:release -- --out ../extension-package
        working-directory: extension
 
      - name: Create Extension ZIP
        run: |
          EXT_VERSION=$(node -p "require('./extension/package.json').version")
          cd extension-package
          zip -r ../opencli-extension-v${EXT_VERSION}.zip .
 
      - name: Upload Artifacts (Action Run)
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: opencli-extension-build
          path: opencli-extension-v*.zip
          retention-days: 7
 
      - name: Attach to GitHub Release
        if: startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
        uses: softprops/action-gh-release@v3.0.0
        with:
          files: opencli-extension-v*.zip
          draft: false
          prerelease: false
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

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

actions/checkout actions/setup-node actions/upload-artifact softprops/action-gh-release