Test with pytest workflow (Keeper-Security/Commander)

The Test with pytest workflow from Keeper-Security/Commander, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Test with pytest workflow from the Keeper-Security/Commander 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: Test with pytest

on: [pull_request, workflow_dispatch]

env:
  PYTHONUNBUFFERED: 1

jobs:
  test-with-pytest:
    strategy:
      matrix:
        python-version: ['3.8', '3.14']

    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04

    steps:
      - name: Checkout branch
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}

      - name: Install package with test dependencies
        run: pip install .[test]

      - name: Run unit tests
        run: pytest unit-tests/

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.

name: Test with pytest
 
on: [pull_request, workflow_dispatch]
 
env:
  PYTHONUNBUFFERED: 1
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  test-with-pytest:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    strategy:
      matrix:
        python-version: ['3.8', '3.14']
 
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    steps:
      - name: Checkout branch
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
      - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          cache: 'pip'
          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
 
      - name: Install package with test dependencies
        run: pip install .[test]
 
      - name: Run unit tests
        run: pytest unit-tests/
 

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• Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.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 (2 with the matrix expanded) per trigger. On Latchkey the same minutes cost up to 58% less than GitHub-hosted, with zero queue time.

Actions used in this workflow