Release workflow (linkedin/Burrow)

The Release workflow from linkedin/Burrow, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Release workflow from the linkedin/Burrow 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: Release

on:
  push:
    branches-ignore:
      - "**"
    tags:
      - "v*.*.*"

jobs:
  test:
    name: Release
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6

      - name: Setup Go
        uses: actions/setup-go@v6
        with:
          go-version: 1.25.x

      - uses: actions/cache@v5
        with:
          path: ~/go/pkg/mod
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-go-

      - name: Login to GitHub Registry
        run: |
          docker login docker.pkg.github.com -u bai -p "${GITHUB_TOKEN}"
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Run GoReleaser
        uses: goreleaser/goreleaser-action@v6
        with:
          version: latest
          args: release --clean
        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: Release
 
on:
  push:
    branches-ignore:
      - "**"
    tags:
      - "v*.*.*"
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  test:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Release
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
 
      - name: Setup Go
        uses: actions/setup-go@v6
        with:
          go-version: 1.25.x
 
      - uses: actions/cache@v5
        with:
          path: ~/go/pkg/mod
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-go-
 
      - name: Login to GitHub Registry
        run: |
          docker login docker.pkg.github.com -u bai -p "${GITHUB_TOKEN}"
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
      - name: Run GoReleaser
        uses: goreleaser/goreleaser-action@v6
        with:
          version: latest
          args: release --clean
        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.

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