colcon build workflow (linorobot/linorobot2)

The colcon build workflow from linorobot/linorobot2, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

CI health: C - fair

Point runs-on at Latchkey and get run de-duplication, job timeouts, self-healing for flaky steps, and up to 58% lower cost, applied automatically.

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Source: linorobot/linorobot2.github/workflows/build.ymlLicense Apache-2.0View source

What it does

This is the colcon build workflow from the linorobot/linorobot2 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: colcon build
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 0 * * 5'  # Every Friday at midnight UTC
  push:
    branches: [ jazzy ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ jazzy ] # Adjust this if your default branch is different
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
    strategy:
      matrix:
        base_image: [hardware, gazebo, gazebo-cuda]
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Create fake udev directory for hardware builds
        run: |
          sudo mkdir -p /etc/udev/rules.d
          bash install.bash --laser ld19 --udev-only
          cat /etc/udev/rules.d/ldlidar.rules

      - name: Install and Build ROS2 environment - ${{ matrix.base_image }}
        run: |
          export ROS_DISTRO=jazzy
          export ROBOT_BASE=2wd
          export LASER_SENSOR=ld19
          export BASE_IMAGE=${{ matrix.base_image }}
          cd docker && docker compose build
        shell: bash

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: colcon build
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 0 * * 5'  # Every Friday at midnight UTC
  push:
    branches: [ jazzy ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ jazzy ] # Adjust this if your default branch is different
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    strategy:
      matrix:
        base_image: [hardware, gazebo, gazebo-cuda]
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Create fake udev directory for hardware builds
        run: |
          sudo mkdir -p /etc/udev/rules.d
          bash install.bash --laser ld19 --udev-only
          cat /etc/udev/rules.d/ldlidar.rules
 
      - name: Install and Build ROS2 environment - ${{ matrix.base_image }}
        run: |
          export ROS_DISTRO=jazzy
          export ROBOT_BASE=2wd
          export LASER_SENSOR=ld19
          export BASE_IMAGE=${{ matrix.base_image }}
          cd docker && docker compose build
        shell: bash

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.

This workflow runs 1 job (3 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

actions/checkout