ci workflow (litex-hub/litex-boards)

The ci workflow from litex-hub/litex-boards, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

CI health: C - fair

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Source: litex-hub/litex-boards.github/workflows/ci.ymlLicense BSD-2-ClauseView source

What it does

This is the ci workflow from the litex-hub/litex-boards repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its BSD-2-Clause license.

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

The workflow

workflow (.yml)

name: ci

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  lint:
    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v7

      - name: Set up Python 3.9
        uses: actions/setup-python@v6
        with:
          python-version: "3.9"
          cache: "pip"
          cache-dependency-path: "setup.py"

      - name: Install Python dependencies
        run: |
          python3 -m pip install setuptools pytest

      - name: Check README Board List
        run: python3 .github/scripts/sync_readme_boards_list.py --check

      - name: Check Target Parser Style
        run: python3 .github/scripts/check_target_parser_style.py

      - name: Check Target Parser Alignment
        run: python3 .github/scripts/check_target_parser_alignment.py

      - name: Check Board Inventory
        run: python3 .github/scripts/generate_board_inventory.py --check

      - name: Check Board Consistency
        run: python3 .github/scripts/audit_board_consistency.py --check

      - name: Run Fast Lint Tests
        run: python3 -m pytest -q test/test_parser_style.py test/test_parser_alignment.py test/test_targets_parser_api.py test/test_board_guardrails.py

  build:
    needs: lint
    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
    steps:
      # Checkout Repository
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v7

      # Install Tools
      - name: Install Tools
        run: |
          sudo apt-get install wget build-essential

      - name: Set up Python 3.9
        uses: actions/setup-python@v6
        with:
          python-version: "3.9"
          cache: "pip"
          cache-dependency-path: "setup.py"

      - name: Install Python dependencies
        run: |
          python3 -m pip install setuptools requests pexpect meson pytest

      # Install (n)Migen / LiteX / Cores
      - name: Install LiteX
        run: |
          wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/enjoy-digital/litex/master/litex_setup.py
          python3 litex_setup.py --clone-depth=1 init install --user

      # Install Project
      - name: Install Project
        run: python3 setup.py develop --user

      # Validate README board list is in sync with targets.
      - name: Check README Board List
        run: python3 .github/scripts/sync_readme_boards_list.py --check

      # Validate parser style in targets.
      - name: Check Target Parser Style
        run: python3 .github/scripts/check_target_parser_style.py

      # Validate parser argument alignment in targets.
      - name: Check Target Parser Alignment
        run: python3 .github/scripts/check_target_parser_alignment.py

      # Validate generated board inventory and consistency baseline.
      - name: Check Board Guardrails
        run: |
          python3 .github/scripts/generate_board_inventory.py --check
          python3 .github/scripts/audit_board_consistency.py --check
          python3 .github/scripts/check_stale_board_exclusions.py --check

      # Test
      - name: Run Tests
        run: python3 -m pytest -v

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: ci
 
on: [push, pull_request]
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  lint:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v7
 
      - name: Set up Python 3.9
        uses: actions/setup-python@v6
        with:
          python-version: "3.9"
          cache: "pip"
          cache-dependency-path: "setup.py"
 
      - name: Install Python dependencies
        run: |
          python3 -m pip install setuptools pytest
 
      - name: Check README Board List
        run: python3 .github/scripts/sync_readme_boards_list.py --check
 
      - name: Check Target Parser Style
        run: python3 .github/scripts/check_target_parser_style.py
 
      - name: Check Target Parser Alignment
        run: python3 .github/scripts/check_target_parser_alignment.py
 
      - name: Check Board Inventory
        run: python3 .github/scripts/generate_board_inventory.py --check
 
      - name: Check Board Consistency
        run: python3 .github/scripts/audit_board_consistency.py --check
 
      - name: Run Fast Lint Tests
        run: python3 -m pytest -q test/test_parser_style.py test/test_parser_alignment.py test/test_targets_parser_api.py test/test_board_guardrails.py
 
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    needs: lint
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      # Checkout Repository
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v7
 
      # Install Tools
      - name: Install Tools
        run: |
          sudo apt-get install wget build-essential
 
      - name: Set up Python 3.9
        uses: actions/setup-python@v6
        with:
          python-version: "3.9"
          cache: "pip"
          cache-dependency-path: "setup.py"
 
      - name: Install Python dependencies
        run: |
          python3 -m pip install setuptools requests pexpect meson pytest
 
      # Install (n)Migen / LiteX / Cores
      - name: Install LiteX
        run: |
          wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/enjoy-digital/litex/master/litex_setup.py
          python3 litex_setup.py --clone-depth=1 init install --user
 
      # Install Project
      - name: Install Project
        run: python3 setup.py develop --user
 
      # Validate README board list is in sync with targets.
      - name: Check README Board List
        run: python3 .github/scripts/sync_readme_boards_list.py --check
 
      # Validate parser style in targets.
      - name: Check Target Parser Style
        run: python3 .github/scripts/check_target_parser_style.py
 
      # Validate parser argument alignment in targets.
      - name: Check Target Parser Alignment
        run: python3 .github/scripts/check_target_parser_alignment.py
 
      # Validate generated board inventory and consistency baseline.
      - name: Check Board Guardrails
        run: |
          python3 .github/scripts/generate_board_inventory.py --check
          python3 .github/scripts/audit_board_consistency.py --check
          python3 .github/scripts/check_stale_board_exclusions.py --check
 
      # Test
      - name: Run Tests
        run: python3 -m pytest -v

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.

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
Network fetches

This workflow runs 2 jobs 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-python