Node.js CI workflow (mcollina/autocannon)

The Node.js CI workflow from mcollina/autocannon, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Node.js CI workflow from the mcollina/autocannon 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: Node.js CI

on: [ push, pull_request ]

# This allows a subsequently queued workflow run to interrupt previous runs
concurrency:
  group: "${{ github.workflow }} @ ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.label || github.head_ref || github.ref }}"
  cancel-in-progress: true

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    permissions:
      contents: read
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest]
        node-version: [20, 22]

    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      with:
        persist-credentials: false
    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v3
      with:
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
    - run: node --version
    - run: npm --version
    - run: npm install
    - run: npm test
      env:
        CI: true

  automerge:
    if: >
        github.event_name == 'pull_request' &&
        github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'dependabot[bot]'
    needs: test
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      pull-requests: write
      contents: write
    steps:
      - uses: fastify/github-action-merge-dependabot@v3
        with:
          exclude: 'chalk;pretty-bytes'
          github-token: ${{ secrets.github_token }}

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: Node.js CI
 
on: [ push, pull_request ]
 
# This allows a subsequently queued workflow run to interrupt previous runs
concurrency:
  group: "${{ github.workflow }} @ ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.label || github.head_ref || github.ref }}"
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  test:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    permissions:
      contents: read
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest]
        node-version: [20, 22]
 
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      with:
        persist-credentials: false
    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v3
      with:
        cache: 'npm'
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
    - run: node --version
    - run: npm --version
    - run: npm install
    - run: npm test
      env:
        CI: true
 
  automerge:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    if: >
        github.event_name == 'pull_request' &&
        github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'dependabot[bot]'
    needs: test
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    permissions:
      pull-requests: write
      contents: write
    steps:
      - uses: fastify/github-action-merge-dependabot@v3
        with:
          exclude: 'chalk;pretty-bytes'
          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.
• 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.

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 2 jobs (7 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