Create release workflow (mde/ejs)

The Create release workflow from mde/ejs, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: mde/ejs.github/workflows/create-release.ymlLicense Apache-2.0View source

What it does

This is the Create release workflow from the mde/ejs 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: Create release

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'

jobs:
  create-release:
    name: Create GitHub Release
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Get semver number
        id: get_semver
        env:
          TAG_NAME: ${{ github.ref }}
        run: echo "::set-output name=num::${TAG_NAME:11}"

      - name: Create release on GitHub API
        id: create_release
        uses: actions/create-release@v1
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        with:
          tag_name: ${{ github.ref }}
          release_name: "v${{ steps.get_semver.outputs.num }}"
          body: |
            Version ${{ steps.get_semver.outputs.num }}
          draft: false
          prerelease: false

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: Create release
 
on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  create-release:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Create GitHub Release
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
 
      - name: Get semver number
        id: get_semver
        env:
          TAG_NAME: ${{ github.ref }}
        run: echo "::set-output name=num::${TAG_NAME:11}"
 
      - name: Create release on GitHub API
        id: create_release
        uses: actions/create-release@v1
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        with:
          tag_name: ${{ github.ref }}
          release_name: "v${{ steps.get_semver.outputs.num }}"
          body: |
            Version ${{ steps.get_semver.outputs.num }}
          draft: false
          prerelease: false

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 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