CI workflow (mdo/github-buttons)

The CI workflow from mdo/github-buttons, 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.

Grade your own workflow free or run it on Latchkey →

Source: mdo/github-buttons.github/workflows/ci.ymlLicense Apache-2.0View source

What it does

This is the CI workflow from the mdo/github-buttons 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: CI

on:
  push:
    branches-ignore:
      - "dependabot/**"
    tags:
      - "*"
  pull_request:
  workflow_dispatch:

env:
  FORCE_COLOR: 2
  NODE: 24
  RUBY: "3.4"

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Clone repository
        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
        with:
          persist-credentials: false

      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@53b83947a5a98c8d113130e565377fae1a50d02f # v6.3.0
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE }}
          cache: npm

      - name: Set up Ruby
        uses: ruby/setup-ruby@7372622e62b60b3cb750dcd2b9e32c247ffec26a # v1.302.0
        with:
          ruby-version: ${{ env.RUBY }}
          bundler-cache: true

      - name: Install npm dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test

      - name: Upload docs
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
        if: github.repository == 'mdo/github-buttons' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
        with:
          name: docs
          path: ./_site/
          if-no-files-found: error

  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: test
    if: github.repository == 'mdo/github-buttons' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')

    steps:
      - name: Clone repository
        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
        with:
          persist-credentials: false

      - name: Download docs
        uses: actions/download-artifact@3e5f45b2cfb9172054b4087a40e8e0b5a5461e7c # v8.0.1
        with:
          name: docs
          path: ./_site/

      - name: Deploy
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@4f9cc6602d3f66b9c108549d475ec49e8ef4d45e # v4.0.0
        with:
          allow_empty_commit: false
          personal_token: ${{ secrets.PERSONAL_TOKEN }}
          publish_branch: gh-pages
          publish_dir: ./_site/

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: CI
 
on:
  push:
    branches-ignore:
      - "dependabot/**"
    tags:
      - "*"
  pull_request:
  workflow_dispatch:
 
env:
  FORCE_COLOR: 2
  NODE: 24
  RUBY: "3.4"
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  test:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    steps:
      - name: Clone repository
        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
        with:
          persist-credentials: false
 
      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@53b83947a5a98c8d113130e565377fae1a50d02f # v6.3.0
        with:
          node-version: ${{ env.NODE }}
          cache: npm
 
      - name: Set up Ruby
        uses: ruby/setup-ruby@7372622e62b60b3cb750dcd2b9e32c247ffec26a # v1.302.0
        with:
          ruby-version: ${{ env.RUBY }}
          bundler-cache: true
 
      - name: Install npm dependencies
        run: npm ci
 
      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test
 
      - name: Upload docs
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
        if: github.repository == 'mdo/github-buttons' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
        with:
          name: docs
          path: ./_site/
          if-no-files-found: error
 
  deploy:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    needs: test
    if: github.repository == 'mdo/github-buttons' && startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
 
    steps:
      - name: Clone repository
        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
        with:
          persist-credentials: false
 
      - name: Download docs
        uses: actions/download-artifact@3e5f45b2cfb9172054b4087a40e8e0b5a5461e7c # v8.0.1
        with:
          name: docs
          path: ./_site/
 
      - name: Deploy
        uses: peaceiris/actions-gh-pages@4f9cc6602d3f66b9c108549d475ec49e8ef4d45e # v4.0.0
        with:
          allow_empty_commit: false
          personal_token: ${{ secrets.PERSONAL_TOKEN }}
          publish_branch: gh-pages
          publish_dir: ./_site/

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

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-node ruby/setup-ruby actions/upload-artifact actions/download-artifact