PyPI Builder and Releaser workflow (microsoft/archai)

The PyPI Builder and Releaser workflow from microsoft/archai, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the PyPI Builder and Releaser workflow from the microsoft/archai 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: PyPI Builder and Releaser

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - "**"

jobs:
  publish-pypi:
    name: Publishes release candidate to PyPI
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Pulls the repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Sets up Python 3.8
        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          python-version: 3.8
      - name: Installs pypa/build
        shell: bash -l {0}
        run: |
          python -m pip install build --user
      - name: Builds the wheel
        shell: bash -l {0}
        run: |
          python -m build --sdist --wheel --outdir dist/ .
      - name: Publishes to PyPI
        uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
        with:
          password: ${{ secrets.PYPI_API_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: PyPI Builder and Releaser
 
on:
  push:
    tags:
      - "**"
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  publish-pypi:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Publishes release candidate to PyPI
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - name: Pulls the repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Sets up Python 3.8
        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          cache: 'pip'
          python-version: 3.8
      - name: Installs pypa/build
        shell: bash -l {0}
        run: |
          python -m pip install build --user
      - name: Builds the wheel
        shell: bash -l {0}
        run: |
          python -m build --sdist --wheel --outdir dist/ .
      - name: Publishes to PyPI
        uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
        with:
          password: ${{ secrets.PYPI_API_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.
• Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.
• 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 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