CodeQL Checker workflow (microsoft/archai)

The CodeQL Checker workflow from microsoft/archai, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the CodeQL Checker 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: CodeQL Checker

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main

jobs:
  check-codeql:
    name: Checks and analyzes with CodeQL
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      actions: read
      contents: read
      security-events: write
    steps:
      - name: Pulls the repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Initializes CodeQL
        uses: github/codeql-action/init@v2
        with:
          languages: python
          queries: security-extended
      - name: Runs CodeQL
        uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@v2

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: CodeQL Checker
 
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - main
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  check-codeql:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Checks and analyzes with CodeQL
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    permissions:
      actions: read
      contents: read
      security-events: write
    steps:
      - name: Pulls the repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - name: Initializes CodeQL
        uses: github/codeql-action/init@v2
        with:
          languages: python
          queries: security-extended
      - name: Runs CodeQL
        uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@v2
 

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• Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.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