build_app workflow (open-duelyst/duelyst)

The build_app workflow from open-duelyst/duelyst, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the build_app workflow from the open-duelyst/duelyst repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its CC0-1.0 license.

Below, Latchkey shows a faster, safer version produced by its optimization engine.

The workflow

name: build_app

on:
  push:
    branches:
    - main
  pull_request:
    paths:
      - app/**
      - config/**
      - gulp/**
      - gulpfile.babel.js
      - package.json
      - yarn.lock

jobs:
  build_app:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - name: check out code
      uses: actions/checkout@v3

    - name: install system dependencies
      run: sudo apt install -y libpng-dev

    - name: install node.js
      uses: actions/setup-node@v3
      with:
        node-version: 24

    # Caching node_modules saves 50s on builds which don't modify dependencies.
    # Compared to yarn caching, it saves an additional 27 seconds.
    - name: cache node_modules
      uses: actions/cache@v3
      with:
        path: /home/runner/work/duelyst/duelyst/node_modules
        key: node-modules-${{ hashFiles('**/yarn.lock') }}
        restore-keys: |
          node-modules-

    - name: enable corepack
      run: corepack enable

    - name: install node dependencies
      run: yarn workspaces focus

    - name: install typescript dependencies
      run: yarn tsc:chroma-js

    - name: build the app
      run: yarn build
      env:
        FIREBASE_URL: "https://test-url.firebaseio.com/"

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: build_app
 
on:
  push:
    branches:
    - main
  pull_request:
    paths:
      - app/**
      - config/**
      - gulp/**
      - gulpfile.babel.js
      - package.json
      - yarn.lock
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build_app:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
    - name: check out code
      uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
    - name: install system dependencies
      run: sudo apt install -y libpng-dev
 
    - name: install node.js
      uses: actions/setup-node@v3
      with:
        cache: 'npm'
        node-version: 24
 
    # Caching node_modules saves 50s on builds which don't modify dependencies.
    # Compared to yarn caching, it saves an additional 27 seconds.
    - name: cache node_modules
      uses: actions/cache@v3
      with:
        path: /home/runner/work/duelyst/duelyst/node_modules
        key: node-modules-${{ hashFiles('**/yarn.lock') }}
        restore-keys: |
          node-modules-
 
    - name: enable corepack
      run: corepack enable
 
    - name: install node dependencies
      run: yarn workspaces focus
 
    - name: install typescript dependencies
      run: yarn tsc:chroma-js
 
    - name: build the app
      run: yarn build
      env:
        FIREBASE_URL: "https://test-url.firebaseio.com/"
 

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.

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