Build & publish Docker image workflow (outsourc-e/hermes-workspace)

The Build & publish Docker image workflow from outsourc-e/hermes-workspace, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: outsourc-e/hermes-workspace.github/workflows/docker-publish.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the Build & publish Docker image workflow from the outsourc-e/hermes-workspace 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

workflow (.yml)

name: Build & publish Docker image

# Publishes Hermes Workspace to GitHub Container Registry (GHCR) so users
# can deploy via Coolify / Easypanel / Dokploy / any Docker host with:
#
#   image: ghcr.io/outsourc-e/hermes-workspace:latest
#
# Triggers:
#   - push to main        -> tags: latest, main, main-<sha>
#   - push a git tag v*   -> tags: <version>, <major>.<minor>, latest
#   - manual dispatch     -> tags: latest
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    tags: ['v*']
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  contents: read
  packages: write

env:
  REGISTRY: ghcr.io
  IMAGE_NAME: ${{ github.repository }}

jobs:
  build-and-push:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up QEMU
        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@v3

      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3

      - name: Log in to GHCR
        uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Extract image metadata
        id: meta
        uses: docker/metadata-action@v5
        with:
          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
          tags: |
            type=raw,value=latest,enable={{is_default_branch}}
            type=ref,event=branch
            type=ref,event=tag
            type=sha,prefix=main-,enable={{is_default_branch}}
            type=semver,pattern={{version}}
            type=semver,pattern={{major}}.{{minor}}

      - name: Build smoke-test image
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          context: .
          file: ./Dockerfile
          load: true
          tags: hermes-workspace:smoke
          cache-from: type=gha

      - name: Smoke test container startup
        run: |
          set -euo pipefail

          cid=$(docker run -d \
            -p 127.0.0.1:3000:3000 \
            -e HERMES_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8642 \
            -e CLAUDE_PASSWORD=ci-smoke-test-password \
            hermes-workspace:smoke)
          trap 'docker logs "$cid" || true; docker rm -f "$cid" || true' EXIT

          for _ in $(seq 1 30); do
            status=$(docker inspect -f '{{.State.Status}} {{.State.ExitCode}}' "$cid")
            case "$status" in
              exited*)
                echo "Container exited before becoming healthy: $status"
                exit 1
                ;;
            esac

            if curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:3000/ >/dev/null; then
              echo "Container stayed alive and served HTTP successfully"
              exit 0
            fi

            sleep 2
          done

          echo "Container did not become ready before timeout"
          exit 1

      - name: Build & push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          context: .
          file: ./Dockerfile
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
          push: true
          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
          cache-from: type=gha
          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: Build & publish Docker image
 
# Publishes Hermes Workspace to GitHub Container Registry (GHCR) so users
# can deploy via Coolify / Easypanel / Dokploy / any Docker host with:
#
#   image: ghcr.io/outsourc-e/hermes-workspace:latest
#
# Triggers:
#   - push to main        -> tags: latest, main, main-<sha>
#   - push a git tag v*   -> tags: <version>, <major>.<minor>, latest
#   - manual dispatch     -> tags: latest
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
    tags: ['v*']
  workflow_dispatch:
 
permissions:
  contents: read
  packages: write
 
env:
  REGISTRY: ghcr.io
  IMAGE_NAME: ${{ github.repository }}
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build-and-push:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
      - name: Set up QEMU
        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@v3
 
      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
 
      - name: Log in to GHCR
        uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          registry: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
      - name: Extract image metadata
        id: meta
        uses: docker/metadata-action@v5
        with:
          images: ${{ env.REGISTRY }}/${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
          tags: |
            type=raw,value=latest,enable={{is_default_branch}}
            type=ref,event=branch
            type=ref,event=tag
            type=sha,prefix=main-,enable={{is_default_branch}}
            type=semver,pattern={{version}}
            type=semver,pattern={{major}}.{{minor}}
 
      - name: Build smoke-test image
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          context: .
          file: ./Dockerfile
          load: true
          tags: hermes-workspace:smoke
          cache-from: type=gha
 
      - name: Smoke test container startup
        run: |
          set -euo pipefail
 
          cid=$(docker run -d \
            -p 127.0.0.1:3000:3000 \
            -e HERMES_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:8642 \
            -e CLAUDE_PASSWORD=ci-smoke-test-password \
            hermes-workspace:smoke)
          trap 'docker logs "$cid" || true; docker rm -f "$cid" || true' EXIT
 
          for _ in $(seq 1 30); do
            status=$(docker inspect -f '{{.State.Status}} {{.State.ExitCode}}' "$cid")
            case "$status" in
              exited*)
                echo "Container exited before becoming healthy: $status"
                exit 1
                ;;
            esac
 
            if curl -fsS http://127.0.0.1:3000/ >/dev/null; then
              echo "Container stayed alive and served HTTP successfully"
              exit 0
            fi
 
            sleep 2
          done
 
          echo "Container did not become ready before timeout"
          exit 1
 
      - name: Build & push
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v5
        with:
          context: .
          file: ./Dockerfile
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
          push: true
          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
          cache-from: type=gha
          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max

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.

5 third-party actions are referenced by a movable tag. Pin them 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:

Container pulls and builds
Network fetches

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 docker/setup-qemu-action docker/setup-buildx-action docker/login-action docker/metadata-action docker/build-push-action