Publish Docker Image workflow (pixlcore/xyops)

The Publish Docker Image workflow from pixlcore/xyops, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Publish Docker Image workflow from the pixlcore/xyops repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its BSD-3-Clause license.

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

The workflow

name: Publish Docker Image

on:
  push:
    tags: [ '*' ]

permissions:
  contents: read
  packages: write

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

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

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

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

      - name: Extract image metadata
        id: meta
        uses: docker/metadata-action@v5
        with:
          images: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository_owner }}/xyops
          tags: |
            type=raw,value=latest,enable={{is_default_branch}}
            type=ref,event=tag
            type=sha

      - name: Build and push (multi-arch)
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
        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: Publish Docker Image
 
on:
  push:
    tags: [ '*' ]
 
permissions:
  contents: read
  packages: write
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build-and-push:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
      - name: Set up QEMU
        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@v3
 
      - name: Set up Buildx
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
 
      - name: Log in to GHCR
        uses: docker/login-action@v3
        with:
          registry: ghcr.io
          username: ${{ github.actor }}
          password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
      - name: Extract image metadata
        id: meta
        uses: docker/metadata-action@v5
        with:
          images: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository_owner }}/xyops
          tags: |
            type=raw,value=latest,enable={{is_default_branch}}
            type=ref,event=tag
            type=sha
 
      - name: Build and push (multi-arch)
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v6
        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

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