Alpha workflow (playcanvas/engine)

The Alpha workflow from playcanvas/engine, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: playcanvas/engine.github/workflows/alpha.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the Alpha workflow from the playcanvas/engine 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: Alpha

on:
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  contents: write

jobs:
  alpha:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: github.repository == 'playcanvas/engine' && github.ref_name != 'main'
    steps:
      - name: Generate app token
        id: app-token
        uses: actions/create-github-app-token@v3
        with:
          app-id: ${{ secrets.APP_ID }}
          private-key: ${{ secrets.APP_KEY }}

      - name: Check out code
        uses: actions/checkout@v7.0.0
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
          token: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}

      - name: Set up Node.js 24.x
        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: 24.x
          cache: "npm"

      - name: Configure Git User
        run: |
          git config --global user.email "playcanvas[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
          git config --global user.name "PlayCanvas [bot]"
        shell: bash

      - name: Tag alpha
        run: |
          base=$(npm pkg get version | sed 's/"//g' | sed 's/-.*//')
          version="$base-alpha.${GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER}.${GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT}"
          npm version "$version" --no-git-tag-version
          git commit -m "Alpha $version" -- package.json package-lock.json
          git tag "v$version"
          git push origin "v$version"

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: Alpha
 
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
 
permissions:
  contents: write
 
jobs:
  alpha:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    if: github.repository == 'playcanvas/engine' && github.ref_name != 'main'
    steps:
      - name: Generate app token
        id: app-token
        uses: actions/create-github-app-token@v3
        with:
          app-id: ${{ secrets.APP_ID }}
          private-key: ${{ secrets.APP_KEY }}
 
      - name: Check out code
        uses: actions/checkout@v7.0.0
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
          token: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}
 
      - name: Set up Node.js 24.x
        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: 24.x
          cache: "npm"
 
      - name: Configure Git User
        run: |
          git config --global user.email "playcanvas[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
          git config --global user.name "PlayCanvas [bot]"
        shell: bash
 
      - name: Tag alpha
        run: |
          base=$(npm pkg get version | sed 's/"//g' | sed 's/-.*//')
          version="$base-alpha.${GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER}.${GITHUB_RUN_ATTEMPT}"
          npm version "$version" --no-git-tag-version
          git commit -m "Alpha $version" -- package.json package-lock.json
          git tag "v$version"
          git push origin "v$version"

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.
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

actions/create-github-app-token actions/checkout actions/setup-node