Upstream Sync workflow (poloclub/transformer-explainer)

The Upstream Sync workflow from poloclub/transformer-explainer, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Upstream Sync workflow from the poloclub/transformer-explainer 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: Upstream Sync

permissions:
  contents: write

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 0 * * *" # every day
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  sync_latest_from_upstream:
    name: Sync latest commits from upstream repo
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: ${{ github.event.repository.fork }}

    steps:
      # Step 1: run a standard checkout action
      - name: Checkout target repo
        uses: actions/checkout@v3

      # Step 2: run the sync action
      - name: Sync upstream changes
        id: sync
        uses: aormsby/Fork-Sync-With-Upstream-action@v3.4
        with:
          upstream_sync_repo: poloclub/transformer-explainer
          upstream_sync_branch: main
          target_sync_branch: main
          target_repo_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} # automatically generated, no need to set

          # Set test_mode true to run tests instead of the true action!!
          test_mode: false

      - name: Sync check
        if: failure()
        run: |
          echo "[Error] Due to a change in the workflow file of the upstream repository, GitHub has automatically suspended the scheduled automatic update."
          exit 1

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: Upstream Sync
 
permissions:
  contents: write
 
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "0 0 * * *" # every day
  workflow_dispatch:
 
jobs:
  sync_latest_from_upstream:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Sync latest commits from upstream repo
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    if: ${{ github.event.repository.fork }}
 
    steps:
      # Step 1: run a standard checkout action
      - name: Checkout target repo
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
      # Step 2: run the sync action
      - name: Sync upstream changes
        id: sync
        uses: aormsby/Fork-Sync-With-Upstream-action@v3.4
        with:
          upstream_sync_repo: poloclub/transformer-explainer
          upstream_sync_branch: main
          target_sync_branch: main
          target_repo_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }} # automatically generated, no need to set
 
          # Set test_mode true to run tests instead of the true action!!
          test_mode: false
 
      - name: Sync check
        if: failure()
        run: |
          echo "[Error] Due to a change in the workflow file of the upstream repository, GitHub has automatically suspended the scheduled automatic update."
          exit 1
 

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.

1 third-party action is referenced by a movable tag. Pin it to the commit SHA (Latchkey resolves and applies this automatically) so a repointed tag cannot change what runs.

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