test workflow (porsager/postgres)

The test workflow from porsager/postgres, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: porsager/postgres.github/workflows/test.ymlLicense UnlicenseView source

What it does

This is the test workflow from the porsager/postgres repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its Unlicense license.

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

The workflow

workflow (.yml)

name: test

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  test:
    name: Node v${{ matrix.node }} on PostgreSQL v${{ matrix.postgres }}
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        node: ['12', '14', '16', '18', '20', '21', '22', '23', '24']
        postgres: ['12', '13', '14', '15', '16', '17']
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    services:
      postgres:
        image: postgres:${{ matrix.postgres }}
        env:
          POSTGRES_USER: postgres
          POSTGRES_HOST_AUTH_METHOD: trust
        ports:
          - 5433:5432
        options: >-
          --health-cmd pg_isready
          --health-interval 10s
          --health-timeout 5s
          --health-retries 5
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: |
          date
          sudo apt purge postgresql-16
          sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt $(lsb_release -cs)-pgdg main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pgdg.list'
          wget --quiet -O - https://www.postgresql.org/media/keys/ACCC4CF8.asc | sudo apt-key add -
          sudo apt-get update
          sudo apt-get -y install "postgresql-${{ matrix.postgres }}"
          sudo cp ./tests/pg_hba.conf /etc/postgresql/${{ matrix.postgres }}/main/pg_hba.conf
          sudo sed -i 's/.*wal_level.*/wal_level = logical/' /etc/postgresql/${{ matrix.postgres }}/main/postgresql.conf
          sudo sed -i 's/.*max_prepared_transactions.*/max_prepared_transactions = 100/' /etc/postgresql/${{ matrix.postgres }}/main/postgresql.conf
          sudo sed -i 's/.*ssl = .*/ssl = on/' /etc/postgresql/${{ matrix.postgres }}/main/postgresql.conf
          openssl req -new -x509 -nodes -days 365 -text -subj "/CN=localhost" -extensions v3_req -config <(cat /etc/ssl/openssl.cnf <(printf "\n[v3_req]\nbasicConstraints=critical,CA:TRUE\nkeyUsage=nonRepudiation,digitalSignature,keyEncipherment\nsubjectAltName=DNS:localhost")) -keyout server.key -out server.crt
          sudo cp server.key /etc/postgresql/${{ matrix.postgres }}/main/server.key
          sudo cp server.crt /etc/postgresql/${{ matrix.postgres }}/main/server.crt
          sudo chmod og-rwx /etc/postgresql/${{ matrix.postgres }}/main/server.key
          sudo systemctl start postgresql.service
          sudo systemctl status postgresql.service
          pg_isready
          sudo -u postgres psql -c "SHOW hba_file;"
      - uses: denoland/setup-deno@v1
        with:
          deno-version: v1.x
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node }}
      - run: npm test
        env:
          PGUSER: postgres
          PGSOCKET: /var/run/postgresql

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: test
 
on: [push, pull_request]
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  test:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Node v${{ matrix.node }} on PostgreSQL v${{ matrix.postgres }}
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        node: ['12', '14', '16', '18', '20', '21', '22', '23', '24']
        postgres: ['12', '13', '14', '15', '16', '17']
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    services:
      postgres:
        image: postgres:${{ matrix.postgres }}
        env:
          POSTGRES_USER: postgres
          POSTGRES_HOST_AUTH_METHOD: trust
        ports:
          - 5433:5432
        options: >-
          --health-cmd pg_isready
          --health-interval 10s
          --health-timeout 5s
          --health-retries 5
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - run: |
          date
          sudo apt purge postgresql-16
          sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://apt.postgresql.org/pub/repos/apt $(lsb_release -cs)-pgdg main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pgdg.list'
          wget --quiet -O - https://www.postgresql.org/media/keys/ACCC4CF8.asc | sudo apt-key add -
          sudo apt-get update
          sudo apt-get -y install "postgresql-${{ matrix.postgres }}"
          sudo cp ./tests/pg_hba.conf /etc/postgresql/${{ matrix.postgres }}/main/pg_hba.conf
          sudo sed -i 's/.*wal_level.*/wal_level = logical/' /etc/postgresql/${{ matrix.postgres }}/main/postgresql.conf
          sudo sed -i 's/.*max_prepared_transactions.*/max_prepared_transactions = 100/' /etc/postgresql/${{ matrix.postgres }}/main/postgresql.conf
          sudo sed -i 's/.*ssl = .*/ssl = on/' /etc/postgresql/${{ matrix.postgres }}/main/postgresql.conf
          openssl req -new -x509 -nodes -days 365 -text -subj "/CN=localhost" -extensions v3_req -config <(cat /etc/ssl/openssl.cnf <(printf "\n[v3_req]\nbasicConstraints=critical,CA:TRUE\nkeyUsage=nonRepudiation,digitalSignature,keyEncipherment\nsubjectAltName=DNS:localhost")) -keyout server.key -out server.crt
          sudo cp server.key /etc/postgresql/${{ matrix.postgres }}/main/server.key
          sudo cp server.crt /etc/postgresql/${{ matrix.postgres }}/main/server.crt
          sudo chmod og-rwx /etc/postgresql/${{ matrix.postgres }}/main/server.key
          sudo systemctl start postgresql.service
          sudo systemctl status postgresql.service
          pg_isready
          sudo -u postgres psql -c "SHOW hba_file;"
      - uses: denoland/setup-deno@v1
        with:
          deno-version: v1.x
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node }}
      - run: npm test
        env:
          PGUSER: postgres
          PGSOCKET: /var/run/postgresql

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.

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.

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
Network fetches

This workflow runs 1 job (54 with the matrix expanded) 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 actions/setup-node