Run tests workflow (posit-dev/orbital)

The Run tests workflow from posit-dev/orbital, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

CI health: F - at risk

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Source: posit-dev/orbital.github/workflows/tests.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the Run tests workflow from the posit-dev/orbital 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: Run tests

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - '**'

jobs:
  tests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        python-version: ['3.10', '3.13', '3.14']

    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
      
      - name: Install uv
        run: |
          pip install uv
      
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          uv sync --dev

      - name: Set up PostgreSQL
        uses: harmon758/postgresql-action@v1
        with:
          postgresql db: orbitaltestdb
          postgresql user: orbitaltestuser
          postgresql password: orbitaltestpassword

      - name: Run Test Suite
        run: |
          uv run pytest -v --tb=short --disable-warnings --maxfail=1 --cov=orbital --cov-report=term-missing --cov-report=xml

      - name: Upload coverage report
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: matrix.python-version == '3.13'
        with:
          name: coverage-report
          path: coverage.xml

  coverage:
    needs: tests
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write
      pull-requests: write
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Download coverage report
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: coverage-report

      - name: Code Coverage Summary
        uses: irongut/CodeCoverageSummary@v1.3.0
        with:
          filename: coverage.xml
          badge: true
          format: markdown
          output: both
          thresholds: '90 95'
          fail_below_min: true

      - name: Add Coverage PR Comment
        uses: marocchino/sticky-pull-request-comment@v2
        if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
        with:
          path: code-coverage-results.md

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: Run tests
 
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  pull_request:
    branches:
      - '**'
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  tests:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    strategy:
      matrix:
        python-version: ['3.10', '3.13', '3.14']
 
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@v4
        with:
          cache: 'pip'
      
      - name: Install uv
        run: |
          pip install uv
      
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          uv sync --dev
 
      - name: Set up PostgreSQL
        uses: harmon758/postgresql-action@v1
        with:
          postgresql db: orbitaltestdb
          postgresql user: orbitaltestuser
          postgresql password: orbitaltestpassword
 
      - name: Run Test Suite
        run: |
          uv run pytest -v --tb=short --disable-warnings --maxfail=1 --cov=orbital --cov-report=term-missing --cov-report=xml
 
      - name: Upload coverage report
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: matrix.python-version == '3.13'
        with:
          name: coverage-report
          path: coverage.xml
 
  coverage:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    needs: tests
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    permissions:
      contents: write
      pull-requests: write
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
      - name: Download coverage report
        uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: coverage-report
 
      - name: Code Coverage Summary
        uses: irongut/CodeCoverageSummary@v1.3.0
        with:
          filename: coverage.xml
          badge: true
          format: markdown
          output: both
          thresholds: '90 95'
          fail_below_min: true
 
      - name: Add Coverage PR Comment
        uses: marocchino/sticky-pull-request-comment@v2
        if: github.event_name == 'pull_request'
        with:
          path: code-coverage-results.md

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.

3 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:

Dependency installs

This workflow runs 2 jobs (4 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-python actions/upload-artifact actions/download-artifact