Backport merged pull request workflow (pynamodb/PynamoDB)

The Backport merged pull request workflow from pynamodb/PynamoDB, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Backport merged pull request workflow from the pynamodb/PynamoDB 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: Backport merged pull request
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [closed]
permissions:
  contents: write # so it can comment
  pull-requests: write # so it can create pull requests
jobs:
  backport:
    name: Backport pull request
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    # Don't run on closed unmerged pull requests
    if: github.event.pull_request.merged
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Create backport pull requests
        uses: korthout/backport-action@v1

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: Backport merged pull request
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [closed]
permissions:
  contents: write # so it can comment
  pull-requests: write # so it can create pull requests
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  backport:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Backport pull request
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    # Don't run on closed unmerged pull requests
    if: github.event.pull_request.merged
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
      - name: Create backport pull requests
        uses: korthout/backport-action@v1
 

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• Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.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.

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