Run Tests workflow (regl-project/regl)

The Run Tests workflow from regl-project/regl, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Run Tests workflow from the regl-project/regl 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: Run Tests

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - main
  pull_request:

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [20.x]
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          sudo apt-get install xvfb libxi-dev mesa-utils libgl1-mesa-dri libglapi-mesa libosmesa6 
          npm install

      - name: Run tests
        uses: coactions/setup-xvfb@v1.0.1
        with:
          run: npm test

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:
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  test:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [20.x]
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
 
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: |
          sudo apt-get install xvfb libxi-dev mesa-utils libgl1-mesa-dri libglapi-mesa libosmesa6 
          npm install
 
      - name: Run tests
        uses: coactions/setup-xvfb@v1.0.1
        with:
          run: npm test
 

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• Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.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

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