CodeQL Analysis workflow (release-it/release-it)

The CodeQL Analysis workflow from release-it/release-it, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the CodeQL Analysis workflow from the release-it/release-it 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: CodeQL Analysis

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - '**'
    tags:
      - '!**'
  pull_request:

jobs:
  CodeQL-Build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    permissions:
      # required for all workflows
      security-events: write

    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0 # v7.0.0

      - name: Initialize CodeQL
        uses: github/codeql-action/init@99df26d4f13ea111d4ec1a7dddef6063f76b97e9 # v4.37.0
        with:
          languages: javascript

      - name: Perform CodeQL Analysis
        uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@99df26d4f13ea111d4ec1a7dddef6063f76b97e9 # v4.37.0

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: CodeQL Analysis
 
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - '**'
    tags:
      - '!**'
  pull_request:
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  CodeQL-Build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    permissions:
      # required for all workflows
      security-events: write
 
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0 # v7.0.0
 
      - name: Initialize CodeQL
        uses: github/codeql-action/init@99df26d4f13ea111d4ec1a7dddef6063f76b97e9 # v4.37.0
        with:
          languages: javascript
 
      - name: Perform CodeQL Analysis
        uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@99df26d4f13ea111d4ec1a7dddef6063f76b97e9 # v4.37.0
 

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• Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.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

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