Publish Package to npmjs workflow (RetireJS/retire.js)

The Publish Package to npmjs workflow from RetireJS/retire.js, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Publish Package to npmjs workflow from the RetireJS/retire.js repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its Apache-2.0 license.

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

The workflow

name: Publish Package to npmjs
on:
  release:
    types: [published]
permissions:
  contents: read
  id-token: write

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 10

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: "24.x"
          registry-url: "https://registry.npmjs.org"
      - run: npm install -g npm
        working-directory: node
      - run: npm ci
        working-directory: node
      - name: Lint
        run: npm run check
        working-directory: node
      - name: Build
        run: npm run build
        working-directory: node
      - name: Integration test
        run: npm run test
        working-directory: node
      - run: npm publish --provenance --access public
        working-directory: node
        env:
          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}

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: Publish Package to npmjs
on:
  release:
    types: [published]
permissions:
  contents: read
  id-token: write
 
jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    timeout-minutes: 10
 
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version: "24.x"
          registry-url: "https://registry.npmjs.org"
      - run: npm install -g npm
        working-directory: node
      - run: npm ci
        working-directory: node
      - name: Lint
        run: npm run check
        working-directory: node
      - name: Build
        run: npm run build
        working-directory: node
      - name: Integration test
        run: npm run test
        working-directory: node
      - run: npm publish --provenance --access public
        working-directory: node
        env:
          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
 

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.
• Cache dependency installs on the setup step so they are served from cache.

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