Test and Build workflow (rsagroup/rsatoolbox)

The Test and Build workflow from rsagroup/rsatoolbox, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

CI health: D - needs work

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Source: rsagroup/rsatoolbox.github/workflows/testbuild.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the Test and Build workflow from the rsagroup/rsatoolbox 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: Test and Build

on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]
  workflow_call:

permissions:
  contents: read

jobs:

  tests:
    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      with:
        fetch-depth: 0
    - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
      with:
        python-version: '3.11'
    - name: Python Version
      run: python --version
    - name: Update Pip
      run: python -m pip install --upgrade pip
    - name: Install dependencies
      run: pip install -r requirements.txt
    - name: Install rsatoolbox
      run: pip install .
    - name: Install test dependencies
      run: pip install -r tests/requirements.txt
    - name: Skeleton tests
      run: python -m unittest -v rsatoolbox.test
    - name: Unit tests
      run: pytest

  source:
    needs: tests
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        python-version: ['3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13', '3.14']
        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      with:
        fetch-depth: 0
    - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
      with:
        python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
    - name: Python Version
      run: python --version
    - name: Update Pip
      run: python -m pip install --upgrade pip
    - name: Install Build
      run: pip install build setuptools
    - name: Build package
      run: python -m build --sdist
    - name: Test package for corruption
      run: gzip -t dist/*
    - name: Install rsatoolbox (Linux, Mac)
      run: pip install dist/*
      if: matrix.os != 'windows-latest'
    - name: Install rsatoolbox (Windows)
      run: |
        $sdistfname = Get-ChildItem dist -Name
        pip install dist/$sdistfname
      if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
    - name: Install test dependencies
      run: pip install -r tests/requirements.txt
    - name: Skeleton tests
      run: python -m unittest -v rsatoolbox.test
    - name: Unit tests
      run: pytest
    - name: Check package compliance
      run: |
        pip install -q twine
        twine check dist/*
    - name: Store artifact
      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
      with:
        name: source-${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.python-version }}
        path: dist/*
        if-no-files-found: error
        retention-days: 1

  binaries:
    needs: tests
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      with:
        fetch-depth: 0
    - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
      with:
        python-version: '3.12'
    - name: Python Version
      run: python --version
    - name: Update Pip
      run: python -m pip install --upgrade pip
    - name: Install cibuildwheel
      run: python -m pip install cibuildwheel~=3.3.1
    - name: Build wheels
      run: python -m cibuildwheel --output-dir dist
    - name: Check package compliance
      run: |
        pip install -q twine
        twine check dist/*
    - name: Store artifact
      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
      with:
        name: wheels-${{ matrix.os }}
        path: dist/*.whl
        if-no-files-found: error
        retention-days: 1

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: Test and Build
 
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [opened, synchronize, reopened]
  workflow_call:
 
permissions:
  contents: read
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
 
  tests:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      with:
        fetch-depth: 0
    - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
      with:
        cache: 'pip'
        python-version: '3.11'
    - name: Python Version
      run: python --version
    - name: Update Pip
      run: python -m pip install --upgrade pip
    - name: Install dependencies
      run: pip install -r requirements.txt
    - name: Install rsatoolbox
      run: pip install .
    - name: Install test dependencies
      run: pip install -r tests/requirements.txt
    - name: Skeleton tests
      run: python -m unittest -v rsatoolbox.test
    - name: Unit tests
      run: pytest
 
  source:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    needs: tests
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        python-version: ['3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13', '3.14']
        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      with:
        fetch-depth: 0
    - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
      with:
        cache: 'pip'
        python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
    - name: Python Version
      run: python --version
    - name: Update Pip
      run: python -m pip install --upgrade pip
    - name: Install Build
      run: pip install build setuptools
    - name: Build package
      run: python -m build --sdist
    - name: Test package for corruption
      run: gzip -t dist/*
    - name: Install rsatoolbox (Linux, Mac)
      run: pip install dist/*
      if: matrix.os != 'windows-latest'
    - name: Install rsatoolbox (Windows)
      run: |
        $sdistfname = Get-ChildItem dist -Name
        pip install dist/$sdistfname
      if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
    - name: Install test dependencies
      run: pip install -r tests/requirements.txt
    - name: Skeleton tests
      run: python -m unittest -v rsatoolbox.test
    - name: Unit tests
      run: pytest
    - name: Check package compliance
      run: |
        pip install -q twine
        twine check dist/*
    - name: Store artifact
      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
      with:
        name: source-${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.python-version }}
        path: dist/*
        if-no-files-found: error
        retention-days: 1
 
  binaries:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    needs: tests
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      with:
        fetch-depth: 0
    - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
      with:
        cache: 'pip'
        python-version: '3.12'
    - name: Python Version
      run: python --version
    - name: Update Pip
      run: python -m pip install --upgrade pip
    - name: Install cibuildwheel
      run: python -m pip install cibuildwheel~=3.3.1
    - name: Build wheels
      run: python -m cibuildwheel --output-dir dist
    - name: Check package compliance
      run: |
        pip install -q twine
        twine check dist/*
    - name: Store artifact
      uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
      with:
        name: wheels-${{ matrix.os }}
        path: dist/*.whl
        if-no-files-found: error
        retention-days: 1

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.

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 3 jobs (19 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