build workflow (senecajs/seneca)

The build workflow from senecajs/seneca, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the build workflow from the senecajs/seneca 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

# This workflow will do a clean install of node dependencies, build the source code and run tests across different versions of node
# For more information see: https://help.github.com/actions/language-and-framework-guides/using-nodejs-with-github-actions

name: build

on:
  push:
    branches: [ master, 3.x ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ master, 3.x ]

jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 12

    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest]
        node-version: [24.x, 22.x, 20.x, 18.x, 16.x]

    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }} 
        
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v2
      with:
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
    - run: npm install
    - run: npm run build --if-present
    - run: npm run coveralls

    - name: Coveralls
      uses: coverallsapp/github-action@master
      with:
        github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        path-to-lcov: ./coverage/lcov.info

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.

# This workflow will do a clean install of node dependencies, build the source code and run tests across different versions of node
# For more information see: https://help.github.com/actions/language-and-framework-guides/using-nodejs-with-github-actions
 
name: build
 
on:
  push:
    branches: [ master, 3.x ]
  pull_request:
    branches: [ master, 3.x ]
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 12
 
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest, macos-latest]
        node-version: [24.x, 22.x, 20.x, 18.x, 16.x]
 
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }} 
        
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
      uses: actions/setup-node@v2
      with:
        cache: 'npm'
        node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
    - run: npm install
    - run: npm run build --if-present
    - run: npm run coveralls
 
    - name: Coveralls
      uses: coverallsapp/github-action@master
      with:
        github-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        path-to-lcov: ./coverage/lcov.info
 

What changed

• 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.

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 (15 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