CI Build workflow (shipshapecode/tether)

The CI Build workflow from shipshapecode/tether, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the CI Build workflow from the shipshapecode/tether 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: CI Build

on:
  pull_request: {}
  push:
    branches:
      - master
    tags:
      - v*

jobs:
  test:
    name: Tests
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4
        with:
          version: 10
      - name: Install Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: pnpm
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: pnpm i
      - name: Cache Cypress binary
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: ~/.cache/Cypress
          key: cypress-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('pnpm-lock.yaml') }}
          restore-keys: |
            cypress-${{ runner.os }}-
      - name: Install Cypress binary
        run: pnpm exec cypress install
      - run: pnpm test
      
  automerge:
    needs: [test]
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      pull-requests: write
      contents: write
    steps:
      - uses: fastify/github-action-merge-dependabot@v3.2.0
        with:
          github-token: ${{secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN}}

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

 
name: CI Build
 
on:
  pull_request: {}
  push:
    branches:
      - master
    tags:
      - v*
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  test:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Tests
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: pnpm/action-setup@v4
        with:
          version: 10
      - name: Install Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 20
          cache: pnpm
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: pnpm i
      - name: Cache Cypress binary
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: ~/.cache/Cypress
          key: cypress-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('pnpm-lock.yaml') }}
          restore-keys: |
            cypress-${{ runner.os }}-
      - name: Install Cypress binary
        run: pnpm exec cypress install
      - run: pnpm test
      
  automerge:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    needs: [test]
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    permissions:
      pull-requests: write
      contents: write
    steps:
      - uses: fastify/github-action-merge-dependabot@v3.2.0
        with:
          github-token: ${{secrets.GITHUB_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.
• 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.

2 third-party actions are referenced by a movable tag. Pin them 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:

• End-to-end and browser tests

This workflow runs 2 jobs per trigger. On Latchkey the same minutes cost up to 58% less than GitHub-hosted, with zero queue time.

Actions used in this workflow