Release workflow (SolaWing/xcode-build-server)

The Release workflow from SolaWing/xcode-build-server, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Release workflow from the SolaWing/xcode-build-server 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: Release

on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'

jobs:
    release:
        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
        steps:
        - name: Checkout
          uses: actions/checkout@v3

        - name: Create Release
          uses: ncipollo/release-action@v1

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: Release
 
on:
  push:
    tags:
      - 'v*'
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
    release:
      timeout-minutes: 30
        runs-on: latchkey-small
        steps:
        - name: Checkout
          uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
        - name: Create Release
          uses: ncipollo/release-action@v1

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• Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.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

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.

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