Generate Docs workflow (spotty-cloud/spotty)

The Generate Docs workflow from spotty-cloud/spotty, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Generate Docs workflow from the spotty-cloud/spotty 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 workflows will upload a Python Package using Twine when a release is created
# For more information see: https://help.github.com/en/actions/language-and-framework-guides/using-python-with-github-actions#publishing-to-package-registries

name: Generate Docs

on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master

jobs:
  update-doc:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v1
        with:
          python-version: 3.6

      - name: generate docs
        run: |
          cd docs
          pip install -r requirements.txt
          make html
          cd build/html

          touch .nojekyll
          echo "spotty.cloud" > CNAME

          git init
          git config --local user.email "github-bot@spotty.cloud"
          git config --local user.name "Spotty Dev Bot"
          git add .
          git commit -m "generated docs" -a

      - uses: ad-m/github-push-action@master
        with:
          github_token: ${{ secrets.BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          repository: spotty-cloud/website
          force: true
          directory: docs/build/html

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 workflows will upload a Python Package using Twine when a release is created
# For more information see: https://help.github.com/en/actions/language-and-framework-guides/using-python-with-github-actions#publishing-to-package-registries
 
name: Generate Docs
 
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  update-doc:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v1
        with:
          cache: 'pip'
          python-version: 3.6
 
      - name: generate docs
        run: |
          cd docs
          pip install -r requirements.txt
          make html
          cd build/html
 
          touch .nojekyll
          echo "spotty.cloud" > CNAME
 
          git init
          git config --local user.email "github-bot@spotty.cloud"
          git config --local user.name "Spotty Dev Bot"
          git add .
          git commit -m "generated docs" -a
 
      - uses: ad-m/github-push-action@master
        with:
          github_token: ${{ secrets.BOT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          repository: spotty-cloud/website
          force: true
          directory: docs/build/html
 

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.

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

Actions used in this workflow