build workflow (square/retrofit)

The build workflow from square/retrofit, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: square/retrofit.github/workflows/build.ymlLicense Apache-2.0View source

What it does

This is the build workflow from the square/retrofit repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its Apache-2.0 license.

Below, Latchkey shows a faster, safer version produced by its optimization engine.

The workflow

workflow (.yml)

name: build

on:
  pull_request: {}
  workflow_dispatch: {}
  push:
    branches:
      - 'trunk'
    tags-ignore:
      - '**'

env:
  GRADLE_OPTS: "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx4g -Dorg.gradle.daemon=false -Dkotlin.incremental=false -Dorg.gradle.logging.stacktrace=full"

jobs:
  jvm:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: actions/setup-java@v5
        with:
          distribution: 'zulu'
          java-version-file: .github/workflows/.java-version
      - uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@v5
      - run: ./gradlew build

  android:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        api-level:
          - 21
          - 24
          - 26
          - 29

    steps:
      - name: Enable KVM group perms
        run: |
          echo 'KERNEL=="kvm", GROUP="kvm", MODE="0666", OPTIONS+="static_node=kvm"' | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/99-kvm4all.rules
          sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
          sudo udevadm trigger --name-match=kvm
          ls /dev/kvm

      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: actions/setup-java@v5
        with:
          distribution: 'zulu'
          java-version-file: .github/workflows/.java-version

      - uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@v5

      - name: Run Tests
        uses: reactivecircus/android-emulator-runner@v2
        with:
          api-level: ${{ matrix.api-level }}
          script: ./gradlew connectedCheck
        env:
          API_LEVEL: ${{ matrix.api-level }}

  robovm:
    runs-on: macos-15-intel

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: actions/setup-java@v5
        with:
          distribution: 'zulu'
          java-version-file: .github/workflows/.java-version

      - uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@v5

      - name: Run Tests
        run: ./gradlew retrofit:robovm-test:robovmTest

  website:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: actions/setup-java@v5
        with:
          distribution: 'zulu'
          java-version-file: .github/workflows/.java-version
      - uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@v5

      - name: Build snapshot website
        run: |
          ./gradlew copyWebsiteDocs
          cd website
          npm install && npm run build -- --mode snapshot

      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: website
          path: website/dist
          if-no-files-found: error

  final-status:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
    needs:
      - jvm
      - android
      - robovm
      - website
    steps:
      - name: Check
        run: |
          results=$(tr -d '\n' <<< '${{ toJSON(needs.*.result) }}')
          if ! grep -q -v -E '(failure|cancelled)' <<< "$results"; then
            echo "One or more required jobs failed"
            exit 1
          fi

  publish:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: github.repository == 'square/retrofit' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/trunk'
    needs:
      - final-status

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: actions/setup-java@v5
        with:
          distribution: 'zulu'
          java-version-file: .github/workflows/.java-version
      - uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@v5

      - run: ./gradlew publish
        env:
          ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_mavenCentralUsername: ${{ secrets.SONATYPE_CENTRAL_USERNAME }}
          ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_mavenCentralPassword: ${{ secrets.SONATYPE_CENTRAL_PASSWORD }}
          ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_signingInMemoryKey: ${{ secrets.GPG_SECRET_KEY }}
          ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_signingInMemoryKeyPassword: ${{ secrets.GPG_SECRET_PASSPHRASE }}

      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
        with:
          name: website
          path: website/dist

      - name: Deploy snapshot website
        uses: JamesIves/github-pages-deploy-action@releases/v3
        with:
          branch: site
          folder: website/dist
          target_folder: latest
          clean: true

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: build
 
on:
  pull_request: {}
  workflow_dispatch: {}
  push:
    branches:
      - 'trunk'
    tags-ignore:
      - '**'
 
env:
  GRADLE_OPTS: "-Dorg.gradle.jvmargs=-Xmx4g -Dorg.gradle.daemon=false -Dkotlin.incremental=false -Dorg.gradle.logging.stacktrace=full"
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  jvm:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: actions/setup-java@v5
        with:
          cache: 'maven'
          distribution: 'zulu'
          java-version-file: .github/workflows/.java-version
      - uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@v5
      - run: ./gradlew build
 
  android:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        api-level:
          - 21
          - 24
          - 26
          - 29
 
    steps:
      - name: Enable KVM group perms
        run: |
          echo 'KERNEL=="kvm", GROUP="kvm", MODE="0666", OPTIONS+="static_node=kvm"' | sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/99-kvm4all.rules
          sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
          sudo udevadm trigger --name-match=kvm
          ls /dev/kvm
 
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: actions/setup-java@v5
        with:
          cache: 'maven'
          distribution: 'zulu'
          java-version-file: .github/workflows/.java-version
 
      - uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@v5
 
      - name: Run Tests
        uses: reactivecircus/android-emulator-runner@v2
        with:
          api-level: ${{ matrix.api-level }}
          script: ./gradlew connectedCheck
        env:
          API_LEVEL: ${{ matrix.api-level }}
 
  robovm:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: macos-15-intel
 
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: actions/setup-java@v5
        with:
          cache: 'maven'
          distribution: 'zulu'
          java-version-file: .github/workflows/.java-version
 
      - uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@v5
 
      - name: Run Tests
        run: ./gradlew retrofit:robovm-test:robovmTest
 
  website:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: actions/setup-java@v5
        with:
          cache: 'maven'
          distribution: 'zulu'
          java-version-file: .github/workflows/.java-version
      - uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@v5
 
      - name: Build snapshot website
        run: |
          ./gradlew copyWebsiteDocs
          cd website
          npm install && npm run build -- --mode snapshot
 
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
        with:
          name: website
          path: website/dist
          if-no-files-found: error
 
  final-status:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    if: ${{ !cancelled() }}
    needs:
      - jvm
      - android
      - robovm
      - website
    steps:
      - name: Check
        run: |
          results=$(tr -d '\n' <<< '${{ toJSON(needs.*.result) }}')
          if ! grep -q -v -E '(failure|cancelled)' <<< "$results"; then
            echo "One or more required jobs failed"
            exit 1
          fi
 
  publish:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    if: github.repository == 'square/retrofit' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/trunk'
    needs:
      - final-status
 
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - uses: actions/setup-java@v5
        with:
          cache: 'maven'
          distribution: 'zulu'
          java-version-file: .github/workflows/.java-version
      - uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@v5
 
      - run: ./gradlew publish
        env:
          ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_mavenCentralUsername: ${{ secrets.SONATYPE_CENTRAL_USERNAME }}
          ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_mavenCentralPassword: ${{ secrets.SONATYPE_CENTRAL_PASSWORD }}
          ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_signingInMemoryKey: ${{ secrets.GPG_SECRET_KEY }}
          ORG_GRADLE_PROJECT_signingInMemoryKeyPassword: ${{ secrets.GPG_SECRET_PASSPHRASE }}
 
      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
        with:
          name: website
          path: website/dist
 
      - name: Deploy snapshot website
        uses: JamesIves/github-pages-deploy-action@releases/v3
        with:
          branch: site
          folder: website/dist
          target_folder: latest
          clean: true

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.

3 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:

Dependency installs

This workflow runs 6 jobs (9 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-java gradle/actions/setup-gradle actions/upload-artifact actions/download-artifact