Release workflow (Suwmlee/ikaros)

The Release workflow from Suwmlee/ikaros, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Release workflow from the Suwmlee/ikaros 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:
    branches:
      - master
jobs:
  buildDocker:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          node-version: '16'
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm install --only=production

      - name: Semantic Release
        id: semantic
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        run: npx semantic-release

      - name: Set up QEMU
        if: ${{ env.VERSION_TAG != '' }}
        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@v2

      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        if: ${{ env.VERSION_TAG != '' }}
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v2

      - name: Login to DockerHub
        if: ${{ env.VERSION_TAG != '' }}
        uses: docker/login-action@v2
        with:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}

      - name: Build and push
        if: ${{ env.VERSION_TAG != '' }}
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v3
        with:
          context: .
          file: ./docker/Dockerfile
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
          push: true
          tags: suwmlee/ikaros:latest,suwmlee/ikaros:${{ env.VERSION_TAG }}

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: Release
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  buildDocker:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v2
        with:
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version: '16'
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm install --only=production
 
      - name: Semantic Release
        id: semantic
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        run: npx semantic-release
 
      - name: Set up QEMU
        if: ${{ env.VERSION_TAG != '' }}
        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@v2
 
      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
        if: ${{ env.VERSION_TAG != '' }}
        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v2
 
      - name: Login to DockerHub
        if: ${{ env.VERSION_TAG != '' }}
        uses: docker/login-action@v2
        with:
          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_USERNAME }}
          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKERHUB_TOKEN }}
 
      - name: Build and push
        if: ${{ env.VERSION_TAG != '' }}
        uses: docker/build-push-action@v3
        with:
          context: .
          file: ./docker/Dockerfile
          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
          push: true
          tags: suwmlee/ikaros:latest,suwmlee/ikaros:${{ env.VERSION_TAG }}
 

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.

4 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
• Container pulls and builds

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