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Build Docs workflow (tiangolo/fastapi)

The Build Docs workflow from tiangolo/fastapi, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

Source: tiangolo/fastapi.github/workflows/build-docs.ymlLicense MITView source
D
CI health grade
53/100
Health score
4
Jobs per trigger
4
Fixes in the optimized version

In short

  1. CI health: D (needs work)
  2. The optimized version below points runs-on at Latchkey managed runners and adds run de-duplication, caching, and job timeouts.

What it does

This is the Build Docs workflow from the tiangolo/fastapi 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

workflow (.yml)
name: Build Docs
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master
  pull_request:
permissions: {}

jobs:
  changes:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    # Required permissions
    permissions:
      pull-requests: read
    timeout-minutes: 5
    # Set job outputs to values from filter step
    outputs:
      docs: ${{ steps.filter.outputs.docs }}
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0 # v7.0.0
      with:
        persist-credentials: false
    # For pull requests it's not necessary to checkout the code but for the main branch it is
    - uses: dorny/paths-filter@fbd0ab8f3e69293af611ebaee6363fc25e6d187d # v4.0.1
      id: filter
      with:
        filters: |
          docs:
            - README.md
            - docs/**
            - docs_src/**
            - pyproject.toml
            - uv.lock
            - .github/workflows/build-docs.yml
            - .github/workflows/deploy-docs.yml
            - scripts/docs.py
  langs:
    needs:
      - changes
    if: ${{ needs.changes.outputs.docs == 'true' }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 5
    outputs:
      langs: ${{ steps.show-langs.outputs.langs }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0 # v7.0.0
        with:
          persist-credentials: false
      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@ece7cb06caefa5fff74198d8649806c4678c61a1 # v6.3.0
        with:
          python-version-file: ".python-version"
      - name: Setup uv
        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@fac544c07dec837d0ccb6301d7b5580bf5edae39 # v8.2.0
        with:
          # Before upgrading uv version, make sure astral-sh/setup-uv knows its checksum.
          # See: https://github.com/astral-sh/setup-uv/issues/851#issuecomment-4282017837
          version: "0.11.18"
          enable-cache: true
          cache-dependency-glob: |
            pyproject.toml
            uv.lock
      - name: Install docs extras
        run: uv sync --locked --no-dev --group docs
      - name: Export Language Codes
        id: show-langs
        run: |
          echo "langs=$(uv run ./scripts/docs.py langs-json)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

  build-docs:
    needs:
      - changes
      - langs
    if: ${{ needs.changes.outputs.docs == 'true' }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 7
    strategy:
      matrix:
        lang: ${{ fromJson(needs.langs.outputs.langs) }}
    steps:
      - name: Dump GitHub context
        env:
          GITHUB_CONTEXT: ${{ toJson(github) }}
        run: echo "$GITHUB_CONTEXT"
      - uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0 # v7.0.0
        with:
          persist-credentials: false
      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@ece7cb06caefa5fff74198d8649806c4678c61a1 # v6.3.0
        with:
          python-version-file: ".python-version"
      - name: Setup uv
        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@fac544c07dec837d0ccb6301d7b5580bf5edae39 # v8.2.0
        with:
          # Before upgrading uv version, make sure astral-sh/setup-uv knows its checksum.
          # See: https://github.com/astral-sh/setup-uv/issues/851#issuecomment-4282017837
          version: "0.11.18"
          enable-cache: true
          cache-dependency-glob: |
            pyproject.toml
            uv.lock
      - name: Install docs extras
        run: uv sync --locked --no-dev --group docs
      - name: Update Languages
        run: uv run ./scripts/docs.py update-languages
      - uses: actions/cache@55cc8345863c7cc4c66a329aec7e433d2d1c52a9 # v6.1.0
        with:
          key: zensical-${{ matrix.lang }}-${{ github.ref }}
          path: site_zensical_src/${{ matrix.lang }}/.cache
      - name: Build Docs
        run: | # zizmor: ignore[template-injection] - comes from trusted source
          uv run ./scripts/docs.py build-lang ${{ matrix.lang }}
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
        with:
          name: docs-site-${{ matrix.lang }}
          # English owns root static assets. Translated pages reference /img, /css,
          # and /js, so omit duplicated language-local copies from artifacts.
          path: |
            ./site/**
            !./site/${{ matrix.lang }}/img/**
            !./site/${{ matrix.lang }}/css/**
            !./site/${{ matrix.lang }}/js/**
          include-hidden-files: true

  # https://github.com/marketplace/actions/alls-green#why
  docs-all-green:  # This job does nothing and is only used for the branch protection
    if: always()
    needs:
      - langs
      - build-docs
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Decide whether the needed jobs succeeded or failed
        uses: re-actors/alls-green@05ac9388f0aebcb5727afa17fcccfecd6f8ec5fe # v1.2.2
        with:
          jobs: ${{ toJSON(needs) }}
          allowed-skips: langs, build-docs

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.

workflow (.yml), optimized
name: Build Docs
on:
  push:
    branches:
      - master
  pull_request:
permissions: {}

concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

jobs:
  changes:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    # Required permissions
    permissions:
      pull-requests: read
    timeout-minutes: 5
    # Set job outputs to values from filter step
    outputs:
      docs: ${{ steps.filter.outputs.docs }}
    steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0 # v7.0.0
      with:
        persist-credentials: false
    # For pull requests it's not necessary to checkout the code but for the main branch it is
    - uses: dorny/paths-filter@fbd0ab8f3e69293af611ebaee6363fc25e6d187d # v4.0.1
      id: filter
      with:
        filters: |
          docs:
            - README.md
            - docs/**
            - docs_src/**
            - pyproject.toml
            - uv.lock
            - .github/workflows/build-docs.yml
            - .github/workflows/deploy-docs.yml
            - scripts/docs.py
  langs:
    needs:
      - changes
    if: ${{ needs.changes.outputs.docs == 'true' }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    timeout-minutes: 5
    outputs:
      langs: ${{ steps.show-langs.outputs.langs }}
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0 # v7.0.0
        with:
          persist-credentials: false
      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@ece7cb06caefa5fff74198d8649806c4678c61a1 # v6.3.0
        with:
          cache: 'pip'
          python-version-file: ".python-version"
      - name: Setup uv
        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@fac544c07dec837d0ccb6301d7b5580bf5edae39 # v8.2.0
        with:
          # Before upgrading uv version, make sure astral-sh/setup-uv knows its checksum.
          # See: https://github.com/astral-sh/setup-uv/issues/851#issuecomment-4282017837
          version: "0.11.18"
          enable-cache: true
          cache-dependency-glob: |
            pyproject.toml
            uv.lock
      - name: Install docs extras
        run: uv sync --locked --no-dev --group docs
      - name: Export Language Codes
        id: show-langs
        run: |
          echo "langs=$(uv run ./scripts/docs.py langs-json)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

  build-docs:
    needs:
      - changes
      - langs
    if: ${{ needs.changes.outputs.docs == 'true' }}
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    timeout-minutes: 7
    strategy:
      matrix:
        lang: ${{ fromJson(needs.langs.outputs.langs) }}
    steps:
      - name: Dump GitHub context
        env:
          GITHUB_CONTEXT: ${{ toJson(github) }}
        run: echo "$GITHUB_CONTEXT"
      - uses: actions/checkout@9c091bb21b7c1c1d1991bb908d89e4e9dddfe3e0 # v7.0.0
        with:
          persist-credentials: false
      - name: Set up Python
        uses: actions/setup-python@ece7cb06caefa5fff74198d8649806c4678c61a1 # v6.3.0
        with:
          cache: 'pip'
          python-version-file: ".python-version"
      - name: Setup uv
        uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@fac544c07dec837d0ccb6301d7b5580bf5edae39 # v8.2.0
        with:
          # Before upgrading uv version, make sure astral-sh/setup-uv knows its checksum.
          # See: https://github.com/astral-sh/setup-uv/issues/851#issuecomment-4282017837
          version: "0.11.18"
          enable-cache: true
          cache-dependency-glob: |
            pyproject.toml
            uv.lock
      - name: Install docs extras
        run: uv sync --locked --no-dev --group docs
      - name: Update Languages
        run: uv run ./scripts/docs.py update-languages
      - uses: actions/cache@55cc8345863c7cc4c66a329aec7e433d2d1c52a9 # v6.1.0
        with:
          key: zensical-${{ matrix.lang }}-${{ github.ref }}
          path: site_zensical_src/${{ matrix.lang }}/.cache
      - name: Build Docs
        run: | # zizmor: ignore[template-injection] - comes from trusted source
          uv run ./scripts/docs.py build-lang ${{ matrix.lang }}
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7.0.1
        with:
          name: docs-site-${{ matrix.lang }}
          # English owns root static assets. Translated pages reference /img, /css,
          # and /js, so omit duplicated language-local copies from artifacts.
          path: |
            ./site/**
            !./site/${{ matrix.lang }}/img/**
            !./site/${{ matrix.lang }}/css/**
            !./site/${{ matrix.lang }}/js/**
          include-hidden-files: true

  # https://github.com/marketplace/actions/alls-green#why
  docs-all-green:  # This job does nothing and is only used for the branch protection
    timeout-minutes: 30
    if: always()
    needs:
      - langs
      - build-docs
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - name: Decide whether the needed jobs succeeded or failed
        uses: re-actors/alls-green@05ac9388f0aebcb5727afa17fcccfecd6f8ec5fe # v1.2.2
        with:
          jobs: ${{ toJSON(needs) }}
          allowed-skips: langs, build-docs

What changed

  1. Run on Latchkey managed runners with one line (runs-on), which apply the fixes below automatically and self-heal transient failures. Each Linux x64 job moves to the Latchkey size matching its vCPU count, latchkey-small for a standard 2 vCPU runner; macOS, Windows and arm64 jobs stay as written.
  2. Cancel superseded runs when a branch or PR gets a newer push.
  3. Cache dependency installs on the setup step so they are served from cache.
  4. Add a job timeout so a hung step cannot burn hours of runner time.

This workflow runs 4 jobs per trigger. All of them run on a standard GitHub-hosted Linux x64 runner, which in a private repository bills $0.006 a minute against $0.0025 on latchkey-small, 58% lower; in a public repository like this one they are free. Estimate the monthly difference with your own run counts.

Actions used in this workflow

  • actions/checkout
  • dorny/paths-filter
  • actions/setup-python
  • astral-sh/setup-uv
  • actions/cache
  • actions/upload-artifact
  • re-actors/alls-green

Frequently asked questions

What does the Build Docs workflow (tiangolo/fastapi) workflow do?
This is the Build Docs workflow from the tiangolo/fastapi repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its MIT license.
What CI health grade does this workflow get?
This Python workflow grades D. Paste your own workflow into the Latchkey grader to see its grade and the exact fixes.
How can I improve this Python workflow?
Add run de-duplication, caching, and job timeouts. Latchkey applies these automatically on managed runners when you point runs-on at Latchkey.

References