Deploy Docs workflow (timqian/chart.xkcd)

The Deploy Docs workflow from timqian/chart.xkcd, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Deploy Docs workflow from the timqian/chart.xkcd 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: Deploy Docs

on:
  push:
    branches: [master, main]
    paths:
      - 'docs/**'
      - 'examples/**'
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    permissions:
      contents: write

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 'lts/*'

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm install

      - name: Configure Git
        run: |
          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
          git config --global credential.helper store
          echo "https://x-access-token:${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}@github.com" > ~/.git-credentials

      - name: Generate and Deploy docs
        run: npm run deployDoc
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

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: Deploy Docs
 
on:
  push:
    branches: [master, main]
    paths:
      - 'docs/**'
      - 'examples/**'
  workflow_dispatch:
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  deploy:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    permissions:
      contents: write
 
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
      - name: Set up Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version: 'lts/*'
 
      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm install
 
      - name: Configure Git
        run: |
          git config user.name "github-actions[bot]"
          git config user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
          git config --global credential.helper store
          echo "https://x-access-token:${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}@github.com" > ~/.git-credentials
 
      - name: Generate and Deploy docs
        run: npm run deployDoc
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 

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.

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