Build and Release on PyPI workflow (trolldbois/ctypeslib)

The Build and Release on PyPI workflow from trolldbois/ctypeslib, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Build and Release on PyPI workflow from the trolldbois/ctypeslib 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: Build and Release on PyPI

on:
  release:
    types: [published]

jobs:
  build-release:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.13'
      - name: Build wheel
        run: |
          pip install build twine
          python -m build
          python -m twine check dist/*
      - name: Upload Python package dist artifacts
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: python-package-dist
          path: dist

  pypi-publish:
    name: Upload release to PyPI
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    needs: build-release
    environment:
      name: pypi
      url: https://pypi.org/p/ctypeslib2
    permissions:
      id-token: write  # IMPORTANT: this permission is mandatory for trusted publishing
    steps:
    - name: Download Python package dist artifacts
      uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
      with:
        name: python-package-dist
        path: dist
    - name: Publish package distributions to PyPI
      uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1

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 and Release on PyPI
 
on:
  release:
    types: [published]
 
jobs:
  build-release:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          cache: 'pip'
          python-version: '3.13'
      - name: Build wheel
        run: |
          pip install build twine
          python -m build
          python -m twine check dist/*
      - name: Upload Python package dist artifacts
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: python-package-dist
          path: dist
 
  pypi-publish:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Upload release to PyPI
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    needs: build-release
    environment:
      name: pypi
      url: https://pypi.org/p/ctypeslib2
    permissions:
      id-token: write  # IMPORTANT: this permission is mandatory for trusted publishing
    steps:
    - name: Download Python package dist artifacts
      uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
      with:
        name: python-package-dist
        path: dist
    - name: Publish package distributions to PyPI
      uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
 

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

Actions used in this workflow