Dependabot auto-approve workflow (trpc/trpc)

The Dependabot auto-approve workflow from trpc/trpc, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: trpc/trpc.github/workflows/dependabot-approve.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the Dependabot auto-approve workflow from the trpc/trpc 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)

# https://stackoverflow.com/q/70664840/590396
name: Dependabot auto-approve
on: pull_request_target

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  dependabot:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'dependabot[bot]' || github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'renovate[bot]' }}
    steps:
      - name: Approve a PR
        run: gh pr review --approve "$PR_URL"
        env:
          PR_URL: ${{github.event.pull_request.html_url}}
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{secrets.TRPC_GITHUB_TOKEN}}

      - name: Enable auto-merge for Dependabot PRs
        run: gh pr merge --auto --squash "$PR_URL"
        env:
          PR_URL: ${{github.event.pull_request.html_url}}
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{secrets.TRPC_GITHUB_TOKEN}}

The same workflow, on Latchkey

Removes redundant runs and caps runaway jobs. Added and changed lines are highlighted.

# https://stackoverflow.com/q/70664840/590396
name: Dependabot auto-approve
on: pull_request_target
 
permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write
 
jobs:
  dependabot:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    if: ${{ github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'dependabot[bot]' || github.event.pull_request.user.login == 'renovate[bot]' }}
    steps:
      - name: Approve a PR
        run: gh pr review --approve "$PR_URL"
        env:
          PR_URL: ${{github.event.pull_request.html_url}}
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{secrets.TRPC_GITHUB_TOKEN}}
 
      - name: Enable auto-merge for Dependabot PRs
        run: gh pr merge --auto --squash "$PR_URL"
        env:
          PR_URL: ${{github.event.pull_request.html_url}}
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{secrets.TRPC_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.
Add a job timeout so a hung step cannot burn hours of runner time.

This workflow runs 1 job per trigger. On Latchkey the same minutes cost up to 58% less than GitHub-hosted, with zero queue time.