Build README workflow (tw93/tw93)

The Build README workflow from tw93/tw93, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Build README workflow from the tw93/tw93 repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its Apache-2.0 license.

Below, Latchkey shows a faster, safer version produced by its optimization engine.

The workflow

name: Build README

on:
  push:
  workflow_dispatch:
  schedule:
    - cron:  '0 */6 * * *'

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - name: Check out repo
      uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - name: Set up Python
      uses: actions/setup-python@v2
      with:
        python-version: 3.8
    - uses: actions/cache@v4
      name: Configure pip caching
      with:
        path: ~/.cache/pip
        key: ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements.txt') }}
        restore-keys: |
          ${{ runner.os }}-pip-
    - name: Install Python dependencies
      run: |
        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
        python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
    - name: Update README
      env:
        GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}
      run: |-
        python build_readme.py
        cat README.md
    - name: Commit and push if changed
      run: |-
        git diff
        git config --global user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
        git config --global user.name "github-actions[bot]"
        git pull
        git add -A
        git commit -m "Updated content" || exit 0
        git push

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 README
 
on:
  push:
  workflow_dispatch:
  schedule:
    - cron:  '0 */6 * * *'
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
    - name: Check out repo
      uses: actions/checkout@v2
    - name: Set up Python
      uses: actions/setup-python@v2
      with:
        cache: 'pip'
        python-version: 3.8
    - uses: actions/cache@v4
      name: Configure pip caching
      with:
        path: ~/.cache/pip
        key: ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements.txt') }}
        restore-keys: |
          ${{ runner.os }}-pip-
    - name: Install Python dependencies
      run: |
        python -m pip install --upgrade pip
        python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
    - name: Update README
      env:
        GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GH_TOKEN }}
      run: |-
        python build_readme.py
        cat README.md
    - name: Commit and push if changed
      run: |-
        git diff
        git config --global user.email "github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com"
        git config --global user.name "github-actions[bot]"
        git pull
        git add -A
        git commit -m "Updated content" || exit 0
        git push
 

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