Documentation workflow (version-fox/vfox)

The Documentation workflow from version-fox/vfox, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

CI health: D - needs work

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Source: version-fox/vfox.github/workflows/documentation.ymlLicense Apache-2.0View source

What it does

This is the Documentation workflow from the version-fox/vfox 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

workflow (.yml)

name: Documentation

on:
  # trigger deployment on push to master branch when changes to docs/**
  push:
    paths:
      - "docs/**"
    branches:
      - main
  # trigger deployment manually
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  contents: write
  pages: write
  id-token: write

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: docs/

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
        with:
          # fetch all commits to get last updated time or other git log info
          fetch-depth: 0

      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          node-version: "20"

      - name: Cache dependencies
        uses: actions/cache@v5
        id: npm-cache
        with:
          path: |
            **/node_modules
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-npm-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-npm-

      - name: Install dependencies
        if: steps.npm-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
        run: npm install

      - name: Build VitePress site
        run: npm run docs:build

      - name: Bundle CNAME with site dist
        run: cp CNAME .vitepress/dist


      - name: Upload artifact
        uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v5
        with:
          path: docs/.vitepress/dist
  # Deployment job
  deploy:
    environment:
      name: github-pages
      url: ${{ steps.deployment.outputs.page_url }}
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: Deploy
    steps:
      - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
        id: deployment
        uses: actions/deploy-pages@v5

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: Documentation
 
on:
  # trigger deployment on push to master branch when changes to docs/**
  push:
    paths:
      - "docs/**"
    branches:
      - main
  # trigger deployment manually
  workflow_dispatch:
 
permissions:
  contents: write
  pages: write
  id-token: write
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  build:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    defaults:
      run:
        working-directory: docs/
 
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
        with:
          # fetch all commits to get last updated time or other git log info
          fetch-depth: 0
 
      - name: Setup Node.js
        uses: actions/setup-node@v6
        with:
          cache: 'npm'
          node-version: "20"
 
      - name: Cache dependencies
        uses: actions/cache@v5
        id: npm-cache
        with:
          path: |
            **/node_modules
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-npm-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-npm-
 
      - name: Install dependencies
        if: steps.npm-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
        run: npm install
 
      - name: Build VitePress site
        run: npm run docs:build
 
      - name: Bundle CNAME with site dist
        run: cp CNAME .vitepress/dist
 
 
      - name: Upload artifact
        uses: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v5
        with:
          path: docs/.vitepress/dist
  # Deployment job
  deploy:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    environment:
      name: github-pages
      url: ${{ steps.deployment.outputs.page_url }}
    needs: build
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    name: Deploy
    steps:
      - name: Deploy to GitHub Pages
        id: deployment
        uses: actions/deploy-pages@v5

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 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

actions/checkout actions/setup-node actions/cache actions/upload-pages-artifact actions/deploy-pages