Dependabot workflow (webpack/webpack)

The Dependabot workflow from webpack/webpack, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: webpack/webpack.github/workflows/dependabot.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the Dependabot workflow from the webpack/webpack 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)

name: Dependabot

on: pull_request

permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  dependabot-auto-merge:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    if: github.actor == 'dependabot[bot]'
    steps:
      - name: Generate Token
        uses: actions/create-github-app-token@bcd2ba49218906704ab6c1aa796996da409d3eb1 # v3.2.0
        id: app-token
        with:
          app-id: ${{ secrets.BOT_APP_ID }}
          private-key: ${{ secrets.BOT_PRIVATE_KEY }}

      - name: Dependabot metadata
        id: dependabot-metadata
        uses: dependabot/fetch-metadata@25dd0e34f4fe68f24cc83900b1fe3fe149efef98 # v3.1.0
        with:
          github-token: "${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}"

      - name: Enable auto-merge for Dependabot PRs
        if: steps.dependabot-metadata.outputs.update-type != 'version-update:semver-major'
        run: |
          if [ "$(gh pr status --json reviewDecision -q .currentBranch.reviewDecision)" != "APPROVED" ];
          then gh pr review --approve "$PR_URL"
          else echo "PR already approved, skipping additional approvals to minimize emails/notification noise.";
          fi

          gh pr merge --auto --squash "$PR_URL"
        env:
          PR_URL: ${{ github.event.pull_request.html_url }}
          GH_TOKEN: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: Dependabot
 
on: pull_request
 
permissions:
  contents: write
  pull-requests: write
 
concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  dependabot-auto-merge:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    if: github.actor == 'dependabot[bot]'
    steps:
      - name: Generate Token
        uses: actions/create-github-app-token@bcd2ba49218906704ab6c1aa796996da409d3eb1 # v3.2.0
        id: app-token
        with:
          app-id: ${{ secrets.BOT_APP_ID }}
          private-key: ${{ secrets.BOT_PRIVATE_KEY }}
 
      - name: Dependabot metadata
        id: dependabot-metadata
        uses: dependabot/fetch-metadata@25dd0e34f4fe68f24cc83900b1fe3fe149efef98 # v3.1.0
        with:
          github-token: "${{ steps.app-token.outputs.token }}"
 
      - name: Enable auto-merge for Dependabot PRs
        if: steps.dependabot-metadata.outputs.update-type != 'version-update:semver-major'
        run: |
          if [ "$(gh pr status --json reviewDecision -q .currentBranch.reviewDecision)" != "APPROVED" ];
          then gh pr review --approve "$PR_URL"
          else echo "PR already approved, skipping additional approvals to minimize emails/notification noise.";
          fi
 
          gh pr merge --auto --squash "$PR_URL"
        env:
          PR_URL: ${{ github.event.pull_request.html_url }}
          GH_TOKEN: ${{ steps.app-token.outputs.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.
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.

Actions used in this workflow

actions/create-github-app-token