release-please workflow (yargs/yargs)

The release-please workflow from yargs/yargs, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

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Source: yargs/yargs.github/workflows/release-please.ymlLicense MITView source

What it does

This is the release-please workflow from the yargs/yargs 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)

on:
   push:
     branches:
       - main
name: release-please
permissions: {}
jobs:
  release-please:
    permissions:
      contents: write # to create release commit (google-github-actions/release-please-action)
      pull-requests: write # to create release PR (google-github-actions/release-please-action)

    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: google-github-actions/release-please-action@v4
        id: release
        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          release-type: node
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v1
        with:
          node-version: 22
      - run: npm install npm@latest -g
      - run: npm install
      - run: npm run compile
      - name: push Deno release
        run: |
          git config user.name github-actions[bot]
          git config user.email 41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com
          git remote add gh-token "https://${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN}}@github.com/yargs/yargs.git"
          git checkout -b deno
          git add -f build
          git commit -a -m 'chore: ${{ steps.release.outputs.tag_name }} release'
          git push origin +deno
          git tag -a ${{ steps.release.outputs.tag_name }}-deno -m 'chore: ${{ steps.release.outputs.tag_name }} release'
          git push origin ${{ steps.release.outputs.tag_name }}-deno
        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.release_created }}
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v1
        with:
          node-version: 22
          registry-url: 'https://external-dot-oss-automation.appspot.com/'
        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.release_created }}
      - run: npm install
        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.release_created }}
      - run: npm publish
        env:
          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{secrets.NPM_TOKEN}}
        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.release_created }}

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.

on:
   push:
     branches:
       - main
name: release-please
permissions: {}
concurrency:
   group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
   cancel-in-progress: true
 
jobs:
  release-please:
    permissions:
      contents: write # to create release commit (google-github-actions/release-please-action)
      pull-requests: write # to create release PR (google-github-actions/release-please-action)
 
    runs-on: latchkey-small
    steps:
      - uses: google-github-actions/release-please-action@v4
        id: release
        with:
          token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
          release-type: node
      - uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v1
        with:
           cache: 'npm'
          node-version: 22
      - run: npm install npm@latest -g
      - run: npm install
      - run: npm run compile
      - name: push Deno release
        run: |
          git config user.name github-actions[bot]
          git config user.email 41898282+github-actions[bot]@users.noreply.github.com
          git remote add gh-token "https://${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN}}@github.com/yargs/yargs.git"
          git checkout -b deno
          git add -f build
          git commit -a -m 'chore: ${{ steps.release.outputs.tag_name }} release'
          git push origin +deno
          git tag -a ${{ steps.release.outputs.tag_name }}-deno -m 'chore: ${{ steps.release.outputs.tag_name }} release'
          git push origin ${{ steps.release.outputs.tag_name }}-deno
        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.release_created }}
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v1
        with:
           cache: 'npm'
          node-version: 22
          registry-url: 'https://external-dot-oss-automation.appspot.com/'
        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.release_created }}
      - run: npm install
        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.release_created }}
      - run: npm publish
        env:
          NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{secrets.NPM_TOKEN}}
        if: ${{ steps.release.outputs.release_created }}

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.

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 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/checkout actions/setup-node