Check Firefox Candidate Release workflow (zen-browser/desktop)

The Check Firefox Candidate Release workflow from zen-browser/desktop, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Check Firefox Candidate Release workflow from the zen-browser/desktop repository, a real project running GitHub Actions. It is shown here with attribution under its MPL-2.0 license.

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

The workflow

name: Check Firefox Candidate Release

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "59 4 * * 2"
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  contents: read

jobs:
  check_candidates:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - name: Check out repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Check for any updates
        env:
          DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL }}
          DISCORD_PING_IDS: ${{ secrets.DISCORD_PING_IDS }}
        run: |
          python3 scripts/check_rc_response.py

  sync-upstream:
    name: Sync Upstream
    uses: ./.github/workflows/sync-upstream.yml
    permissions:
      contents: write
    secrets: inherit
    needs: [check_candidates]
    with:
      release_candidate: true

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: Check Firefox Candidate Release
 
on:
  schedule:
    - cron: "59 4 * * 2"
  workflow_dispatch:
 
permissions:
  contents: read
 
jobs:
  check_candidates:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    steps:
      - name: Check out repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
      - name: Check for any updates
        env:
          DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL: ${{ secrets.DISCORD_WEBHOOK_URL }}
          DISCORD_PING_IDS: ${{ secrets.DISCORD_PING_IDS }}
        run: |
          python3 scripts/check_rc_response.py
 
  sync-upstream:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    name: Sync Upstream
    uses: ./.github/workflows/sync-upstream.yml
    permissions:
      contents: write
    secrets: inherit
    needs: [check_candidates]
    with:
      release_candidate: true
 

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 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