Issue labeler workflow (zen-browser/desktop)

The Issue labeler workflow from zen-browser/desktop, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the Issue labeler 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: Issue labeler
on:
  issues:
    types: [opened]

permissions:
  contents: read

jobs:
  label-component:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    permissions:
      # required for all workflows
      issues: write

      # only required for workflows in private repositories
      actions: read
      contents: read

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Parse issue form
        uses: stefanbuck/github-issue-parser@v3
        id: issue-parser
        with:
          template-path: .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml

      - name: Set labels based on animals field
        uses: redhat-plumbers-in-action/advanced-issue-labeler@v2
        with:
          issue-form: ${{ steps.issue-parser.outputs.jsonString }}
          token: ${{ secrets.DEPLOY_KEY }}

The same workflow, on Latchkey

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

name: Issue labeler
on:
  issues:
    types: [opened]
 
permissions:
  contents: read
 
jobs:
  label-component:
    timeout-minutes: 30
    runs-on: latchkey-small
 
    permissions:
      # required for all workflows
      issues: write
 
      # only required for workflows in private repositories
      actions: read
      contents: read
 
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
 
      - name: Parse issue form
        uses: stefanbuck/github-issue-parser@v3
        id: issue-parser
        with:
          template-path: .github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/bug_report.yml
 
      - name: Set labels based on animals field
        uses: redhat-plumbers-in-action/advanced-issue-labeler@v2
        with:
          issue-form: ${{ steps.issue-parser.outputs.jsonString }}
          token: ${{ secrets.DEPLOY_KEY }}
 

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.

2 third-party actions are referenced by a movable tag. Pin them to the commit SHA (Latchkey resolves and applies this automatically) so a repointed tag cannot change what runs.

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