CI workflow (tailwindlabs/heroicons)

The CI workflow from tailwindlabs/heroicons, explained and optimized by Latchkey.

What it does

This is the CI workflow from the tailwindlabs/heroicons 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

name: CI

on:
  push:
    branches: [master]
  pull_request:
    branches: [master]

permissions:
  contents: read

env:
  CI: true

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    strategy:
      matrix:
        node-version: [18]

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}
        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}
          registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'

      - name: Use cached node_modules
        uses: actions/cache@v3
        with:
          path: node_modules
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ matrix.node-version }}-node_modules-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm install

      - name: Build
        run: npm run build

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: CI on:  push:    branches: [master]  pull_request:    branches: [master] permissions:  contents: read env:  CI: true concurrency:  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}  cancel-in-progress: true jobs:  build:    timeout-minutes: 30    runs-on: latchkey-small     strategy:      matrix:        node-version: [18]     steps:      - uses: actions/checkout@v3       - name: Use Node.js ${{ matrix.node-version }}        uses: actions/setup-node@v3        with:          cache: 'npm'          node-version: ${{ matrix.node-version }}          registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'       - name: Use cached node_modules        uses: actions/cache@v3        with:          path: node_modules          key: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ matrix.node-version }}-node_modules-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}       - name: Install dependencies        run: npm install       - name: Build        run: npm run build 

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 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

Frequently asked questions

References

• Node.js documentation
• npm CLI documentation
• GitHub Actions documentation