Check the NPM cache configuration on GitHub Actions

[johnbillion]

It appears that the cache configuration for NPM on GitHub Actions isn't having any effect. Running npx install-changed both with and without the cache in place runs in the same time, approximately 1 minute.

Needs investigation.

Ref: ​https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/f2b56883f099b971ebde6c60f32ef9c66f90e78a/.github/workflows/phpunit-tests.yml#L75-L87

Testing: ​https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/75af85ce86404b6a1487637edd741f522026fa50/.github/workflows/phpunit-tests.yml#L55-L63

[johnbillion]

Switching to npm ci reduced the installation time to 25 seconds. Ref: ​https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/runs/1980930196?check_suite_focus=true

[johnbillion]

Blog post about npm cache size snowballing: ​https://glebbahmutov.com/blog/do-not-let-npm-cache-snowball/

[desrosj]

I did some testing in my fork and here's what I found.

When the restore-keys are removed as suggested in the article, the cache size is cut by roughly 40%. The ​last successful build in `trunk` showed the cache was ~119MB, ​my PR (with no prior caching) shows ~73MB.

I think this is a big thumbs up change.

Next I did some testing switching out npx install-changed with npm ci.

For the JavaScript coding standards job:

Using npx install-changed

Step	Time
Install dependencies	54s
Run JSHint	9s

Using npm ci

Step	Time
Install dependencies	26s
Run JSHint	28s

For the E2E testing job

Using npx install-changed

Step	Time
Install dependencies	1m 17s
Build WordPress	1m 34s

Using npm ci

Step	Time
Install dependencies	37s
Build WordPress	1m 48s

I was trying to recall my reasoning for using npx install-changed --install-command="npm ci" instead of just npm ci. When switching the two out, it seems that npm ci is slightly faster. But, it is a bit misleading to only look at the "Install Dependencies" steps because time shifts between two of the steps.

When Grunt related tasks are run for the first time, install-changed is run to check for the packagehash.txt file, and if one is not present (or the hashes do not match), npm install is run again. By running install changed in the first step, it prevents install from running twice (even if partially).

I don't feel strongly either way on this switch.

[desrosj]

In 50436:

Build/Test Tools: Prevent the NPM/Composer caches in GitHub Actions from snowballing.

The actions/cache GitHub action uses a key input to find the desired cache in storage. Currently, this is defined as a combination of the operating system being used, the software being cached (NPM or Composer), PHP version (Composer only), and a hash of the relevant lock file.

The cache action also supports a restore-keys input, which is an ordered list of keys to use for restoring a cache if no cache hit occurred for the specified key.

However, this means that every time a lock file is updated, the cache is being recreated by first restoring a previous one (when available), and then installing new versions of dependencies on top of that. This results in old, unused versions of dependencies never being removed from the cache.

In this change, the restore-keys are removed. This will force a new, fresh cache to be generated when the desired key is not matched. In testing, this results in a ~40% reduction in cache size when compared to the latest successful workflow runs. Since there is no way to manually flush the cache in GHA, the benefits of this change will not be seen until the package-lock.json and composer.lock files are updated, or the cache at the desired key is evicted.

Props johbillion.
See #52660.

https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/52660

[johnbillion]

In 50446:

Build/Test Tools: Switch away from npx install-changed in GitHub Actions to increase the cache performance.

Using npm ci makes better use of the npm cache that's in use, speeding up the test runs by around 30 seconds.

See #52660

https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/50446

[desrosj]

Marking this for backport to the older branches.

[desrosj]

In 50584:

Build/Test Tools: Backport several GitHub Action improvements and dependency updates.

This backports several GitHub Action improvements and devDependency updates to the 5.7 branch.

Backports [50432,50435-50436,50479,50485-50487,50545,50579] to the 5.7 branch.
See #52667, #52643, #52658, #52660, #52624, #52625.

[desrosj]

In 50602:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 5.6 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 5.6 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• The ability to run PHPUnit tests from src instead of build [50441-50443].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50267,50299,50379,50387,50413,50416,50432,50435-50436,50441-50444,50446,50473-50474,50476,50479,50485-50487,50545,50579,50590,50592,50598] to the 5.6 branch.
See #50401, #51734, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52608, #52612, #52623, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667, #52786.

[desrosj]

In 50603:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 5.5 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 5.5 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• The ability to run PHPUnit tests from src instead of build [50441-50443].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50267,50299,50379,50387,50413,50416,50432,50435-50436,50441-50444,50446,50473-50474,50476,50479,50485-50487,50545,50579,50590,50592,50598] to the 5.5 branch.
See #50401, #51734, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52608, #52612, #52623, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667, #52786.

[desrosj]

In 50604:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 5.4 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 5.4 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• The ability to run PHPUnit tests from src instead of build [50441-50443].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50267,50299,50379,50387,50413,50416,50432,50435-50436,50441-50444,50446,50473-50474,50476,50479,50485-50487,50545,50579,50590,50598] to the 5.4 branch.
See #50401, #51734, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52608, #52612, #52623, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50605:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 5.3 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 5.3 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• The ability to run PHPUnit tests from src instead of build [50441-50443].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50267,50299,50379,50387,50413,50416,50432,50435-50436,50441-50444,50446,50473-50474,50476,50479,50485-50487,50545,50579,50590,50598] to the 5.3 branch.
See #50401, #51734, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52608, #52612, #52623, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50606:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 5.2 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 5.2 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• The ability to run PHPUnit tests from src instead of build [50441-50443].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50267,50299,50379,50387,50413,50416,50432,50435-50436,50441-50444,50446,50473-50474,50476,50479,50485-50487,50545,50579,50590,50598] to the 5.2 branch.
See #50401, #51734, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52608, #52612, #52623, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

This will be backported further next week, but going to close this out.

[desrosj]

In 50622:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 5.1 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 5.1 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [45317,50267,50379,50387,50413,50416,50432,50435-50436,50444,50446,50473-50474,50476,50479,50485-50487,50545,50579,50590,50598] to the 5.1 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52608, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50624:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 5.0 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 5.0 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [45317,50267,50379,50387,50413,50416,50432,50435-50436,50444,50446,50473-50474,50476,50479,50485-50487,50545,50579,50590,50598] to the 5.0 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52608, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50625:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 4.9 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 4.9 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50379,50387,50413,50416,50432,50435,50436,50444,50446,50473,50474,50476,50479,50485,50486,50487,50545,50579,50590] to the 4.9 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52608, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50626:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 3.7 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 3.7 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50379,50387,50413,50416,50432,50435,50436,50444,50446,50473,50474,50476,50479,50485,50486,50487,50545,50579,50590] to the 3.7 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52608, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50635:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 4.8 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 4.8 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50379,50387,50413,50416,50432,50435,50436,50444,50446,50473,50474,50476,50479,50485,50486,50487,50545,50579,50590] to the 4.8 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52608, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50636:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 4.7 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 4.7 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50379,50387,50413,50416,50432,50435,50436,50444,50446,50473,50474,50476,50479,50485,50486,50487,50545,50579,50590] to the 4.7 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52608, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50637:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 4.6 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 4.6 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50379,50387,50416,50432,50435,50436,50444,50446,50473,50474,50476,50479,50485,50486,50487,50545,50579,50590] to the 4.6 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50638:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 4.5 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 4.5 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50379,50387,50416,50432,50435,50436,50444,50446,50473,50474,50476,50479,50485,50486,50487,50545,50579,50590] to the 4.5 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50639:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 4.4 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 4.4 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50379,50387,50416,50432,50435,50436,50444,50446,50473,50474,50476,50479,50485,50486,50487,50545,50579,50590] to the 4.4 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50640:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 4.3 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 4.3 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50379,50387,50416,50432,50435,50436,50444,50446,50473,50474,50476,50479,50485,50486,50487,50545,50579,50590] to the 4.3 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50642:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 4.2 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 4.2 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50379,50387,50416,50432,50435,50436,50444,50446,50473,50474,50476,50479,50485,50486,50487,50545,50579,50590] to the 4.2 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50643:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 4.1 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 4.1 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50379,50387,50416,50432,50435-50436,50444,50446,50473-50474,50476,50479,50485-50487,50545,50590] to the 4.1 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50644:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 4.0 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 4.0 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50379,50387,50416,50432,50435-50436,50444,50446,50473-50474,50476,50479,50485-50487,50545,50590] to the 4.0 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50645:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 3.9 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 3.9 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50379,50387,50416,50432,50435-50436,50444,50446,50473-50474,50476,50479,50485-50487,50545,50590] to the 3.9 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.

[desrosj]

In 50646:

Build/Test Tools: Backport GitHub Action and build improvements to the 3.8 branch.

This backports several build and test tool improvements to the 3.8 branch. Most notably, this includes:

• The changes required to allow each workflow to be triggered by the workflow_dispatch event so that tests can be run on a schedule [50590].
• Splitting single site and multisite tests into parallel jobs [50379].
• Split slow tests into separate, parallel jobs for PHP <= 5.6 [50444].
• Better branch and path scoping for GitHub Action workflows when running on pull_request [50432,50479].
• Several devDependency updates.

Merges [50379,50387,50416,50432,50435-50436,50444,50446,50473-50474,50476,50479,50485-50487,50545,50590] to the 3.8 branch.
See #50401, #51801, #51802, #52548, #52612, #52624, #52625, #52645, #52653, #52658, #52660, #52667.