GitHub Workflows

Diagnose, fix, and optimize GitHub Actions workflows for Rust projects.

Quick Reference

• Caching Strategies - Manual cache, rust-cache, sccache
• Troubleshooting - Common issues, debugging, fixes
• Advanced Features - Coverage, security, benchmarking
• Release Management - Automated releases, versioning

When to Use

• Setting up CI/CD for Rust projects
• Troubleshooting workflow failures
• Optimizing build times with caching
• Ensuring best practices for testing, linting, releases

Before Making Changes

ALWAYS verify current state first:

# Get repo info
gh repo view --json nameWithOwner,owner,name

# List existing workflows
gh workflow list

# Check recent runs
gh run list --limit 10

# View workflow files
ls -la .github/workflows/

Complete Rust CI Workflow

See the full workflow template with:

• Check job (format, clippy, check)
• Test job (unit, integration, doc tests)
• Coverage job (tarpaulin, codecov)
• Audit job (security, licenses)

See linked files for caching strategies, troubleshooting, and release management.

Core Workflow Components

Job	Purpose	Tools
check	Code quality	rustfmt, clippy, cargo check
test	Verification	cargo test
coverage	Test metrics	cargo tarpaulin
audit	Security	cargo audit, deny

Common Patterns

• Caching: Dependencies, target directory, sccache
• Matrix builds: Multiple Rust versions, targets
• Conditional jobs: Skip on docs-only changes
• Quality gates: Block merge on failures

PR Check Attachment Guardrail

• After pushing fixes, validate checks are attached to the PR head SHA:
  • gh pr view --json statusCheckRollup,mergeStateStatus
  • gh run list --commit <head_sha>
• If rollup is empty for required checks, treat as blocked and investigate trigger/path conditions.