Speed up playwright and blackbox workflow by mtsgrd · Pull Request #13348 · gitbutlerapp/gitbutler

mtsgrd · 2026-04-16T19:08:43Z

Parallelize independent build steps (Rust, SvelteKit, Playwright
install, tauri-driver) so they run concurrently instead of sequentially.

Skip node setup, SvelteKit, and test steps on master pushes since those
runs only exist to warm the Rust cache.

Add paths-ignore to both workflows so PRs that only touch docs, scripts,
config files, or unrelated crates (CLI, TUI, debugging tools) skip
the e2e jobs entirely.

Install only chromium and webkit (no Firefox) and run apt-get update
before Playwright install to avoid stale package index 404s.

Upload artifacts only on failure instead of on every non-cancelled run.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Updates the Playwright E2E GitHub Actions workflow to avoid installing OS-level browser dependencies during the job by relying on an updated CI base image, reducing cache-miss runtime significantly.

Changes:

Bump the ci-base-image pinned digest to a version that includes Chromium system dependencies.
Drop --with-deps from pnpm exec playwright install to avoid slow apt dependency installation.
Remove the cache-hit fallback step that installed libnss3.

Byron

This seems to have the desired effect and CI is still green.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 1 out of 1 changed files in this pull request and generated no new comments.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 1 out of 1 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

Parallelize independent build steps (Rust, SvelteKit, Playwright install, tauri-driver) so they run concurrently instead of sequentially. Track each background PID and wait individually so any failure correctly fails the step. Skip node setup, SvelteKit, and test steps on master pushes since those runs only exist to warm the Rust cache. Add paths-ignore to both workflows so PRs that only touch docs, scripts, config files, or unrelated crates (CLI, TUI, debugging tools) skip the e2e jobs entirely. Install only chromium and webkit (no Firefox) and run apt-get update before Playwright install to avoid stale package index 404s. Pass the cache-hit output via an env var instead of inline template expansion to avoid a zizmor code-injection finding. Upload artifacts only on failure instead of on every non-cancelled run.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

Copilot · 2026-04-17T15:26:19Z

+          pnpm_pid=$!
+          pw_pid=""
+          if [ "$PLAYWRIGHT_CACHE_HIT" != "true" ]; then
+            (apt-get update && cd e2e && pnpm exec playwright install chromium webkit) &


This step runs apt-get update but then only executes playwright install chromium webkit (no --with-deps and no subsequent apt-get install). As written, the apt-get update doesn’t affect anything and just adds overhead. Either remove apt-get update or switch back to playwright install --with-deps chromium webkit if the goal is to refresh the package index before installing system deps.

Suggested change

(apt-get update && cd e2e && pnpm exec playwright install chromium webkit) &

(cd e2e && pnpm exec playwright install chromium webkit) &

Copilot · 2026-04-17T15:26:20Z

      - master
  pull_request:
    paths-ignore:
+      - "*.md"


paths-ignore uses the pattern *.md, which only matches Markdown files in the repo root. Markdown docs in subdirectories will still trigger this workflow despite being “docs-only” changes. Use **/*.md (or list doc directories explicitly) if you want to ignore Markdown changes anywhere in the repo.

Suggested change

- "*.md"

- "**/*.md"

Copilot · 2026-04-17T15:26:20Z

      - name: Setup node environment
        uses: ./.github/actions/init-env-node
-      - name: Build CLI
-        run: cargo build -p gitbutler-cli
-      - name: Build SvelteKit
-        run: pnpm build:desktop -- --mode development
-      - name: Build Tauri
-        run: pnpm build:test
-      - name: Install tauri-driver
+        if: ${{ github.ref != 'refs/heads/master' }}
+      - name: Build CLI, SvelteKit, and tauri-driver
        if: ${{ github.ref != 'refs/heads/master' }}
        run: |
+          cargo build -p gitbutler-cli &
+          cargo_pid=$!
+          pnpm build:desktop -- --mode development &
+          pnpm_pid=$!
+          td_pid=""
          if [ ! -e "$HOME/.cargo/bin/tauri-driver" ]; then
-            cargo install tauri-driver
+            cargo install tauri-driver &
+            td_pid=$!
          fi
+          status=0
+          wait "$cargo_pid" || status=1
+          wait "$pnpm_pid" || status=1
+          [ -n "$td_pid" ] && { wait "$td_pid" || status=1; }
+          exit "$status"
+      - name: Build Tauri
+        if: ${{ github.ref != 'refs/heads/master' }}
+        run: pnpm build:test
+      - name: Build CLI (cache warming)
+        if: ${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/master' }}
+        run: cargo build -p gitbutler-cli


The master-branch skipping logic is based on github.ref ==/!= 'refs/heads/master', which also applies to workflow_dispatch runs (they often run with github.ref set to the selected branch, frequently master). As a result, manually dispatching this workflow to test a specific inputs.sha on master will skip Node setup and E2E execution and only do the cache-warming build. Consider gating the cache-warm-only path on github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/master' so manual dispatch still runs the full test flow.

Copilot · 2026-04-17T15:26:20Z

      - master
  pull_request:
+    paths-ignore:
+      - "*.md"


paths-ignore uses the pattern *.md, which only matches Markdown files in the repo root. Markdown docs in subdirectories (e.g. apps/desktop/README.md, e2e/README.md, etc.) will still trigger this workflow even though they are “docs-only” changes. Use **/*.md (or add explicit doc directories) if the intent is to skip all Markdown-only changes.

Suggested change

- "*.md"

- "**/*.md"

Copilot · 2026-04-17T15:26:21Z

      - name: Setup node environment
        uses: ./.github/actions/init-env-node
        if: ${{ github.ref != 'refs/heads/master' }}
      - id: get_playwright_version
        uses: eviden-actions/get-playwright-version@c83e8a285b395cc1e3d99df43d4ddaa0c889d8ff # v1
        if: ${{ github.ref != 'refs/heads/master' }}
      - name: Cache playwright binaries
        if: ${{ github.ref != 'refs/heads/master' }}
        uses: actions/cache@668228422ae6a00e4ad889ee87cd7109ec5666a7 # v5
        id: playwright-cache
        with:
          path: |
            ~/.cache/ms-playwright
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-playwright-${{ steps.get_playwright_version.outputs.playwright-version }}
-      - run: cd e2e && pnpm exec playwright install --with-deps
-        if: ${{ steps.playwright-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true' && github.ref != 'refs/heads/master' }}
-      - run: apt-get update && apt-get install -y libnss3
-        if: ${{ steps.playwright-cache.outputs.cache-hit == 'true' && github.ref != 'refs/heads/master' }}
-        name: Install missing deps after cache hit
-      - name: Build gitbutler-git
-        run: cargo build -p gitbutler-git
-      - name: Build but-server
-        run: cargo build -p but-server
-      - name: Build but-testing
-        run: cargo build -p but-testing
-      - name: Build SvelteKit
-        run: pnpm build:desktop
+      - name: Build Rust binaries, SvelteKit, and install Playwright
        if: ${{ github.ref != 'refs/heads/master' }}
+        env:
+          PLAYWRIGHT_CACHE_HIT: ${{ steps.playwright-cache.outputs.cache-hit }}
+        run: |
+          cargo build -p gitbutler-git -p but-server -p but-testing &
+          cargo_pid=$!
+          pnpm build:desktop &
+          pnpm_pid=$!
+          pw_pid=""
+          if [ "$PLAYWRIGHT_CACHE_HIT" != "true" ]; then
+            (apt-get update && cd e2e && pnpm exec playwright install chromium webkit) &
+            pw_pid=$!
+          fi
+          status=0
+          wait "$cargo_pid" || status=1
+          wait "$pnpm_pid" || status=1
+          [ -n "$pw_pid" ] && { wait "$pw_pid" || status=1; }
+          exit "$status"
+      - name: Build Rust binaries
+        if: ${{ github.ref == 'refs/heads/master' }}
+        run: cargo build -p gitbutler-git -p but-server -p but-testing


Several steps are gated with if: github.ref != 'refs/heads/master' / == 'refs/heads/master'. For workflow_dispatch, github.ref is typically still refs/heads/master, which means a manual dispatch will skip Node setup and the E2E tests and only do the cache-warming Rust build. If manual dispatch is meant to run the tests for the provided inputs.sha, change the conditions to key off github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref == 'refs/heads/master' for the cache-warming path (and run the full flow otherwise).

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings April 16, 2026 19:08

mtsgrd requested review from Byron, Caleb-T-Owens, estib-vega, krlvi, schacon and slarse as code owners April 16, 2026 19:08

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Comment thread .github/workflows/test-e2e-playwright.yml Outdated

mtsgrd force-pushed the e2e-playwright-drop-with-deps branch from 5f22b74 to 84bc371 Compare April 16, 2026 19:44

Byron approved these changes Apr 16, 2026

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mtsgrd force-pushed the e2e-playwright-drop-with-deps branch from 84bc371 to 3099c7c Compare April 17, 2026 06:14

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mtsgrd force-pushed the e2e-playwright-drop-with-deps branch 2 times, most recently from 18ad600 to 4c70ef8 Compare April 17, 2026 07:56

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Comment thread .github/workflows/test-e2e-playwright.yml Outdated

mtsgrd marked this pull request as draft April 17, 2026 09:11

mtsgrd force-pushed the e2e-playwright-drop-with-deps branch 2 times, most recently from 3d00adc to 0cd33a5 Compare April 17, 2026 15:01

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Comment thread .github/workflows/test-e2e-playwright.yml Fixed

mtsgrd changed the title ~~ci(e2e-playwright): drop --with-deps, shave ~40 min off cache-miss runs~~ ci(e2e): speed up Playwright and Blackbox workflow Apr 17, 2026

mtsgrd changed the title ~~ci(e2e): speed up Playwright and Blackbox workflow~~ Speed up playwright and blackbox workflow Apr 17, 2026

mtsgrd force-pushed the e2e-playwright-drop-with-deps branch from 0cd33a5 to f167eb2 Compare April 17, 2026 15:03

mtsgrd force-pushed the e2e-playwright-drop-with-deps branch from f167eb2 to f7786bf Compare April 17, 2026 15:08

mtsgrd marked this pull request as ready for review April 17, 2026 15:22

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mtsgrd merged commit 18d29cf into master Apr 17, 2026
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mtsgrd deleted the e2e-playwright-drop-with-deps branch April 17, 2026 15:23

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Speed up playwright and blackbox workflow#13348

Speed up playwright and blackbox workflow#13348
mtsgrd merged 1 commit intomasterfrom
e2e-playwright-drop-with-deps

mtsgrd commented Apr 16, 2026 •

edited

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	(apt-get update && cd e2e && pnpm exec playwright install chromium webkit) &
	(cd e2e && pnpm exec playwright install chromium webkit) &

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mtsgrd commented Apr 16, 2026 •

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