preactjs/preact - GitHub Actions cost & CI smells

From the depmedic OSS benchmark dataset. Source: public workflow YAML in preactjs/preact/.github/workflows.

Workflows

Per-run $ (modeled)

$0.64

Monthly $ @ 30/day

$576

ci-doctor findings

Numbers are modeled: 8 minutes per priced job, 30 runs per day per workflow, 30-day month, GitHub-hosted runner rate sheet. preactjs/preact's real run frequency is unknown to me. Smells, however, are real - they come from parsing the actual YAML.

Findings by rule

Rule	Hits
`pinned-action-sha`	9
`missing-permissions`	8
`missing-timeout`	7
`artifact-no-retention`	5
`missing-concurrency`	1

Per-workflow breakdown

Workflow	Jobs	Per-run $	Findings
`pr-reporter.yml`	3	$0.19	8
`benchmarks.yml`	9	$0.06	3
`build-test.yml`	1	$0.06	4
`ci.yml`	4	$0.06	4
`release.yml`	2	$0.06	2
`run-bench.yml`	1	$0.06	4
`single-bench.yml`	4	$0.06	2
`size.yml`	1	$0.06	3

Examples of what ci-doctor reports

pr-reporter.yml · WARN pinned-action-sha
dorny/paths-filter@v3 is not SHA-pinned. Mutable refs let upstream replace the action under you. Pin to a 40-char commit SHA and add a comment with the version. Run `npx pin-actions` to do all pins automatically.

pr-reporter.yml · WARN pinned-action-sha
andrewiggins/tachometer-reporter-action@v2 is not SHA-pinned. Mutable refs let upstream replace the action under you. Pin to a 40-char commit SHA and add a comment with the version. Run `npx pin-actions` to do all pins automatically.

pr-reporter.yml · WARN pinned-action-sha
dawidd6/action-download-artifact@v2 is not SHA-pinned. Mutable refs let upstream replace the action under you. Pin to a 40-char commit SHA and add a comment with the version. Run `npx pin-actions` to do all pins automatically.

benchmarks.yml · WARN pinned-action-sha
andrewiggins/download-base-artifact@v3 is not SHA-pinned. Mutable refs let upstream replace the action under you. Pin to a 40-char commit SHA and add a comment with the version. Run `npx pin-actions` to do all pins automatically.

benchmarks.yml · WARN missing-permissions
No top-level permissions block. GITHUB_TOKEN inherits the repo default, often write-all. Set least-privilege explicitly.

benchmarks.yml · INFO artifact-no-retention
upload-artifact has no retention-days. CI artifacts pile up at the repo default (usually 90d). Set 7-14d unless you need long-term retention.

What you can do

If you maintain preactjs/preact or a similar workflow shape, three patterns probably move the most dollars per minute of work:

Add a concurrency: block with cancel-in-progress: true on every PR-triggered workflow.
Set timeout-minutes on every job (default is 6 hours).
Make sure every setup-* action sets cache: <ecosystem>.

Free CLIs that automate the audit and the pin step:

npx ci-doctor             # 14-rule audit
npx ci-doctor --fix       # auto-apply the four safe fixes
npx pin-actions           # pin every uses: ref to a SHA
npx gha-budget            # estimate per-run $ + monthly

About this dataset