GitHub Actions Tutorial — Artifacts & Caching
Chapter 8 — Artifacts & Caching
Artifacts let you persist files between jobs and download them after the workflow finishes. Caching saves dependency downloads across workflow runs, dramatically speeding up your CI. Together, they solve the two biggest performance problems in GitHub Actions.
What You’ll Learn
- Uploading and downloading artifacts between jobs
- Caching dependencies (npm, pip, Maven, Go modules)
- Cache key strategies for maximum hit rate
- Monorepo caching patterns
Topics Covered
1. Upload Artifacts
Persist build outputs, test reports, and binaries for later use.
2. Download Artifacts
Retrieve artifacts in downstream jobs or after the workflow completes.
3. Dependency Caching
Cache node_modules, pip packages, and other dependencies across runs.
4. Cache Strategies
Design cache keys for optimal hit rates and understand cache eviction.
5. Monorepo Caching
Cache strategies for multi-package monorepos.
Practice
Test your understanding with hands-on exercises.
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Next: Chapter 9: Matrix Strategy →
