Merge rust-checks.yml and release-image.yml into unified ci-build.yml
workflow that runs faster and more efficiently. The previous setup ran
4+ parallel jobs immediately (format, clippy, test, builds), causing
resource contention. The new pipeline runs max 2 jobs in parallel at
each stage, catching lint/format issues quickly before attempting
expensive compilation.
Extract all Rust setup logic from both workflows into reusable
rust-with-cache composite action. This replaces 6 separate actions
(rust-toolchain, sccache, timelord, plus inline APT/cache steps) with
a single action that handles:
- Rust toolchain installation with component selection
- Cross-compilation configuration (previously scattered across
release-image.yml)
- System dependency installation with proper error handling
- Comprehensive caching (sccache, cargo registry, cargo target, uv
tools)
- Timeline tracking and performance monitoring
The previous release-image.yml had cross-compilation support but it
was implemented inline with complex environment variables. The new
rust-with-cache action centralises this with proper parameters for
pkg-config paths, foreign architecture setup, and toolchain selection.
Performance improvements make the pipeline fast enough to consolidate:
- Warmed sccache cache shared between check and build stages
- Optimised cargo target cache to exclude incremental/ and binaries
(was caching entire target/ directory via buildkit-cache-dance)
- Add restore-keys fallback for better cache hit rates
- Parallel background tasks for Rust setup while APT runs
- Fail-fast on format/lint errors before expensive compilation
- Enable Haswell CPU optimisations for x86_64 builds (AVX2, FMA, etc.)
- Add cross-language LTO (Link-Time Optimisation) for better performance
Fix ARM64 cross-compilation reliability issues:
- Move APT installations from background to foreground (background
processes would hang during package downloads despite
DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive)
- Set proper pkg-config environment for cross-compilation
- Configure APT sources to ports.ubuntu.com for foreign architectures
- Replace hardened_malloc with jemalloc (ARM64 unsupported)
Modernisation from previous commit (b0ebdb59):
- prefligit renamed to prek (avoid typosquatting)
- Direct uvx rustup replacing custom rust-toolchain action
- Workflow renames: deploy-element, deploy-docs, docker-mirror
- Renovate configuration for .forgejo/ workflows
- fix-byte-order-marker replacing check-byte-order-marker
Docker improvements:
- Remove buildkit-cache-dance injection (now handled natively)
- Align tag naming between arch-specific and multi-platform builds
- Add branch- prefix for non-default branches
- Reserve latest-{arch} tags for version releases only
- Remove dynamic library extraction logic (ldd doesn't work for
cross-compiled binaries; Rust --release produces mostly-static binaries)
Additional improvements based on maintainer feedback:
- Generate SBOM (Software Bill of Materials) for security compliance
- Include SBOM in uploaded build artefacts alongside binary
The consolidated pipeline completes in ~10 minutes with better
resource utilisation and clearer failure diagnostics. Both x86_64 and
ARM64 builds now work reliably with the centralised cross-compilation
configuration.
