Hey 👋 We're BoringCache.

We believe builds shouldn't repeat work that's already done. So we made a cache that's delightfully boring — no daemons, no magic, no surprises. Just directories in, directories out.

Cache once. Reuse everywhere.

BoringCache is a universal build artifact cache for CI, Docker, and local development. It stores and restores directories you choose so build outputs, dependencies, and tool caches can be reused across environments.

BoringCache does not run builds and is not tied to any build tool. It works with any language, framework, or workflow by caching directories explicitly selected by the user.

Caches are content-addressed and verified before restore. If identical content already exists, uploads are skipped. The same cache can be reused in GitHub Actions, Docker/BuildKit, and on developer machines using the same CLI.

Most CI caching systems:

• Re-upload identical content on every key change
• Can’t be reused across CI providers, Docker, and local machines
• Offer no reliable way to verify what’s being restored
• Store opaque blobs that are hard to inspect or reason about

BoringCache makes caching explicit, predictable, and reusable.

• Directory-based caching
  You decide exactly what directories to cache.

• Content-addressed deduplication
  Upload once. If the content matches, uploads are skipped.

• Verified restores
  Archives are always verified before extraction.

• Platform-aware by default
  OS and architecture are included to keep binary caches safe.

• One cache layer everywhere
  Same cache works in CI, Docker/BuildKit, and local development.

# Save a cache
boringcache save my-org/app "deps:node_modules"

# Save again (no re-upload if content matches)
boringcache save my-org/app "deps:node_modules"

# Restore the same cache anywhere
boringcache restore my-org/app "deps:node_modules"
Same commands. Same cache. Anywhere you build.

BoringCache provides a drop-in replacement for actions/cache:

- uses: boringcache/action@v1
  with:
    workspace: my-org/app
    entries: deps:node_modules,build:dist
  env:
    BORINGCACHE_API_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.BORINGCACHE_API_TOKEN }}

Caches are restored at job start and saved at job end, with content-addressed deduplication and verified restores.

The same CLI works in CI, Docker, and on developer machines:

boringcache save my-org/app "deps:node_modules,build:dist"
boringcache restore my-org/app "deps:node_modules,build:dist"

You can use the CLI directly or via GitHub Actions wrappers.

• cli – BoringCache CLI (save/restore directories anywhere)
• action – GitHub Actions cache (drop-in for actions/cache)
• save / restore – Explicit save and restore actions
• setup-boringcache – Install the CLI in GitHub Actions

• nodejs-action – Node.js toolchain + dependency caching
• ruby-action – Ruby toolchain + bundle caching
• rust-action – Rust toolchain + Cargo caching
• docker-action – Docker / BuildKit cache integration
• buildkit-action – BuildKit daemon with shared caching

All actions use the same cache format and underlying CLI.

• GitHub Actions
• GitLab CI
• CircleCI
• Jenkins
• Buildkite
• Docker / BuildKit
• Dagger
• Local development

Any CI. Any build system. Just point at directories.

• ❌ Not a build system
• ❌ Not a workflow engine
• ❌ Not a compiler-specific cache

BoringCache only saves and restores directories you explicitly choose.

• 📖 Docs: https://boringcache.com/docs
• 🌐 Website: https://boringcache.com

🧠 GitHub Actions Marketplace: https://github.com/marketplace/actions/boringcache

MIT

Built by BoringTech Ltd.