boringcache/setup-boringcache

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.

This action installs the BoringCache CLI in GitHub Actions runners. It does not perform any caching by itself. Use this when you want to call boringcache save / boringcache restore directly instead of using the cache actions.

Quick start

steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v4

  - uses: boringcache/setup-boringcache@v1

  - run: boringcache --version

Mental model

This action installs the BoringCache CLI and adds it to PATH.

• It does not restore or save caches by itself.
• Use the CLI directly or pair with other BoringCache actions.

Checksum verification is enabled by default. Checksums are embedded for known versions; if a version lacks an embedded checksum, a warning is logged.

Common patterns

Basic install

- uses: boringcache/setup-boringcache@v1

Version pinning

- uses: boringcache/setup-boringcache@v1
  with:
    version: v1.0.0

With API token

- uses: boringcache/setup-boringcache@v1
  with:
    token: ${{ secrets.BORINGCACHE_API_TOKEN }}

- run: boringcache restore my-org/my-project "deps:node_modules"

Disable checksum verification (not recommended)

- uses: boringcache/setup-boringcache@v1
  with:
    verify-checksum: false

Complete example

name: Build
on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - uses: boringcache/setup-boringcache@v1
        with:
          version: v1.0.0
          token: ${{ secrets.BORINGCACHE_API_TOKEN }}

      - name: Restore cache
        run: boringcache restore my-org/my-project "node-deps:node_modules"

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Build
        run: npm run build

      - name: Save cache
        run: boringcache save my-org/my-project "node-deps:node_modules"

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
version	No	v1.0.0	Version of BoringCache CLI to install.
token	No	-	API token to set as BORINGCACHE_API_TOKEN.
skip-cache	No	false	Skip using the tool cache (always download fresh).
verify-checksum	No	true	Verify SHA256 checksum of downloaded binary.

Outputs

Output	Description
version	Installed BoringCache CLI version
path	Path to the installed binary
cache-hit	Whether the binary was restored from cache

Platform behavior

Supported platforms:

Platform	Architecture
Linux	x64, arm64
macOS	arm64
Windows	x64

Environment variables

Variable	Description
BORINGCACHE_API_TOKEN	API token for authentication (set when token input is provided)

Troubleshooting

• Checksum verification failed: pin to a supported version or disable verify-checksum (not recommended).
• Unsupported platform: verify the runner OS/arch is in the supported matrix.

Release notes

See https://github.com/boringcache/setup-boringcache/releases.

License

MIT