ghtrack

ghtrack is a powerful GitHub Action designed to track execution times for workflow runs by recording them directly into the gh-pages branch. This innovative tool applies real-time accumulation techniques similar to those used in benchmark-action/github-action-benchmark, shifting the focus from benchmark values to actual workflow and step durations.

Key Features

• Automated Time Tracking: Collects job and step durations, writing them to JSON files for each run under the data/<track-name>/<YYYY>/<MM>/<DD>/ directory structure within the gh-pages branch.
• Dynamic Visualizations: Facilitates the display of time-series charts via a bundled index.html, powered by Chart.js, providing a clear view of workflow performance through a user-friendly interface when GitHub Pages is activated.
• Seamless Integration: Can be easily added to any workflow. If the gh-pages branch is non-existent, it will create one automatically, storing each workflow's data without the need for configuration.

Usage Example

Integrate the ghtrack Action into your workflow as follows:

# .github/workflows/your-workflow.yml
name: build

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
      - run: echo "build something"

  track:
    needs: build
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: write   # required to push to gh-pages
      actions: read     # required to fetch workflow run / job APIs
    steps:
      - uses: hatsu38/ghtrack@main

Input Options

ghtrack comes with optional input configurations to facilitate data accumulation:

File Structure on gh-pages

The files are organized within the gh-pages branch as follows:

gh-pages/
├── index.html
└── data/
    ├── manifest.json                   # workflow registry
    └── <track-name>/
        ├── index.json                  # run list for this track
        └── <YYYY>/<MM>/<DD>/
            ├── <run_id>-<attempt>.json # individual run data files
            └── ...

Detailed Data Representation

The per-run JSON files provide a structured view of workflow executions:

{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "commit": "abc123...",
  "branch": "main",
  "event": "push",
  "date": 1714397040000,        // Unix ms
  "workflow": "test",
  "workflow_file": "test.yml",
  "run_id": 25113290762,
  "run_attempt": 1,
  "total_duration_sec": 17.3,
  "jobs": [
    {
      "name": "build",
      "duration_sec": 14.2,
      "status": "completed",
      "conclusion": "success",
      "steps": [
        { "name": "Set up job", "number": 1, "duration_sec": 0.5, "status": "completed", "conclusion": "success" }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Visualizing the Data

By enabling GitHub Pages and following simple setup steps, the generated index.html provides rich, interactive charts that summarize total durations and individual job performance. The dashboard supports both English and Japanese, based on user preferences.

For showcasing the dashboards and monitoring workflow performance, checkout the live demo here: Live demo.

Gather insights about your workflows today with ghtrack, the straightforward solution for monitoring and visualizing GitHub Actions run durations.