Always provide an ordered list of fallback prefixes in the restore-keys section. If an exact match fails, GitHub will pull the most recent cache matching the prefix, preventing a complete cold start.
Before diving into debugging, it’s essential to understand what we’re fixing. Action caching stores the outputs of specific build steps (actions) based on their inputs. The logic is simple: debug-action-cache
- name: Cache Node modules uses: actions/cache@v4 with: path: ~/.npm key: $ runner.os -node-$ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') restore-keys: | $ runner.os -node- Use code with caution. Always provide an ordered list of fallback prefixes
gh api --method DELETE -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" /repos/owner/repo/actions/caches/cache_id Use code with caution. Action caching stores the outputs of specific build
Identifies whether a cache key is actively being utilized or sitting dormant.
The pipeline execution time swells because the runner encounters "cache misses," meaning it wastes time searching for keys that do not exist before downloading everything from scratch. Step-by-Step Guide to Debugging GitHub Actions Cache
If you are researching debug-action-cache in the context of monorepos and advanced build systems like Bazel, the term refers to debugging the Remote Execution and Action Cache (AC).
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