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In the performance tests workflow, `playwright install --with-deps` hung until the 6 hour job limit in runs 40570600406, 40571039922 and 40575912886, leaving the job unfinished until GitHub cancelled it. Across the recent trunk runs, the step took under a minute in most jobs and at most about 10 minutes during the same slowdown. A 15 minute timeout fails a hung install quickly without failing slow ones.
The performance tests workflow downloads the theme unit test data with a single `curl -O`. In run 40571772421 the connection was reset at 98% and the job failed with `curl: (56) Recv failure`. Retry the download with the flags the Set up WP-CLI action uses, and fail on HTTP errors instead of importing an error page.
`wp plugin install wordpress-importer` queries the WordPress.org API and downloads the plugin once. In performance test runs 39060627317 and 39485836492 the request failed and the job stopped with "The 'wordpress-importer' plugin could not be found." Download the plugin zip on the runner with the same retrying curl command as the mock data, install it from the mounted workspace, and remove it, as the mock data step does with its file.
`wp core download` fetches the baseline release from WordPress.org once. In performance test run 39174433151 it failed with "cURL error 28: Resolving timed out". Try it up to three times, waiting 10 and then 20 seconds as the local environment's `docker compose` retries do, and warning on each failed attempt. Replacing it with a retrying curl was considered, but `--force` over an existing install also verifies the md5 hash and removes files the release no longer ships, which a plain extract would not reproduce.
The Set up npm action installs the npm version required by `devEngines` with a single `npm install --global`. In performance test runs 38800425109 and 39405765547 the registry reset the connection (`ECONNRESET`, "Invalid response body"), which npm does not retry, and the job failed. Try the install up to three times, waiting 10 and then 20 seconds and warning on each failed attempt, then fail the step. Every trunk workflow that installs npm dependencies uses this action.
The Archive artifacts step runs on `always()` and errors when the `artifacts` directory is missing. When a setup step fails, the tests never run, so every such job also reported "No files were found with the provided path: artifacts", a second error that hides the real one in the job summary. Run the step only when the performance tests step did not skip. A test run that fails or is cancelled still uploads its results, and a run that produced no results still errors.
The Install Playwright browsers step in the reusable E2E workflow has no timeout, the same as the performance workflow had when three of its installs hung until the 6 hour job limit on 2026-10-27 (runs 40570600406, 40571039922, 40575912886). Cap the step at 15 minutes, matching the performance workflow, so a hang fails fast and the job can be rerun.
`wp plugin install gutenberg` downloads the plugin from WordPress.org once, so a network error fails the E2E job. The performance workflow failed the same way installing the WordPress Importer (runs 39060627317, 39485836492). Download the zip on the runner with curl retries, as the performance workflow now does for the importer, then install it from the workspace, which the CLI container mounts at /var/www. Release branches from 6.4 call this workflow from trunk with a pinned `gutenberg-version`, which maps to the versioned zip URL.
The install and upgrade testing workflows download WordPress from WordPress.org once, with `wp core download` or, for install testing releases, `curl | tar`. Any network error fails the job, as it did for the performance baseline in run 39174433151. Try the download up to three times, waiting 10 and then 20 seconds, as the performance workflow now does for its baseline. A retry overwrites files a failed attempt extracted, and `--force` lets the nightly `wp core download` do the same. Both workflows run large matrices, so even rare failures repeat across jobs.
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🟢 Approval recommended
No active review issues remain for the CI resilience changes.
No open issues 🎉
What changed in this PR
Hardens CI setup against flaky external downloads and hanging browser installs. Release branches using the reusable workflows at @trunk inherit these changes without backports.
Changes:
- Adds retries for WordPress, plugin, mock-data, and global npm downloads.
- Caps Playwright browser installation steps at 15 minutes.
- Skips performance artifact uploads when the test step was skipped, while retaining missing-file errors when it ran.
| File | Description |
|---|---|
.github/workflows/reusable-upgrade-testing.yml |
Retries WordPress core downloads up to three times. |
.github/workflows/reusable-performance-test-v2.yml |
Adds download retries, a Playwright timeout, and conditional artifact uploads. |
.github/workflows/reusable-end-to-end-tests.yml |
Adds a Playwright timeout and retries Gutenberg ZIP downloads. |
.github/workflows/install-testing.yml |
Retries release and nightly WordPress downloads. |
.github/actions/setup-npm/action.yml |
Retries global npm installation up to three times. |
Review effort: Balanced
Test using WordPress PlaygroundThe changes in this pull request can previewed and tested using a WordPress Playground instance. WordPress Playground is an experimental project that creates a full WordPress instance entirely within the browser. Some things to be aware of
For more details about these limitations and more, check out the Limitations page in the WordPress Playground documentation. |
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Hardens CI setup steps that fail or hang on flaky external downloads. Between 2026-10-15 and 2026-10-28, 15 of 523 trunk Performance Tests runs needed a rerun, 13 of them for setup failures. Three Playwright installs hung until the 6 hour job limit.
One commit per concern:
--fail --retry 5 --retry-all-errors, assetup-wp-clidoes): performance mock data, WordPress Importer, and Gutenberg in E2E. Plugins are downloaded on the runner and installed from the zip in the workspace, because WP-CLI tries once (runs 39060627317, 39485836492, 40571772421).wp core download(run 39174433151), Installation Tests (both thecurl | tarrelease path from r65004 and the nightlywp core download), and Upgrade Tests.setup-npmup to 3 times (ECONNRESET in runs 38800425109, 39405765547).if-no-files-found: erroris kept.Retries wait 10 and then 20 seconds, like
tools/local-env/scripts/utils.js.Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/65845
Branches that run this
Release branches call these reusable workflows at
@trunk, so they pick up the changes when this is committed, with no backports. Every branch from 4.7 to 7.1 was checked: none has its own copy of a changed step, and none pins these workflows to another ref.reusable-performance-test-v2.ymlreusable-end-to-end-tests.ymlgutenberg-version; the versioned zip URLs return 200.reusable-upgrade-testing.ymlinstall-testing.yml,setup-npmThis overlaps with #13102 (checksum step after the same install and upgrade downloads) and #13867 (adds a localized
wp core downloadto Installation Tests without a retry). Whichever lands second needs a rebase.Testing
git diff --exit-codeclean (performance, E2E).bash -e: success on attempt 1, 2 or 3, or never → 1, 2, 3 or 3 calls, exit 0, 0, 0 or 1. The tarball path re-extracts correctly after a failed attempt.Not covered by pull request CI:
workflow_dispatchrun (a release version such as6.0andnightly).Use of AI Tools
AI assistance: Yes
Tool(s): Claude Code
Used for: analysing failed runs, writing the changes and this description. I reviewed and tested the changes.