From f2e1c11593772770f4a8b9d5b610a150b449f938 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: yyforyongyu <yong2452@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2025 16:31:36 +0800
Subject: [PATCH] .github: remove `github.job` from the cache key and update
 docs

This commit adds a more descriptive docs about the caching process. In
addition, the `github.job` is now removed from the cache key
construction to allow jobs sharing the same cache. In addition, given we
now use `inputs.key-prefix`, the `github.job` is no longer relevant as
the `key-prefix` already creates a unique name for the cache.

We also update the lint and check commits job to use the same cache from
the unit test, given they are running in the same environment.
---
 .github/actions/setup-go/action.yml | 37 +++++++++++++++++++++++++----
 .github/workflows/main.yml          |  4 ++++
 2 files changed, 37 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/actions/setup-go/action.yml b/.github/actions/setup-go/action.yml
index b6d85c030..aa6a50f51 100644
--- a/.github/actions/setup-go/action.yml
+++ b/.github/actions/setup-go/action.yml
@@ -24,6 +24,16 @@ runs:
         go-version: '${{ inputs.go-version }}'
         cache: 'false'
 
+    # When we run go build or go test, the Go compiler calculates a signature
+    # for each package based on the content of its `.go` source files, its
+    # dependencies, and the compiler flags. It then checks the restored build
+    # cache for an entry matching that exact signature to speed up the jobs.
+    # - Cache Hit: If an entry exists (meaning the source files and
+    #   dependencies haven't changed), it reuses the compiled artifact directly
+    #   from the cache.  
+    # - Cache Miss: If no entry exists (because we changed a line of code), it
+    #   recompiles that specific package and stores the new result in the cache
+    #   for the next time.
     - name: go cache
       if: ${{ inputs.use-build-cache == 'yes' }}
       uses: actions/cache@v4
@@ -38,11 +48,31 @@ runs:
           ~/.cache/go-build
           ~/Library/Caches/go-build
           ~\AppData\Local\go-build
-        key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ inputs.go-version }}-${{ inputs.key-prefix }}-${{ github.job }}-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
+
+        # The key is used to create and later look up the cache. It's made of
+        # four parts:  
+        # - The base part is made from the OS name, Go version and a
+        #   job-specified key prefix. Example: `linux-go-1.23.10-unit-test-`.
+        #   It ensures that a job running on Linux with Go 1.23 only looks for
+        #   caches from the same environment.
+        # - The unique part is the `hashFiles('**/go.sum')`, which calculates a
+        #   hash (a fingerprint) of the go.sum file. 
+        key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ inputs.go-version }}-${{ inputs.key-prefix }}-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
+
+        # The restore-keys provides a list of fallback keys. If no cache
+        # matches the key exactly, the action will look for a cache where the
+        # key starts with one of the restore-keys. The action searches the
+        # restore-keys list in order and restores the most recently created
+        # cache that matches the prefix. Once the job is done, a new cache is
+        # created and saved using the new key. 
         restore-keys: |
-          ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ inputs.go-version }}-${{ inputs.key-prefix }}-${{ github.job }}-
           ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ inputs.go-version }}-${{ inputs.key-prefix }}-
 
+    # The complete, downloaded source code of all our dependencies (the
+    # libraries lnd project imports). This prevents the go command from having
+    # to re-download every dependency from the internet on every single job
+    # run. It's like having a local library of all the third-party code lnd
+    # needs.
     - name: go module cache
       if: ${{ inputs.use-build-cache == 'no' }}
       uses: actions/cache@v4
@@ -50,9 +80,8 @@ runs:
         # Just the module download cache.
         path: |
           ~/go/pkg/mod
-        key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ inputs.go-version }}-${{ inputs.key-prefix }}-no-build-cache-${{ github.job }}-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
+        key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ inputs.go-version }}-${{ inputs.key-prefix }}-no-build-cache-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
         restore-keys: |
-          ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ inputs.go-version }}-${{ inputs.key-prefix }}-no-build-cache-${{ github.job }}-
           ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ inputs.go-version }}-${{ inputs.key-prefix }}-no-build-cache-
 
     - name: set GOPATH
diff --git a/.github/workflows/main.yml b/.github/workflows/main.yml
index ded83acbe..a43c2cf54 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/main.yml
@@ -126,6 +126,8 @@ jobs:
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-go
         with:
           go-version: '${{ env.GO_VERSION }}'
+          # Use the same cache from unit test job to save time.
+          key-prefix: unit-test
 
       - name: fetch and rebase on ${{ github.base_ref }}
         uses: ./.github/actions/rebase
@@ -152,6 +154,8 @@ jobs:
         uses: ./.github/actions/setup-go
         with:
           go-version: '${{ env.GO_VERSION }}'
+          # Use the same cache from unit test job to save time.
+          key-prefix: unit-test
 
       - name: lint
         run: GOGC=50 make lint