Debug-action-cache

: Use the mxschmitt/action-tmate action to pause your workflow and SSH into the runner. This allows you to manually check if the files were actually restored to the directory you expected.

If you want to force a clean slate via code, append a version number string to your cache key name (e.g., change v1 to v2 ).

Most CI platforms do not allow overwriting an existing cache key, making it hard to fix a corrupted cache without rotating the key entirely.

If you do not have administrative access to delete caches via the UI or CLI, you can force a global cache bust directly within your YAML file. Introduce an arbitrary versioning variable into your cache key string: debug-action-cache

debug-action-cache is not a standalone command but rather a used to inspect, validate, and troubleshoot how GitHub Actions (or similar CI systems) save and restore cached dependencies, build artifacts, or intermediate files. It helps answer: "Why is my cache miss happening?" or "What exactly is stored in this cache?"

A previous broken build successfully saved its incomplete or broken dependencies into the cache storage, causing all future runs to pull corrupted files.

: Engines like Bazel and Gradle track inputs (source files, environment flags) to skip re-compiling actions if nothing has changed. : Use the mxschmitt/action-tmate action to pause your

The cache restoration keys are poorly defined, causing the runner to pull outdated dependencies that are incompatible with the latest code updates.

Ensure your build actions don't access the internet or arbitrary file system locations.

Exporting cache hierarchy as a directed acyclic graph (DAG) to identify which dependency layer caused the invalidation. 4. Implementation Case Study Most CI platforms do not allow overwriting an

The deterministic key evaluated identically to a previous run because the lockfile did not change, or the key string lacks a dynamic hash.

Step-by-Step Guide to Executing a debug-action-cache Workflow

Let me know if you want me to add or change something.

name: CI Pipeline with Cache Debugging on: [push, pull_request] env: ACTIONS_STEP_DEBUG: true ACTIONS_RUNNER_DEBUG: true jobs: build: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 - name: Cache Node Modules uses: actions/cache@v4 with: path: ~/.npm key: $ runner.os -node-$ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') restore-keys: | $ runner.os -node- - name: Install Dependencies run: npm ci Use code with caution.