Artifacts and Cache

Artifacts

Artifacts are files generated by a Workflow run that can be passed across Jobs:

steps:
  - uses: upload-artifact
    with:
      name: build-output
      path: dist/

  - uses: download-artifact
    with:
      name: build-output
      path: ./app

Cache

Cache is used to speed up dependency installation and avoid redundant downloads:

steps:
  - uses: cache
    with:
      key: npm-${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('package-lock.json') }}
      path: ~/.npm
      restore-keys: |
        npm-${{ runner.os }}-

Artifacts vs Cache

Feature	Artifacts	Cache
Purpose	Pass build outputs (across Jobs)	Speed up dependency installation (across runs)
Lifecycle	Can set retention days	Long-term retention, LRU eviction
Access Scope	Between Jobs in the same Workflow	Across all runs in the same repository