Artifacts and Cache

This document introduces the Artifacts and Cache mechanisms of AtomGit Action, used to pass build outputs across Jobs and accelerate dependency installation.

Artifacts

Artifacts are files generated during a Workflow run, which 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, avoiding repeated 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)	Accelerate 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