GitHub Actions workflow fails on node_modules caching

[codexmith75]

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Discussion Details

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to speed up my GitHub Actions workflow by caching node_modules. However, the cache step doesn’t seem to work — it always installs all dependencies from scratch.

Here’s part of my workflow:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Cache node modules
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: node_modules
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm install

Every run shows this message:

Cache not found for input keys

What am I missing? How can I make the cache work correctly so it restores node_modules between runs?

Thanks!

[angelariasus]

You need to add a restore-keys option to help GitHub Actions find a matching cache.

Here’s an updated version of your step:

- name: Cache node modules
  uses: actions/cache@v4
  with:
    path: node_modules
    key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
    restore-keys: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-node-

This way, if the exact hash isn’t found, GitHub Actions will try to use a partial match.

Also, make sure your package-lock.json file is checked into the repository — without it, the cache won’t work.

[codexmith75]

Thanks a lot for your help!
Adding the restore-keys and checking my package-lock.json fixed the issue.
Now the cache works perfectly and my workflow runs much faster.