* Allowing users to provide a custom timeout as input for aborting download of a cache segment using an environment variable `SEGMENT_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MINS`. Default is 60 minutes.
Create a workflow `.yml` file in your repositories `.github/workflows` directory. An [example workflow](#example-workflow) is available below. For more information, reference the GitHub Help Documentation for [Creating a workflow file](https://help.github.com/en/articles/configuring-a-workflow#creating-a-workflow-file).
*`path` - A list of files, directories, and wildcard patterns to cache and restore. See [`@actions/glob`](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/tree/main/packages/glob) for supported patterns.
*`SEGMENT_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_MINS` - Segment download timeout (in minutes, default `60`) to abort download of the segment if not completed in the defined number of minutes. [Read more](#cache-segment-restore-timeout)
> Note: `cache-hit` will be set to `true` only when cache hit occurs for the exact `key` match. For a partial key match via `restore-keys` or a cache miss, it will be set to `false`.
See [Matching a cache key](https://help.github.com/en/actions/configuring-and-managing-workflows/caching-dependencies-to-speed-up-workflows#matching-a-cache-key) for more info.
> Note: You must use the `cache` action in your workflow before you need to use the files that might be restored from the cache. If the provided `key` matches an existing cache, a new cache is not created and if the provided `key` doesn't match an existing cache, a new cache is automatically created provided the job completes successfully.
For example, using the [`hashFiles`](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/expressions#hashfiles) function allows you to create a new cache when dependencies change.
See [Using contexts to create cache keys](https://help.github.com/en/actions/configuring-and-managing-workflows/caching-dependencies-to-speed-up-workflows#using-contexts-to-create-cache-keys)
A repository can have up to 10GB of caches. Once the 10GB limit is reached, older caches will be evicted based on when the cache was last accessed. Caches that are not accessed within the last week will also be evicted.
Using the `cache-hit` output, subsequent steps (such as install or build) can be skipped when a cache hit occurs on the key. It is recommended to install the missing/updated dependencies in case of a partial key match when the key is dependent on the `hash` of the package file.
Cache version is a hash [generated](https://github.com/actions/toolkit/blob/500d0b42fee2552ae9eeb5933091fe2fbf14e72d/packages/cache/src/internal/cacheHttpClient.ts#L73-L90) for a combination of compression tool used (Gzip, Zstd, etc. based on the runner OS) and the `path` of directories being cached. If two caches have different versions, they are identified as unique caches while matching. This for example, means that a cache created on `windows-latest` runner can't be restored on `ubuntu-latest` as cache `Version`s are different.
> Pro tip: [List caches](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/actions/cache#list-github-actions-caches-for-a-repository) API can be used to get the version of a cache. This can be helpful to troubleshoot cache miss due to version.
<details>
<summary>Example</summary>
The workflow will create 3 unique caches with same keys. Ubuntu and windows runners will use different compression technique and hence create two different caches. And `build-linux` will create two different caches as the `paths` are different.
Following are some of the known practices/workarounds which community has used to fulfill specific requirements. You may choose to use them if suits your use case. Note these are not necessarily the only or the recommended solution.
Please note that Windows environment variables (like `%LocalAppData%`) will NOT be expanded by this action. Instead, prefer using `~` in your paths which will expand to HOME directory. For example, instead of `%LocalAppData%`, use `~\AppData\Local`. For a list of supported default environment variables, see [this](https://docs.github.com/en/actions/learn-github-actions/environment-variables) page.
We would love for you to contribute to `actions/cache`, pull requests are welcome! Please see the [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for more information.
