Cache multiple paths

It can be useful to cache multiple directories, for example from different tools like pip and pre-commit.

With Travis CI (ignoring their pip: true shortcut):

cache:
  directories:
    - $HOME/.cache/pip
    - $HOME/.cache/pre-commit

The Actions equivalent requires adding a duplicated step for each directory, something like:

      - name: pip cache
        uses: actions/cache@preview
        with:
          path: ~/.cache/pip
          key: ${{ matrix.python-version }}-pip

      - name: pre-commit cache
        uses: actions/cache@preview
        with:
          path: ~/.cache/pre-commit
          key: ${{ matrix.python-version }}-pre-commit

Perhaps also allow multiple directories in a single step, something like this?

      - name: pip cache
        uses: actions/cache@preview
        with:
          path:
            - ~/.cache/pip
            - ~/.cache/pre-commit
          key: ${{ matrix.python-version }}

[hugovk]

Certainly not all ecosystems, but for some major ones.

Compare the config for Python’s pip with Travis CI:

cache: pip

With GitHub Actions:

      - name: Ubuntu cache
        uses: actions/cache@v1
        if: startsWith(matrix.os, 'ubuntu')
        with:
          path: ~/.cache/pip
          key:
            ${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.python-version }}-${{ hashFiles('**/setup.py')
            }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.python-version }}-

      - name: macOS cache
        uses: actions/cache@v1
        if: startsWith(matrix.os, 'macOS')
        with:
          path: ~/Library/Caches/pip
          key:
            ${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.python-version }}-${{ hashFiles('**/setup.py')
            }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.python-version }}-

      - name: Windows cache
        uses: actions/cache@v1
        if: startsWith(matrix.os, 'windows')
        with:
          path: ~\AppData\Local\pip\Cache
          key:
            ${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.python-version }}-${{ hashFiles('**/setup.py')
            }}
          restore-keys: |
            ${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.python-version }}-

10 characters vs. 1,000 characters!

I know which I’m be more confident using, and prefer suggesting for projects to add 😃

Travis also has shortcuts like:

cache: bundler   # Ruby
cache: cocoapods # Objective-C
cache: npm       # npm
cache: yarn      # yarn
cache: ccache    # C or other C/C++ variants 
cache: packages  # R
cache: cargo     # Rust

The flexibility of GHA’s caching is good, but it would be even better to have some user-friendly shortcuts. Thanks!

[chrispat]

We made a scoping call for the v1 to not support multiple paths. This is something we do plan to look at for the future.