Cache in CI

While parsing your application code, Rector generates objects representing that code. It caches these objects to a directory for later reuse, so it doesn't have to parse the entire application again, by detecting which files have changed since the last Rector run.

When running Rector in a Continuous Integration (CI) system such as GitHub Actions, set a stable cache directory that you can persist between jobs. Without it, each job parses all code from scratch.

<?php

use Rector\Config\RectorConfig;

return RectorConfig::configure()
    ->withCache(
        // specify a path that works locally as well as on CI job runners
        cacheDirectory: '/tmp/rector'
    );

The actual path, when not specified, may vary per (runner) OS, so set it explicitly to keep it the same on CI and development.

Debugging the Cache Locally#

Generate the cache on your development machine, by running the command:

vendor/bin/rector process --dry-run

You can find it in /tmp/rector, containing folders like 0a, 0b, 0c, ... containing the cache objects representing the latest run.

This, preferably prepended with php , command is also what your CI action should run, after mapping the cache directory from an earlier run.

GitHub Actions#

On GitHub Actions, you can use the built-in cache action as a step to point to a path that you want cached between jobs:

      - name: Rector Cache
        uses: actions/cache@v4
        with:
          path: /tmp/rector
          key: ${{ runner.os }}-rector-${{ github.run_id }}
          restore-keys: ${{ runner.os }}-rector-

      - run: mkdir -p /tmp/rector

      - name: Rector Dry Run
        run: php vendor/bin/rector process --dry-run --config=rector.php

In this key configuration, runs on branches inherit the cache from their parent, if any.