Examples

April 26, 2026 · View on GitHub

Bun

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-bun-${{ hashFiles('**/bun.lockb') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-bun-
    paths: |
      ~/.bun/install/cache

Windows

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-bun-${{ hashFiles('**/bun.lockb') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-bun-
    paths: |
      ~\.bun

C# - NuGet

Using NuGet lock files:

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-nuget-${{ hashFiles('**/packages.lock.json') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-nuget-
    paths: ~/.nuget/packages

Depending on the environment, huge packages might be pre-installed in the global cache folder. With nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7 you can now exclude unwanted packages with exclude pattern

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-nuget-${{ hashFiles('**/packages.lock.json') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-nuget-
    paths: |
      ~/.nuget/packages
      !~/.nuget/packages/unwanted

Or you could move the cache folder like below.

Note This workflow does not work for projects that require files to be placed in user profile package folder

env:
  NUGET_PACKAGES: ${{ github.workspace }}/.nuget/packages
steps:
  - uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
    with:
      primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-nuget-${{ hashFiles('**/packages.lock.json') }}
      restore-prefixes-first-match: |
        ${{ runner.os }}-nuget-
      paths: ${{ github.workspace }}/.nuget/packages

Clojure - Lein Deps

- name: Cache lein project dependencies
  uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-clojure-${{ hashFiles('**/project.clj') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-clojure
    paths: ~/.m2/repository

D - DUB

POSIX

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-dub-${{ hashFiles('**/dub.selections.json') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-dub-
    paths: ~/.dub

Windows

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-dub-${{ hashFiles('**/dub.selections.json') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-dub-
    paths: ~\AppData\Local\dub

Deno

Linux

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-deno-${{ hashFiles('**/deps.ts') }}
    paths: |
      ~/.deno
      ~/.cache/deno

macOS

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-deno-${{ hashFiles('**/deps.ts') }}
    paths: |
      ~/.deno
      ~/Library/Caches/deno

Windows

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-deno-${{ hashFiles('**/deps.ts') }}
    paths: |
      ~\.deno
      ~\AppData\Local\deno

Elixir - Mix

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-mix-${{ hashFiles('**/mix.lock') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-mix-
    paths: |
      deps
      _build

Erlang - Rebar3

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-erlang-${{ env.OTP_VERSION }}-${{ hashFiles('**/*rebar.lock') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-erlang-${{ env.OTP_VERSION }}-
    paths: |
      ~/.cache/rebar3
      _build

Go - Modules

Linux

- uses: actions/cache@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-go-
    paths: |
      ~/.cache/go-build
      ~/go/pkg/mod

macOS

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-go-
    paths: |
      ~/Library/Caches/go-build
      ~/go/pkg/mod

Windows

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-go-${{ hashFiles('**/go.sum') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-go-
    paths: |
      ~\AppData\Local\go-build
      ~\go\pkg\mod

Haskell - Cabal

We cache the elements of the Cabal store separately, as the entirety of ~/.cabal can grow very large for projects with many dependencies.

- name: Cache ~/.cabal/packages, ~/.cabal/store and dist-newstyle
  uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ matrix.ghc }}-${{ hashFiles('**/*.cabal', '**/cabal.project', '**/cabal.project.freeze') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ matrix.ghc }}-
    paths: |
      ~/.cabal/packages
      ~/.cabal/store
      dist-newstyle

Haskell - Stack

Linux or macOS

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  name: Cache ~/.stack
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-stack-global-${{ hashFiles('stack.yaml') }}-${{ hashFiles('package.yaml') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-stack-global-
    paths: ~/.stack
- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  name: Cache .stack-work
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-stack-work-${{ hashFiles('stack.yaml') }}-${{ hashFiles('package.yaml') }}-${{ hashFiles('**/*.hs') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-stack-work-
    paths: .stack-work

Windows

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  name: Cache %APPDATA%\stack %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\stack
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-stack-global-${{ hashFiles('stack.yaml') }}-${{ hashFiles('package.yaml') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-stack-global-
    paths: |
      ~\AppData\Roaming\stack
      ~\AppData\Local\Programs\stack
- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  name: Cache .stack-work
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-stack-work-${{ hashFiles('stack.yaml') }}-${{ hashFiles('package.yaml') }}-${{ hashFiles('**/*.hs') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-stack-work-
    paths: .stack-work

Java - Gradle

Note Ensure no Gradle daemons are running anymore when your workflow completes. Creating the cache package might fail due to locks being held by Gradle. Refer to the Gradle Daemon documentation on how to disable or stop the Gradle Daemons.

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-gradle-${{ hashFiles('**/*.gradle*', '**/gradle-wrapper.properties') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-gradle-
    paths: |
      ~/.gradle/caches
      ~/.gradle/wrapper

Java - Maven

- name: Cache local Maven repository
  uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-maven-${{ hashFiles('**/pom.xml') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-maven-
    paths: ~/.m2/repository

Node - npm

For npm, cache files are stored in ~/.npm on Posix, or ~\AppData\npm-cache on Windows, but it's possible to use npm config get cache to find the path on any platform. See the npm docs for more details.

If using npm config to retrieve the cache directory, ensure you run actions/setup-node first to ensure your npm version is correct. After deprecation of save-state and set-output commands, the correct way to set output is using ${GITHUB_OUTPUT}. For linux, we can use ${GITHUB_OUTPUT} whereas for windows we need to use ${env:GITHUB_OUTPUT} due to two different default shells in these two different OS ie bash and pwsh respectively.

Note It is not recommended to cache node_modules, as it can break across Node versions and won't work with npm ci

Get npm cache directory using same shell

Bash shell

- name: Get npm cache directory
  id: npm-cache-dir
  shell: bash
  run: echo "dir=$(npm config get cache)" >> ${GITHUB_OUTPUT}

PWSH shell

- name: Get npm cache directory
  id: npm-cache-dir
  shell: pwsh
  run: echo "dir=$(npm config get cache)" >> ${env:GITHUB_OUTPUT}

Get npm cache directory step can then be used with nix-community/cache-nix-action as shown below

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  id: npm-cache # use this to check for `hit-primary-key` ==> if: steps.npm-cache.outputs.hit-primary-key != 'true'
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-node-${{ hashFiles('**/package-lock.json') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-node-
    paths: ${{ steps.npm-cache-dir.outputs.dir }}

Node - Lerna

- name: restore lerna
  uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-${{ hashFiles('**/yarn.lock') }}
    paths: "**/node_modules"

Node - Yarn

The yarn cache directory will depend on your operating system and version of yarn. See https://yarnpkg.com/lang/en/docs/cli/cache/ for more info.

- name: Get yarn cache directory path
  id: yarn-cache-dir-path
  run: echo "dir=$(yarn cache dir)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  id: yarn-cache # use this to check for `hit-primary-key` (`steps.yarn-cache.outputs.hit-primary-key != 'true'`)
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-yarn-${{ hashFiles('**/yarn.lock') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-yarn-
    paths: ${{ steps.yarn-cache-dir-path.outputs.dir }}

Node - Yarn 2

The yarn 2 cache directory will depend on your config. See https://yarnpkg.com/configuration/yarnrc#cacheFolder for more info.

- name: Get yarn cache directory path
  id: yarn-cache-dir-path
  run: echo "dir=$(yarn config get cacheFolder)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  id: yarn-cache # use this to check for `hit-primary-key` (`steps.yarn-cache.outputs.hit-primary-key != 'true'`)
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-yarn-${{ hashFiles('**/yarn.lock') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-yarn-
    paths: ${{ steps.yarn-cache-dir-path.outputs.dir }}

OCaml/Reason - esy

Esy allows you to export built dependencies and import pre-built dependencies.

    - name: Restore Cache
      id: restore-cache
      uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
      with:
        primary-key:  ${{ runner.os }}-esy-${{ hashFiles('esy.lock/index.json') }}
        restore-prefixes-first-match: |
          ${{ runner.os }}-esy-
        paths: _export
    - name: Esy install
      run: 'esy install'
    - name: Import Cache
      run: |
        esy import-dependencies _export
        rm -rf _export

    ...(Build job)...

    # Re-export dependencies if anything has changed or if it is the first time
    - name: Setting dependency cache
      run: |
        esy export-dependencies
      if: steps.restore-cache.outputs.hit-primary-key != 'true'

PHP - Composer

- name: Get Composer Cache Directory
  id: composer-cache
  run: |
    echo "dir=$(composer config cache-files-dir)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-composer-${{ hashFiles('**/composer.lock') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-composer-
    paths: ${{ steps.composer-cache.outputs.dir }}

Python - pip

For pip, the cache directory will vary by OS. See https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/reference/pip_install/#caching

Locations:

  • Ubuntu: ~/.cache/pip
  • Windows: ~\AppData\Local\pip\Cache
  • macOS: ~/Library/Caches/pip

Simple example

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements.txt') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-pip-
    paths: ~/.cache/pip

Replace ~/.cache/pip with the correct paths if not using Ubuntu.

Multiple OS's in a workflow

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  if: startsWith(runner.os, 'Linux')
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements.txt') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-pip-
    paths: ~/.cache/pip

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  if: startsWith(runner.os, 'macOS')
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements.txt') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-pip-
    paths: ~/Library/Caches/pip

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  if: startsWith(runner.os, 'Windows')
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements.txt') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-pip-
    paths: ~\AppData\Local\pip\Cache

Multiple OS's in a workflow with a matrix

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
    strategy:
      matrix:
        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
        include:
          - os: ubuntu-latest
            paths: ~/.cache/pip
          - os: macos-latest
            paths: ~/Library/Caches/pip
          - os: windows-latest
            paths: ~\AppData\Local\pip\Cache
    steps:
      - uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
        with:
          primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements.txt') }}
          restore-prefixes-first-match: |
            ${{ runner.os }}-pip-
          paths: ${{ matrix.paths }}

Using pip to get cache location

Note This requires pip 20.1+

- name: Get pip cache dir
  id: pip-cache
  shell: bash
  run: |
    echo "dir=$(pip cache dir)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

- name: pip cache
  uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-pip-${{ hashFiles('**/requirements.txt') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-pip-
    paths: ${{ steps.pip-cache.outputs.dir }}

Python - pipenv

- name: Set up Python
  # The actions/cache step below uses this id to get the exact python version
  id: setup-python
  uses: actions/setup-python@v6

  ⋮

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-python-${{ steps.setup-python.outputs.python-version }}-pipenv-${{ hashFiles('Pipfile.lock') }}
    paths: ~/.local/share/virtualenvs

R - renv

For renv, the cache directory will vary by OS. The RENV_PATHS_ROOT environment variable is used to set the cache location. Have a look at https://rstudio.github.io/renv/reference/paths.html#details for more details.

- name: Set RENV_PATHS_ROOT
  shell: bash
  run: |
    echo "RENV_PATHS_ROOT=${{ runner.temp }}/renv" >> $GITHUB_ENV
- name: Install and activate renv
  run: |
    install.packages("renv")
    renv::activate()
  shell: Rscript {0}
- name: Get R and OS version
  id: get-version
  run: |
    cat("##[set-output name=os-version;]", sessionInfo()$running, "\n", sep = "")
    cat("##[set-output name=r-version;]", R.Version()$version.string, sep = "")
  shell: Rscript {0}
- name: Restore Renv package cache
  uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ steps.get-version.outputs.os-version }}-${{ steps.get-version.outputs.r-version }}-${{ inputs.cache-version }}-${{ hashFiles('renv.lock') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: ${{ steps.get-version.outputs.os-version }}-${{ steps.get-version.outputs.r-version }}-${{inputs.cache-version }}-
    paths: ${{ env.RENV_PATHS_ROOT }}

Ruby - Bundler

Caching gems with Bundler correctly is not trivial and just using nix-community/cache-nix-action is not enough.

Instead, it is recommended to use ruby/setup-ruby's bundler-cache: true option whenever possible:

- uses: ruby/setup-ruby@v1
  with:
    ruby-version: ...
    bundler-cache: true

Rust - Cargo

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-cargo-${{ hashFiles('**/Cargo.lock') }}
    paths: |
      ~/.cargo/bin/
      ~/.cargo/registry/index/
      ~/.cargo/registry/cache/
      ~/.cargo/git/db/
      target/

Scala - SBT

- name: Cache SBT
  uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-sbt-${{ hashFiles('**/build.sbt') }}
    paths: |
      ~/.ivy2/cache
      ~/.sbt

Swift, Objective-C - Carthage

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-carthage-${{ hashFiles('**/Cartfile.resolved') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-carthage-
    paths: Carthage

Swift, Objective-C - CocoaPods

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-pods-${{ hashFiles('**/Podfile.lock') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-pods-
    paths: Pods

Swift - Swift Package Manager

- uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-spm-${{ hashFiles('**/Package.resolved') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-spm-
    paths: .build

Swift - Mint

env:
  MINT_PATH: .mint/lib
  MINT_LINK_PATH: .mint/bin
steps:
  - uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
    with:
      primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-mint-${{ hashFiles('**/Mintfile') }}
      restore-prefixes-first-match: |
        ${{ runner.os }}-mint-
      paths: .mint

* - Bazel

bazelisk does not have be to separately downloaded and installed because it's already included in GitHub's ubuntu-latest and macos-latest base images.

Linux

- name: Cache Bazel
  uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-bazel-${{ hashFiles('.bazelversion', '.bazelrc', 'WORKSPACE', 'WORKSPACE.bazel', 'MODULE.bazel') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-bazel-
    paths: |
      ~/.cache/bazel
- run: bazelisk test //...

macOS

- name: Cache Bazel
  uses: nix-community/cache-nix-action@v7
  with:
    primary-key: ${{ runner.os }}-bazel-${{ hashFiles('.bazelversion', '.bazelrc', 'WORKSPACE', 'WORKSPACE.bazel', 'MODULE.bazel') }}
    restore-prefixes-first-match: |
      ${{ runner.os }}-bazel-
    paths: |
      /private/var/tmp/_bazel_runner/
- run: bazelisk test //...