Seems caching is not working

[sztadii]

Description:
I used the cache option in one of my public repos, but dependencies are getting installed again.
I do not see any difference in the pipeline duration when I run it with or without cache.

https://github.com/sztadii/crypto-dashboard/actions

Action version:
Specify the action version

Platform:

• [x ] Ubuntu
• macOS
• Windows

Runner type:

• [x ] Hosted
• Self-hosted

Tools version:
node 14.19.0

[dmitry-shibanov]

Hello @sztadii. Thank you for your report. Actually the setup-node action does not cache node_modules. It caches global cache directory.

[sztadii]

@dmitry-shibanov then the "Caching packages dependencies" title is misleading, I think it should be changed.

[DoWhileGeek]

I too, thought it would cache my node_modules, and assumed it would bust the cache when the defined lock file changed? The whole feature is quite misleading.

[jorupp]

I agree, I think that makes the statements on https://docs.github.com/en/actions/using-workflows/caching-dependencies-to-speed-up-workflows that imply you should use actions/setup-node@v2 instead of actions/cache misleading.

[ThisIsMissEm]

I too hit into this when trying to optimise a CI pipeline, and was misled.

[ThisIsMissEm]

It could also be related to this PR: #323

[jessepinho]

I had the same question, and this article pointed out that you actually want to use actions/cache@v2, rather than actions/setup-node@v2. (You can still use the latter as well — it's just not going to cache your node_modules.)

[dmitry-shibanov]

Hello everyone. We updated documentation in scope of this pull request. For now I'm going to close the issue. If you have any concerns feel free to ping us.

[markusjohnsson]

@dmitry-shibanov : Actually the setup-node action does not cache node_modules. It caches global cache directory.

I see that you have updated the docs since this issue were opened, but could you also add a comment about what that means? What is the purpose of caching the global cache directory? When do I need this feature? Would caching node_modules not be a good idea (for me and/or for setup-node)?