Improved E2E CI runtime

ref #27654

- E2E CI was starting Tinybird for every shard, but only analytics tests need it

- splitting main and analytics shards keeps normal test runs lean while preserving analytics coverage

- teardown still stops analytics services so switching modes leaves a clean compose project

Author: JohnONolan

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -1263,14 +1263,63 @@ jobs:
       use-artifact: ${{ steps.strategy.outputs.use-artifact }}
 
   job_e2e_tests:
-    name: E2E Tests (${{ matrix.shardIndex }}/${{ matrix.shardTotal }})
+    name: E2E Tests (${{ matrix.projectName }} ${{ matrix.shardIndex }}/${{ matrix.shardTotal }})
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: [job_build_e2e_image, job_setup]
     strategy:
       fail-fast: true
       matrix:
-        shardIndex: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
-        shardTotal: [8]
+        include:
+          - projectName: Main
+            projects: main
+            analytics: 'false'
+            shardIndex: 1
+            shardTotal: 8
+          - projectName: Main
+            projects: main
+            analytics: 'false'
+            shardIndex: 2
+            shardTotal: 8
+          - projectName: Main
+            projects: main
+            analytics: 'false'
+            shardIndex: 3
+            shardTotal: 8
+          - projectName: Main
+            projects: main
+            analytics: 'false'
+            shardIndex: 4
+            shardTotal: 8
+          - projectName: Main
+            projects: main
+            analytics: 'false'
+            shardIndex: 5
+            shardTotal: 8
+          - projectName: Main
+            projects: main
+            analytics: 'false'
+            shardIndex: 6
+            shardTotal: 8
+          - projectName: Main
+            projects: main
+            analytics: 'false'
+            shardIndex: 7
+            shardTotal: 8
+          - projectName: Main
+            projects: main
+            analytics: 'false'
+            shardIndex: 8
+            shardTotal: 8
+          - projectName: Analytics
+            projects: analytics
+            analytics: 'true'
+            shardIndex: 1
+            shardTotal: 2
+          - projectName: Analytics
+            projects: analytics
+            analytics: 'true'
+            shardIndex: 2
+            shardTotal: 2
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6.0.2
@@ -1279,6 +1328,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@4d04d5d9486b7bd6fa91e7baf45bbb4f8b9deedd # v4
 
       - name: Pull or build Tinybird CLI Image
+        if: matrix.analytics == 'true'
         run: |
           COMPOSE_IMAGE="${COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME:-ghost-dev}-tb-cli"
           # Try pulling pre-built image from GHCR first (fast path)
@@ -1314,13 +1364,15 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GHOST_E2E_IMAGE: ${{ steps.load.outputs.image-tag }}
           GHOST_E2E_SKIP_IMAGE_BUILD: 'true'
+          GHOST_E2E_ANALYTICS: ${{ matrix.analytics }}
         run: bash ./e2e/scripts/prepare-ci-e2e-job.sh
 
       - name: Run e2e tests in Playwright container
         env:
           TEST_WORKERS_COUNT: 1
           GHOST_E2E_MODE: build
           GHOST_E2E_IMAGE: ${{ steps.load.outputs.image-tag }}
+          E2E_PLAYWRIGHT_PROJECTS: ${{ matrix.projects }}
           E2E_SHARD_INDEX: ${{ matrix.shardIndex }}
           E2E_SHARD_TOTAL: ${{ matrix.shardTotal }}
           E2E_RETRIES: 2
@@ -1332,21 +1384,23 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Stop E2E infra
         if: always()
+        env:
+          GHOST_E2E_ANALYTICS: ${{ matrix.analytics }}
         run: pnpm --filter @tryghost/e2e infra:down
 
       - name: Upload blob report to GitHub Actions Artifacts
         if: failure()
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7
         with:
-          name: blob-report-${{ matrix.shardIndex }}
+          name: blob-report-${{ matrix.projectName }}-${{ matrix.shardIndex }}
           path: e2e/blob-report
           retention-days: 1
 
       - name: Upload test results artifacts
         if: failure()
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@043fb46d1a93c77aae656e7c1c64a875d1fc6a0a # v7
         with:
-          name: test-results-${{ matrix.shardIndex }}
+          name: test-results-${{ matrix.projectName }}-${{ matrix.shardIndex }}
           path: e2e/test-results
           retention-days: 7
 

e2e/helpers/environment/environment-manager.ts

@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ type GhostEnvOverrides = GhostConfig | Record<string, string>;
  * - dev: Uses dev infrastructure with hot-reloading
  * - build: Uses pre-built image (set GHOST_E2E_IMAGE for registry images)
  * 
- * All modes use the same infrastructure (MySQL, Redis, Mailpit, Tinybird)
- * started via docker compose. Ghost and gateway containers are created
- * dynamically per-worker for test isolation.
+ * All modes use the same core infrastructure (MySQL, Redis, Mailpit) started
+ * via docker compose. Analytics/Tinybird services are optional. Ghost and
+ * gateway containers are created dynamically per-worker for test isolation.
  */
 export class EnvironmentManager {
     private readonly mode: EnvironmentMode;

e2e/helpers/environment/service-availability.ts

@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@ async function isServiceAvailable(docker: Docker, serviceName: string) {
  * Checks for tinybird-local service in ghost-dev compose project.
  */
 export async function isTinybirdAvailable(): Promise<boolean> {
+    if (process.env.GHOST_E2E_ANALYTICS === 'false') {
+        debug('Tinybird disabled by GHOST_E2E_ANALYTICS=false');
+        return false;
+    }
+
     const docker = new Docker();
     const tinybirdAvailable = await isServiceAvailable(docker, TINYBIRD.LOCAL_HOST);
     debug(`Tinybird availability for compose project ${DEV_ENVIRONMENT.projectNamespace}:`, tinybirdAvailable);

e2e/scripts/infra-down.sh

@@ -6,5 +6,7 @@ REPO_ROOT="$(cd "$SCRIPT_DIR/../.." && pwd)"
 
 cd "$REPO_ROOT"
 
-docker compose -f compose.dev.yaml -f compose.dev.analytics.yaml stop \
-  analytics tb-cli tinybird-local mailpit redis mysql
+compose_files=(-f compose.dev.yaml -f compose.dev.analytics.yaml)
+services=(analytics tb-cli tinybird-local mailpit redis mysql)
+
+docker compose "${compose_files[@]}" stop "${services[@]}"

e2e/scripts/infra-up.sh

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ cd "$REPO_ROOT"
 
 MODE="$(resolve_e2e_mode)"
 export GHOST_E2E_MODE="$MODE"
+ANALYTICS_ENABLED="${GHOST_E2E_ANALYTICS:-true}"
 
 if [[ "$MODE" != "build" ]]; then
   DEV_COMPOSE_PROJECT="${COMPOSE_PROJECT_NAME:-ghost-dev}"
@@ -21,5 +22,12 @@ if [[ "$MODE" != "build" ]]; then
   fi
 fi
 
-docker compose -f compose.dev.yaml -f compose.dev.analytics.yaml up -d --wait \
-  mysql redis mailpit tinybird-local analytics
+compose_files=(-f compose.dev.yaml)
+services=(mysql redis mailpit)
+
+if [[ "$ANALYTICS_ENABLED" == "true" ]]; then
+  compose_files+=(-f compose.dev.analytics.yaml)
+  services+=(tinybird-local analytics)
+fi
+
+docker compose "${compose_files[@]}" up -d --wait "${services[@]}"

e2e/scripts/prepare-ci-e2e-build-mode.sh

@@ -3,10 +3,12 @@ set -euo pipefail
 
 source "$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)/load-playwright-container-env.sh"
 GATEWAY_IMAGE="${GHOST_E2E_GATEWAY_IMAGE:-caddy:2-alpine}"
+ANALYTICS_ENABLED="${GHOST_E2E_ANALYTICS:-true}"
 
 echo "Preparing E2E build-mode runtime"
 echo "Playwright image: ${PLAYWRIGHT_IMAGE}"
 echo "Gateway image: ${GATEWAY_IMAGE}"
+echo "Analytics enabled: ${ANALYTICS_ENABLED}"
 
 pids=()
 labels=()
@@ -25,7 +27,7 @@ run_bg() {
 
 run_bg "pull-gateway-image" docker pull "$GATEWAY_IMAGE"
 run_bg "pull-playwright-image" docker pull "$PLAYWRIGHT_IMAGE"
-run_bg "start-infra" env GHOST_E2E_MODE=build bash "$REPO_ROOT/e2e/scripts/infra-up.sh"
+run_bg "start-infra" env GHOST_E2E_MODE=build GHOST_E2E_ANALYTICS="$ANALYTICS_ENABLED" bash "$REPO_ROOT/e2e/scripts/infra-up.sh"
 
 for i in "${!pids[@]}"; do
     if ! wait "${pids[$i]}"; then
@@ -34,4 +36,6 @@ for i in "${!pids[@]}"; do
     fi
 done
 
-node "$REPO_ROOT/e2e/scripts/sync-tinybird-state.mjs"
+if [[ "$ANALYTICS_ENABLED" == "true" ]]; then
+    node "$REPO_ROOT/e2e/scripts/sync-tinybird-state.mjs"
+fi

e2e/scripts/run-playwright-container.sh

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ set -euo pipefail
 SHARD_INDEX="${E2E_SHARD_INDEX:-}"
 SHARD_TOTAL="${E2E_SHARD_TOTAL:-}"
 RETRIES="${E2E_RETRIES:-2}"
+PROJECTS="${E2E_PLAYWRIGHT_PROJECTS:-main,analytics}"
 
 if [[ -z "$SHARD_INDEX" || -z "$SHARD_TOTAL" ]]; then
     echo "Missing E2E_SHARD_INDEX or E2E_SHARD_TOTAL environment variables" >&2
@@ -12,6 +13,22 @@ fi
 
 source "$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)/load-playwright-container-env.sh"
 
+project_args=()
+IFS=',' read -ra project_names <<< "$PROJECTS"
+for project in "${project_names[@]}"; do
+    project="${project//[[:space:]]/}"
+    if [[ -n "$project" ]]; then
+        project_args+=("--project=${project}")
+    fi
+done
+
+if [[ ${#project_args[@]} -eq 0 ]]; then
+    echo "No Playwright projects configured in E2E_PLAYWRIGHT_PROJECTS" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+printf -v project_args_string '%q ' "${project_args[@]}"
+
 docker run --rm --network host --ipc host \
   -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
   -v "${WORKSPACE_PATH}:${WORKSPACE_PATH}" \
@@ -22,5 +39,6 @@ docker run --rm --network host --ipc host \
   -e GHOST_E2E_MODE="${GHOST_E2E_MODE:-build}" \
   -e GHOST_E2E_IMAGE="${GHOST_E2E_IMAGE:-ghost-e2e:local}" \
   -e GHOST_E2E_GATEWAY_IMAGE="${GHOST_E2E_GATEWAY_IMAGE:-caddy:2-alpine}" \
+  -e GHOST_E2E_ANALYTICS="${GHOST_E2E_ANALYTICS:-true}" \
   "$PLAYWRIGHT_IMAGE" \
-  bash -c "corepack enable && pnpm test:all --shard=${SHARD_INDEX}/${SHARD_TOTAL} --retries=${RETRIES}"
+  bash -c "corepack enable && bash ./scripts/run-playwright-host.sh pnpm exec playwright test ${project_args_string}--shard=${SHARD_INDEX}/${SHARD_TOTAL} --retries=${RETRIES}"