[Code Quality] Move Regex Compilation to Package Level to Avoid Hot-Path Recompilation

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Description

The workflow compilation pipeline recompiles identical regex patterns on every function call instead of compiling once at package initialization, causing O(n) compilation overhead during workflow builds.

Problem

In pkg/workflow/compiler_jobs.go:455, the containsRuntimeImports() function calls regexp.MustCompile() inside the function:

func containsRuntimeImports(markdownContent string) bool {
    macroPattern := `\\{\\{#runtime-import\\??[ \\t]+([^\\}]+)\\}\\}`
    macroRe := regexp.MustCompile(macroPattern)  // ❌ Compiled EVERY call
    matches := macroRe.FindAllStringSubmatch(markdownContent, -1)
    return len(matches) > 0
}

This function is called per-job during workflow compilation. For workflows with 100+ jobs, the same regex is compiled 100+ times.

Impact

• Performance: O(n) regex compilation overhead scales with workflow size
• CPU waste: Identical pattern compiled repeatedly
• Latency: Slower workflow builds for complex workflows

Benchmark Impact (Estimated)

• Current: ~1ms per regex compilation × 100 jobs = 100ms overhead
• After fix: 1ms one-time compilation + 0ms per job = 1ms total
• Improvement: ~99ms saved on 100-job workflows

Additional Instances to Fix

Found in performance analysis:

• pkg/workflow/compiler_jobs.go:455 - CONFIRMED CRITICAL (per-job hot path)
• pkg/workflow/expression_extraction.go:45 - expressionRegex (needs review)
• pkg/workflow/template_validation.go:50 - templateRegionPattern (needs review)
• pkg/workflow/repo_memory.go:77 - validPattern (needs review)

Good Example Already in Codebase

pkg/workflow/expression_validation.go:65-69 already follows best practice:

// ✅ CORRECT - Compiled once at package level
var (
    expressionLog = logging.MustGetLogger("workflow.expression")
    
    // Regex patterns compiled at init
    githubContextRegex     = regexp.MustCompile(`\\$\\{\\{ *github\\.[a-zA-Z0-9_]+ *\\}\\}`)
    inputsRegex            = regexp.MustCompile(`\\$\\{\\{ *inputs\\.[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+ *\\}\\}`)
    secretsRegex           = regexp.MustCompile(`\\$\\{\\{ *secrets\\.[A-Z0-9_]+ *\\}\\}`)
)

Suggested Changes

Move regex compilation to package-level variable declarations:

// At package level (top of compiler_jobs.go):
var (
    compilerJobsLog = logging.MustGetLogger("workflow.compiler.jobs")
    
    // ✅ Regex patterns compiled once at init
    runtimeImportMacroRe = regexp.MustCompile(`\\{\\{#runtime-import\\??[ \\t]+([^\\}]+)\\}\\}`)
)

// In containsRuntimeImports function:
func containsRuntimeImports(markdownContent string) bool {
    matches := runtimeImportMacroRe.FindAllStringSubmatch(markdownContent, -1)
    return len(matches) > 0
}

Files to Update

Confirmed Critical:

• pkg/workflow/compiler_jobs.go:455 - Hot path per-job compilation

To Review:

• pkg/workflow/expression_extraction.go:45
• pkg/workflow/template_validation.go:50
• pkg/workflow/repo_memory.go:77

Reference (already correct):

• pkg/workflow/expression_validation.go - Follow this pattern ✅

Success Criteria

• All in-function regexp.MustCompile() calls moved to package level
• Benchmark shows improved compilation time: go test -bench=BenchmarkCompile -benchmem
• No allocation increase: verify with -benchmem (should decrease)
• All tests pass: go test ./pkg/workflow/... -v
• Verify no in-function compilation remains: grep -rn "regexp.MustCompile" pkg/workflow/*.go | grep -v "var.*="
• Large workflow compilation (100+ jobs) shows measurable improvement
• make agent-finish passes

Priority

High - Performance optimization with clear benefit and low risk

Estimated Effort: Small (2-3 hours including verification across all files)

Source

Extracted from Sergo Performance Optimization Analysis - Discussion #11840

Analysis Quote:

"Regex Compilation in Hot Paths: pkg/workflow/compiler_jobs.go:455 - regexp.MustCompile() inside containsRuntimeImports() function. Function called per-job during workflow compilation (potentially 100+ times for complex workflows). Each call recompiles identical regex pattern."

Impact Assessment:

"Impact: Eliminate O(n) regex compilation overhead in workflow compilation"

References:

• §21351896890

AI generated by Discussion Task Miner - Code Quality Improvement Agent

• expires on Feb 9, 2026, 2:09 PM UTC

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