ci: Switch to VS-vendored vcpkg instance
What the developer wrote
Authored by Hennadii Stepanov
ci: Switch to VS-vendored vcpkg instance
The GHA Windows image contains two vcpkg installations: one vendored by
VS (`VCPKG_ROOT`) and an independent one (`VCPKG_INSTALLATION_ROOT`).
Our build documentation recommends using the VS-vendored instance to
minimize user effort. While this option previously failed to build in
the CI, forcing us to use the independent installation, it is now
working correctly.
This change removes the no-longer-needed workaround.
What changed, and why it matters
This commit is a routine cleanup of Bitcoin Core's GitHub Actions CI configuration for Windows builds. It switches the build from using a standalone vcpkg installation to the one that comes bundled with Visual Studio, matching the project's own documentation. The change only affects internal continuous-integration tooling and does not alter the Bitcoin Core software that users run.
No security action required. Treat as normal infrastructure maintenance.
Security signals we found
No strong security signals were identified.
Evidence from the diff
The diff removes an environment-variable override that forced CI to use VCPKG_INSTALLATION_ROOT (C:/vcpkg) and updates the vcpkg tools cache path to the VS-vendored location under ~/AppData/Local/vcpkg/downloads/tools. This aligns CI with the documented developer workflow. No source code, consensus logic, networking, cryptography, or wallet code is modified.
Changed components
.github/workflows/ci.yml (Windows CI job only)Inspect captured patch +2 / −6
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index b7d6a2fb..7d71118e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -253,15 +253,11 @@ jobs:
py -3 --version
bash --version
- - name: Set VCPKG_ROOT
- run: |
- echo "VCPKG_ROOT=${VCPKG_INSTALLATION_ROOT}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-
- name: Restore vcpkg tools cache
id: vcpkg-tools-cache
uses: actions/cache/restore@v5
with:
- path: C:/vcpkg/downloads/tools
+ path: ~/AppData/Local/vcpkg/downloads/tools
key: ${{ github.job }}-vcpkg-tools-${{ github.run_id }}
restore-keys: ${{ github.job }}-vcpkg-tools-
@@ -288,7 +284,7 @@ jobs:
# Only save cache from one job as they share tools. If the matrix is expanded to jobs with unique tools, this may need amending.
if: github.event_name != 'pull_request' && github.ref_name == github.event.repository.default_branch && steps.vcpkg-tools-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true' && matrix.job-type == 'standard'
with:
- path: C:/vcpkg/downloads/tools
+ path: ~/AppData/Local/vcpkg/downloads/tools
key: ${{ github.job }}-vcpkg-tools-${{ github.run_id }}
- name: Build
Why this scored 15/100
Community notes
Notes can correct, qualify, or add evidence to the AI analysis. Every note shown here has been validated by a human moderator.
The AI analysis stands alone for now. Submit a note if you can add evidence or important context.