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Bazel adapter

Give Bazel a shared HTTP action cache and content-addressable store without replacing Bazel's action keys or build graph.

Command
boringcache bazel
Protocol
Bazel HTTP remote cache over /ac/* and /cas/*
Action
mode: bazel

How the adapter works

Native action cache and CAS

BoringCache speaks the HTTP cache paths Bazel expects instead of turning Bazel outputs into generic archives.

One workspace for CI and local builds

Use the same cache from a developer laptop, GitHub Actions, or another CI runner.

Clear write control

Restore-only tokens can read remote cache while trusted jobs publish action outputs.

Set up Bazel

Keep the command and cache tag in .boringcache.toml, then use the same boringcache bazel entrypoint locally and in CI. The action cache and CAS stay Bazel-native.

[adapters.bazel]
tag = "bazel-cache"
command = ["bazel", "build", "//..."]

# Run: boringcache bazel

Before the first run

  • Install Bazel or Bazelisk before the direct CLI command.
  • Keep Bazel platform and toolchain configuration stable across the jobs expected to share action results.
  • Use dry-run output to review generated cache flags before adding extra bazelrc lines.

Use the same adapter in GitHub Actions

The Action starts the Bazel adapter and gives the later Bazel step its remote-cache settings.

.github/workflows/ci.yml 
- uses: boringcache/one@f0fb9b2d926a32b10c543e92093ba00c5a291b79 # v1.33.0
  with:
    trust-policy: auto
    mode: bazel

- run: bazel build //...

Approve the repository through Connect CI and grant the job contents: read and id-token: write. The Action uses that Machine connection. Pull requests restore by default; trusted jobs may publish. See the authentication example in the GitHub Actions reference for scoped credentials when OIDC is unavailable.

GitHub Actions reference

Benchmarks

gRPC · Bazel remote cache · BoringCache vs BuildBuddy.

28%

Faster Bazel builds than BuildBuddy

BoringCache finished the same-source Bazel benchmark in 260s, compared with 360s for BuildBuddy.

Open run →
Bazel cache page All benchmarks

Tool reference

Check the tool's own reference when you need cache-key rules, build settings, or version-specific behavior.

All adapter commands

Compare every supported command, protocol, and Action mode in one place.

Adapter command index →

Need help or found something unclear? Open an issue or browse the CLI repo.