[glaubersilva]

Follow-up to SOFT-5187. It uses the readRepository and tagExists helpers #10 adds under .github/lib/.

The release-prep action now refuses a version the repository has already tagged.

Why

A release branch cut from main right after a release still carries that release's version. Preparing it with the same version passed every check (the version is not lower than the branch's, which is the rule that catches a wrong branch), and the next changes ended up under a version that was already out. That is what happened on the test plugins today: both release/M26.test40 branches were cut after 2.1.36 and 1.1.10 had been released, the prepare accepted those versions, and the deploy found their tags already published.

What changes

• Before pup runs, the action reads refs/tags/<version> through the GitHub API (tagExists from .github/lib/github.js). A 404 lets the run go on; an existing tag fails the step: "The tag 4.17.0 already exists in owner/repo: that version has already been released … Give the release a new version. Nothing was changed." Any other API error fails the step too, rather than being read as an absent tag.
• The read goes through github-script's own client, so the manifest now hands inputs.token to the prepare step as github-token, as the commit step already did. A pinned pup-version still makes no API call for pup; the tag read is the one request a prepare makes.
• GITHUB_REPOSITORY is required, as it already was for the commit step; both steps read it through readRepository.
• README: the new refusal under "Versions it refuses", and "Running it again" says that a finished preparation can be rerun until its version is tagged.

Tests

node --test: 260 pass (257 on #10). New: the tag exists (refused before any download or pup call, no outputs), the read fails (refused, not taken for an absent tag), GITHUB_REPOSITORY missing, and the pinned-pup test now asserts the one request is the tag read. Removing the check fails three tests.

actionlint 1.7.12 is clean on the template.

Verified end to end

On the two private test plugins in this org, with toolbox-release-prep.yml pinned to this branch. Each release/M26.test40 branch carries the version that was released from it earlier the same day.

Case	Run	Result
Prepare release/M26.test40 as 2.1.36, a version already tagged	plugin-a#41112858073	Fails before pup is downloaded: "The tag 2.1.36 already exists in stellarwp/release-test-plugin-a … Give the release a new version. Nothing was changed." Branch head unchanged.
Prepare release/M26.test40 as 1.1.10, same	plugin-b#41112864115	Same refusal, branch head unchanged.

Then one release driven from the NX1 release dashboard, M26.test41, with both plugins, each branch cut from main and still carrying its last released version:

Case	Run	Result
Prepare as 2.1.37 on purpose, the version main was released at	plugin-a#41128093034	Refused: "The tag 2.1.37 already exists in stellarwp/release-test-plugin-a: that version has already been released". Branch head unchanged.
Prepare as 1.1.11, a new version	plugin-b#41128093095	Goes on as before: one commit bumping the version in release-test-plugin-b.php and readme.txt; no TBDs and no changelog entries on that branch, so nothing else changed.

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Release Preparation
  • Release preparation refuses versions that already have a repository tag, whether or not a release has been published.
  • Repeating a completed preparation succeeds without creating another commit only while the version remains untagged.
  • If checking for a tag fails for a reason other than the tag not being found, preparation stops without proceeding.

[linear]

SOFT-5187

[coderabbitai]

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• .github/actions/release-prep/release-prep.js

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Walkthrough

The release-prep action now checks the GitHub repository for the requested version tag before it reads .puprc or runs preparation commands. It passes its GitHub client to runPrepare. Tests and documentation cover the check and retry behavior.

Changes: Release preparation

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Check the version tag before preparation .github/actions/release-prep/release-prep.js	runPrepare checks for the requested version tag before reading .puprc or running preparation commands. Tag lookup failures propagate.
Wire and verify the tag check .github/actions/release-prep/action.yml, tests/actions/release-prep/release-prep.test.js, .github/actions/release-prep/README.md	The action passes its GitHub client to runPrepare. Tests cover existing tags, lookup failures, and missing repository information. The documentation describes the tag check and retry behavior.

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~12 minutes

Change: Feature

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant ReleaseAction
  participant runPrepare
  participant GitHubAPI
  participant PupCommands
  ReleaseAction->>runPrepare: Pass GitHub client and preparation inputs
  runPrepare->>GitHubAPI: Check requested version tag
  alt Tag exists
    GitHubAPI-->>runPrepare: Tag found
    runPrepare-->>ReleaseAction: Reject preparation
  else Tag does not exist
    GitHubAPI-->>runPrepare: Tag not found
    runPrepare->>PupCommands: Continue preparation
  end

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Possibly related PRs

• stellarwp/plugin-toolbox#7: Adds the release-prep action and runPrepare flow that this change modifies.
• stellarwp/plugin-toolbox#10: Adds the shared repository and tag helpers used by this change.

Suggested labels: enhancement

Suggested reviewers: d4mation, dpanta94

Merge Risk: Minimal · up to 85084

No actionable issue is established for this change. It is mergeable after normal checks.

Pre-merge checks: 5

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Title check		The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: release-prep now refuses versions that the repository has already tagged.
Docstring Coverage		Docstring coverage is 100.00% which is sufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff with cyclomatic complexity of at least 2. Documentat…
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[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 1

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• 🪄 Fix comments: Fix CodeRabbit comments on this PR

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Inline comments:
Review comments at @.github/actions/release-prep/release-prep.js:
- Line 645: Update the tag-exists message in the release-prep preflight to state
only that the tag already exists, without implying a release was published; make
the matching README wording consistent with that distinction.

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