[goosewobbler]

Implements Tier 1 of #594.

Problem

The Action advertises release-mode outputs (tags, has-changes, version-output), but run-action.mjs derives them by parsing the CLI's stdout. A rare stdout-capture hiccup — the same failure mode behind the dist-less v0.41.1 action tag — silently empties them. A user gating a downstream step on the advertised contract:

- uses: goosewobbler/releasekit@vX
  id: release
  with: { mode: release }
- if: steps.release.outputs.tags != ''
  run: ./promote "${{ steps.release.outputs.tags }}"

then skips their step even though the release actually tagged — a silent footgun on an output people build automation on.

Fix

When the parsed output yields no tags on a real (non-dry) run, recover them from git — git tag --points-at HEAD, filtered to version tags — which is authoritative because the release creates the tag at HEAD. A ::warning:: is emitted on that fallback so the underlying stdout issue surfaces instead of leaving a silently empty output.

• Common path unchanged: when stdout parses (the normal case), the parsed tags are used and git is never consulted.
• Pure + tested: the selection logic is extracted into resolveReleaseTags({ parsedTags, gitTags, dryRun }) and unit-tested (prefer-parsed, git-recovery, dry-run-skip, both-empty, missing-parsed).
• Dry run: never shells out to git (no tags exist); uses the parsed/intended tags.

Scope

This is Tier 1 — it hardens the single most load-bearing output (tags) for the common sync-mode version tag. Per-package tag formats (@scope/pkg@vX.Y.Z) still rely on the parsed output, and the full structured outputs (version-output/release-output) still come from stdout. The comprehensive fix — Tier 2, a CLI --output <file> so run-action.mjs reads the result from a file instead of capturing stdout — remains tracked in #594 and is left as a follow-up so this change stays small and shippable.

Validation

• test/integration/action-runner.spec.ts — 5 new resolveReleaseTags cases; full suite green (179 tests).
• pnpm typecheck clean; biome check clean (the remaining env-var warnings are pre-existing).

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Greptile Summary

This PR adds a git-based recovery path for the tags output in release mode: when JSON stdout can't be parsed (a known rare stdout-capture hiccup), the action now runs git tag --points-at HEAD and filters to semver tags rather than silently emitting an empty tags output. The recovery is guarded behind jsonMode && parsed === undefined && !dryRun && !skipGit, and a ::warning:: annotation is emitted when the fallback fires.

• gitVersionTagsAtHead shells out synchronously via execFileSync only on the recovery path (never on the common path), silently returning [] on any git error.
• resolveReleaseTags is a pure, exported function that centralises the prefer-parsed / fall-back-to-git / no-recovery logic, covered by 5 new unit tests.
• Both previously-raised review concerns — recovery firing when json mode is off, and stale tags leaking through --skip-git — are addressed by the allowRecovery guard conditions.

Confidence Score: 5/5

Safe to merge — the recovery path is narrowly scoped to cases where JSON parsing failed, and the common path is unchanged.

Both previously flagged issues (recovery firing with json mode off, stale tags leaking through --skip-git) are correctly guarded by the allowRecovery condition. The new resolveReleaseTags function is pure and well-tested. The git call is synchronous but only executes on the rare fallback path, not the normal flow.

No files require special attention.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
scripts/run-action.mjs	Adds gitVersionTagsAtHead (sync fallback via execFileSync) and resolveReleaseTags (pure tag selector); writeReleaseOutputs now guards recovery behind jsonMode && parsed === undefined && !dryRun && !skipGit, correctly addressing both prior review concerns.
scripts/run-action.d.mts	Exports resolveReleaseTags with allowRecovery?: boolean typed as optional — consistent with the implementation treating undefined as falsy (no recovery).
test/integration/action-runner.spec.ts	Adds 5 unit tests for resolveReleaseTags covering: prefer-parsed, git-recovery, missing-parsed, no-recovery-when-disallowed, and both-empty; all cases are well-specified.

Flowchart

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
flowchart TD
    A[writeReleaseOutputs called\nrelease mode, success] --> B{jsonMode?}
    B -- No --> C[parsed = undefined\nallowRecovery = false]
    B -- Yes --> D[parseReleaseOutput stdout]
    D --> E{parse OK?}
    E -- Yes --> F[parsed = object]
    E -- No --> G{dryRun or skipGit?}
    G -- Yes --> H[allowRecovery = false]
    G -- No --> I[allowRecovery = true\ngitVersionTagsAtHead]
    F --> J[resolveReleaseTags\nallowRecovery=false]
    C --> J
    H --> J
    I --> J
    J --> K{parsedTags non-empty\nor allowRecovery=false?}
    K -- Yes --> L[tags = parsedTags\nrecovered = false]
    K -- No --> M{gitTags non-empty?}
    M -- Yes --> N[tags = gitTags\nrecovered = true\nemit warning]
    M -- No --> O[tags = empty\nrecovered = false]
    L --> P[setOutput tags]
    N --> P
    O --> P

Loading

%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': {"darkMode": true, "background": "#0d1117", "primaryColor": "#21262d", "primaryTextColor": "#e6edf3", "primaryBorderColor": "#8b949e", "lineColor": "#8b949e", "textColor": "#e6edf3", "edgeLabelBackground": "#161b22", "actorBkg": "#21262d", "actorBorder": "#8b949e", "actorTextColor": "#e6edf3", "actorLineColor": "#8b949e", "signalColor": "#8b949e", "signalTextColor": "#e6edf3", "noteBkgColor": "#373320", "noteBorderColor": "#d4a72c", "noteTextColor": "#f0e6c0", "labelBoxBkgColor": "#21262d", "labelBoxBorderColor": "#8b949e", "labelTextColor": "#e6edf3", "loopTextColor": "#e6edf3", "activationBkgColor": "#30363d", "activationBorderColor": "#8b949e"}}}%%
flowchart TD
    A[writeReleaseOutputs called\nrelease mode, success] --> B{jsonMode?}
    B -- No --> C[parsed = undefined\nallowRecovery = false]
    B -- Yes --> D[parseReleaseOutput stdout]
    D --> E{parse OK?}
    E -- Yes --> F[parsed = object]
    E -- No --> G{dryRun or skipGit?}
    G -- Yes --> H[allowRecovery = false]
    G -- No --> I[allowRecovery = true\ngitVersionTagsAtHead]
    F --> J[resolveReleaseTags\nallowRecovery=false]
    C --> J
    H --> J
    I --> J
    J --> K{parsedTags non-empty\nor allowRecovery=false?}
    K -- Yes --> L[tags = parsedTags\nrecovered = false]
    K -- No --> M{gitTags non-empty?}
    M -- Yes --> N[tags = gitTags\nrecovered = true\nemit warning]
    M -- No --> O[tags = empty\nrecovered = false]
    L --> P[setOutput tags]
    N --> P
    O --> P

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_{Reviews (2): Last reviewed commit: "fix(action): gate git tag recovery on js..." | Re-trigger Greptile}

[github-actions]

Standing release PR: #595 · v0.41.2 queued (4 packages) · open 52m · ✅ ready to merge

Release Preview — v0.41.1 → v0.41.2

Note: Labels on this PR are advisory in standing-pr mode. Bumps come from conventional commits in the standing PR; override by editing labels on the standing PR itself. Add release:immediate to bypass the standing PR and release this PR directly.

These changes will be added to the release PR (#595) when merged:

Changelog

monorepo 0.41.1 → 0.41.2

Fixed

• gate git tag recovery on json mode, parse failure, and non-skip-git (action)
• recover the release tags output from git when stdout can't be parsed (action)

All packages → 0.41.2 (sync versioning)

• @releasekit/version
• @releasekit/notes
• @releasekit/publish
• @releasekit/release

After merge — predicted release

No version escalation — this PR's changes will be included in the queued release without affecting the projected versions.

Package	Standing PR	This PR	After merge
monorepo	0.41.2	0.41.2	0.41.2

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