fix: use semver-based selection for release notes baseline by Copilot · Pull Request #89 · joshjohanning/publish-github-action

Copilot · 2026-04-15T20:14:52Z

listReleases returns releases sorted by created_at descending, so .find() picks the most recently created release — not the semantically correct predecessor. This causes incorrect release notes in two scenarios:

Hotpatches: v2.0.6 published after v4.0.0 → release notes for v4.0.1 were generated against v2.0.6 instead of v4.0.0
Backports: publishing v2.0.7 when v4.0.1 exists → release notes were generated against v4.0.1 instead of v2.0.6

Changes

src/index.js: Replace the previous approach with semver-based selection — fetch all releases, filter to valid semver tags less than the current version, and pick the highest one using semver.lt() and semver.rcompare().

const candidates = releases.data
  .map(r => r.tag_name)
  .filter(tag => tag && semver.valid(tag) && semver.lt(tag, version));

if (candidates.length > 0) {
  candidates.sort(semver.rcompare);
  previousTag = candidates[0];
}

__tests__/index.test.js: Reworked release notes tests to cover:
- Hotpatch scenario (v4.0.1 picks v4.0.0 over chronologically newer v2.0.6)
- Backport scenario (v2.0.7 picks v2.0.6, not v4.0.1)
- Non-semver tags are filtered out
- Fetch failure gracefully falls back to no baseline
package.json: Patch bump 3.0.2 → 3.0.3

…hronological ordering Fixes bug where hotpatches to older version lines (e.g. v2.0.6 published after v4.0.0) would be picked as the release notes baseline instead of the semantically latest release. Uses GitHub's getLatestRelease endpoint which respects the "latest" designation, with fallback to listReleases. Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/joshjohanning/publish-github-action/sessions/61a91a3a-130d-4656-9ca0-5c9ac14f529a Co-authored-by: joshjohanning <19912012+joshjohanning@users.noreply.github.com>

…wing Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/joshjohanning/publish-github-action/sessions/61a91a3a-130d-4656-9ca0-5c9ac14f529a Co-authored-by: joshjohanning <19912012+joshjohanning@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

Updates the release-notes baseline selection in this Node.js GitHub Action so that release notes are generated against the semantically “latest” release instead of the most recently created release, which can be incorrect when hotpatches are released on older version lines.

Changes:

Switch baseline selection to octokit.rest.repos.getLatestRelease() with a listReleases fallback on API failure.
Update Jest tests to mock getLatestRelease, add coverage for fallback behavior and the hotpatch scenario.
Bump package version 3.0.2 → 3.0.3 (and sync lockfile), update coverage badge.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
src/index.js	Uses `getLatestRelease` to determine the previous tag for release notes; falls back to `listReleases` on error.
tests/index.test.js	Updates mocks and adds tests for `getLatestRelease` success/failure and hotpatch scenario.
package.json	Patch version bump to reflect behavior change.
package-lock.json	Syncs lockfile version fields with `package.json`.
badges/coverage.svg	Updates displayed coverage percentage.

Copilot's findings

Files reviewed: 3/5 changed files
Comments generated: 2

Address review feedback: - Restructure so listReleases fallback runs whenever previousTag is unset (not only when getLatestRelease throws) - Update catch comment to reflect all failure modes, not just first release - Add test for non-semver latest release tag falling back to listReleases

Copilot

Pull request overview

Updates the action’s release-notes baseline selection to use GitHub’s “latest release” designation (instead of relying on release creation order), improving correctness when hotpatches are published on older version lines.

Changes:

Use repos.getLatestRelease() to determine the previous tag for release notes, with a listReleases fallback.
Update/add Jest tests to cover the new “latest” behavior, fallback behavior, and hotpatch scenario.
Bump package version to 3.0.3 and update the coverage badge.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
`src/index.js`	Switches baseline selection to `getLatestRelease()` with fallback logic.
`__tests__/index.test.js`	Updates mocks and adds tests for latest-release behavior + fallbacks.
`package.json`	Patch version bump to reflect behavior change.
`package-lock.json`	Synces lockfile version field with package version bump.
`badges/coverage.svg`	Updates coverage badge to new percentage.

Copilot's findings

Files reviewed: 3/5 changed files
Comments generated: 1

Replace getLatestRelease API with semver comparison to find the highest released version less than the current version. This correctly handles both hotpatches (v2.0.6 published after v4.0.0) and backports (publishing v2.0.7 when v4.0.1 exists). - Use semver.valid/lt/rcompare to filter and sort release tags - Remove getLatestRelease dependency entirely - Add backport scenario test (v2.0.7 when v4.0.1 exists → picks v2.0.6) - Add non-semver tag filtering test

Copilot

Pull request overview

Fixes release-notes baseline selection to use semantic version ordering instead of relying on the GitHub Releases API’s created_at sort order, preventing incorrect baselines in hotpatch/backport scenarios.

Changes:

Update previous-release selection to filter valid semver tags < current and choose the highest via semver.rcompare.
Expand Jest coverage for hotpatch/backport and non-semver-tag scenarios.
Bump package version to 3.0.3 and refresh coverage badge.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
`src/index.js`	Switch baseline selection logic to semver-based filtering/sorting.
`__tests__/index.test.js`	Add/adjust tests to validate semver-based baseline selection behavior.
`package.json`	Patch version bump `3.0.2` → `3.0.3`.
`package-lock.json`	Lockfile version bump to match `package.json`.
`badges/coverage.svg`	Update coverage badge value.

Copilot's findings

Files reviewed: 3/5 changed files
Comments generated: 2

- Use octokit.paginate() to fetch all releases instead of per_page: 100 - Use real semver valid/lt/rcompare in test mocks instead of simplified re-implementations, only mock major/minor which need controlled values

github-actions · 2026-04-15T21:09:58Z

📦 Draft Release Created

A draft release v3.0.3 has been created for this PR.

🔗 View Draft Release

Next Steps

Review the release notes
Publish the release to make it permanent

This is an automated reminder from the publish-github-action workflow.

Initial plan

af05022

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and joshjohanning Apr 15, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of joshjohanning April 15, 2026 20:14 View session

Copilot AI linked an issue Apr 15, 2026 that may be closed by this pull request

Bug: Release notes baseline picks chronologically newest release instead of semantically latest version #88

Closed

Copilot AI and others added 2 commits April 15, 2026 20:17

fix: add logging for getLatestRelease fallback and fix variable shado…

02c3398

…wing Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/joshjohanning/publish-github-action/sessions/61a91a3a-130d-4656-9ca0-5c9ac14f529a Co-authored-by: joshjohanning <19912012+joshjohanning@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Fix release notes baseline to use semantically latest version~~ Fix release notes baseline to use latest release instead of most recently created Apr 15, 2026

Copilot AI requested a review from joshjohanning April 15, 2026 20:21

Copilot finished work on behalf of joshjohanning April 15, 2026 20:21

joshjohanning marked this pull request as ready for review April 15, 2026 20:30

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings April 15, 2026 20:30

joshjohanning changed the title ~~Fix release notes baseline to use latest release instead of most recently created~~ fix: release notes baseline to use latest release instead of most recently created Apr 15, 2026

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of joshjohanning April 15, 2026 20:30 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Apr 15, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread src/index.js Outdated

Comment thread src/index.js Outdated

joshjohanning requested a review from Copilot April 15, 2026 20:41

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of joshjohanning April 15, 2026 20:41 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Apr 15, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread src/index.js Outdated

joshjohanning changed the title ~~fix: release notes baseline to use latest release instead of most recently created~~ fix: use semver-based selection for release notes baseline Apr 15, 2026

joshjohanning requested a review from Copilot April 15, 2026 20:50

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of joshjohanning April 15, 2026 20:51 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Apr 15, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread src/index.js Outdated

Comment thread __tests__/index.test.js Outdated

fix: paginate releases and use real semver in tests

7c4aaf4

- Use octokit.paginate() to fetch all releases instead of per_page: 100 - Use real semver valid/lt/rcompare in test mocks instead of simplified re-implementations, only mock major/minor which need controlled values

joshjohanning merged commit b135774 into main Apr 15, 2026
4 checks passed

joshjohanning deleted the copilot/fix-release-notes-baseline branch April 15, 2026 21:09

joshjohanning mentioned this pull request Apr 16, 2026

feat: update PR comment when draft release is published #60

Closed

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

fix: use semver-based selection for release notes baseline#89

fix: use semver-based selection for release notes baseline#89
joshjohanning merged 6 commits into
mainfrom
copilot/fix-release-notes-baseline

Copilot AI commented Apr 15, 2026 •

edited by joshjohanning

Loading

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

github-actions Bot commented Apr 15, 2026

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

3 participants

Conversation

Copilot AI commented Apr 15, 2026 • edited by joshjohanning Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Changes

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Pull request overview

Copilot's findings

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Pull request overview

Copilot's findings

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Pull request overview

Copilot's findings

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

github-actions Bot commented Apr 15, 2026

📦 Draft Release Created

Next Steps

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

3 participants

Copilot AI commented Apr 15, 2026 •

edited by joshjohanning

Loading