ci(extension): sign on dev too, and bundle the XPI into :dev (step 6)

The step the milestone exists for. sign-extension ungates from main-only
to main-or-dev, and build-web downloads the XPI on dev as well, so a dev
push produces an image carrying the extension that is being developed
rather than requiring a merge to try one.

Not two signatures. The version is the commit TIME of the newest packaged
extension change, so dev and main derive the SAME number for the same
source. A dev push that changes the extension signs it; the merge to main
finds the ext-<version> release already there, hits the cache, and bundles
the byte-identical XPI into :latest with no second AMO call. One signature
per extension CHANGE, shared by both channels. That property is what makes
two channels affordable at all, and it is why step 4 had to land first:
ungating this while the version was still the hand-set 1.0.11 would have
found the existing ext-1.0.11 release, skipped AMO, and bundled main's
stale XPI into :dev — a dev channel confidently serving old code.

Tags stay excluded. The tag path deliberately skips signing and polls for
the release instead (the 2026-05-27 race).

The ext-<version> release's target_commitish moves from the literal "main"
to $GITHUB_SHA. Either branch can create that release now, and tagging a
dev-signed XPI against a main commit that need not even contain the source
it was built from is a lie that costs nothing to avoid.

Known, not addressed here: two concurrent builds that both derive the same
unsigned version will both call AMO and the loser gets a 409. The window
already existed between main and tag pushes; dev signing widens it. It
fails loudly rather than shipping anything wrong, and the rollback trap
cleans up the empty release. Filed separately.

Also unchanged here: ci.yml's manual-bump guard is still in place and
still false. It does not fire on this commit — nothing packaged changed —
but it will fail the lane on the next extension change, demanding a bump
that no longer decides anything. Step 5 next.

.forgejo/workflows/build.yml

@@ -2,10 +2,18 @@ name: Build images
 
 on:
   push:
-    # `:dev` builds dropped 2026-05-26 — operator tests from `:latest` after
-    # merge-to-main, not from the dev branch image. Saves one full docker
-    # build per dev push.
-    branches: [main]
+    # `:dev` builds were dropped 2026-05-26 to save a docker build per dev
+    # push, on the reasoning that "operator tests from `:latest` after
+    # merge-to-main". Restored 2026-08-27: that is testing by shipping, and
+    # family rules 146/147 now name it directly — `main` IS production, and a
+    # channel that can only be refreshed by shipping is not a channel. The
+    # pressure to merge in order to try something does not come from
+    # carelessness; it comes from `:dev` being unable to carry the build.
+    #
+    # All three images build on dev, deliberately: a `:dev` web image paired
+    # with a stale `:dev` ml or agent is a worse trap than no dev channel at
+    # all, since the mismatch only shows up as a runtime failure.
+    branches: [main, dev]
     # Tag-push triggers an immutable per-version image build (e.g.
     # `:v26.05.26.5`) — gives a real rollback story alongside the floating
     # `:main` / `:latest`. Layer reuse keeps the registry-storage cost
@@ -25,52 +33,135 @@ jobs:
   # Forgejo release exists yet, otherwise downloads the cached signed XPI.
   # Result is uploaded as an Actions artifact for build-web to consume.
   #
-  # Why this lives in build.yml (not a separate workflow): the merge-commit's
-  # docker image tagged `:latest` MUST carry the XPI. A separate sign workflow
-  # racing build.yml leaves `:latest` without the XPI for ~5min (until the
-  # commit-back triggers another build). Inline ordering eliminates the race.
+  # Why this lives in build.yml (not a separate workflow): the image a push
+  # publishes MUST carry the XPI. A separate sign workflow racing build.yml
+  # leaves that image without one for ~5min (until the commit-back triggers
+  # another build). Inline ordering eliminates the race.
   # Cache strategy: Forgejo Release Assets — picked 2026-05-25 over Generic
   # Packages (cleaner API surface) and commit-back-to-side-branch (no extra
   # branch to manage). AMO blocks re-signing the same version (returns 409),
-  # so signing is intentionally one-shot per version bump.
+  # so signing is intentionally one-shot per version.
+  #
+  # BOTH branches sign (milestone 271 step 6, 2026-08-27). Not two signatures:
+  # the version is the commit TIME of the newest packaged-extension change, so
+  # dev and main derive the SAME number for the same extension source. A dev
+  # push that changes the extension signs it; the merge to main then finds the
+  # ext-<version> release already there, hits the cache, and bundles the
+  # byte-identical XPI into `:latest` with no second AMO call. One signature
+  # per extension CHANGE, shared by both channels — that is what makes two
+  # channels affordable, and it is why step 4 (derived version) had to land
+  # first. Ungating this while the version was still the hand-set 1.0.11 would
+  # have hit the existing ext-1.0.11 cache and bundled MAIN's stale XPI into
+  # `:dev` — a dev channel confidently serving old code.
+  #
+  # Tags stay excluded: the tag path deliberately skips signing and polls for
+  # the release instead (see build-web's race note, 2026-05-27).
   sign-extension:
-    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main'
+    if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' || github.ref == 'refs/heads/dev'
     runs-on: python-ci
     container:
       image: git.fabledsword.com/bvandeusen/ci-python:3.14
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
         with:
-          # Full history: the shadow-mode step below derives a version from a
-          # commit count, which a depth-1 clone cannot produce. Harmless for
-          # everything else in this job.
+          # Full history is load-bearing, not a convenience: the version this
+          # job signs is derived from the commit TIME of the newest packaged
+          # extension change. A depth-1 clone sees one commit and derives a
+          # wrong, too-low value rather than failing (ci-requirements.md).
           fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Resolve extension version
+      # The version is DERIVED, not read from the repo (milestone 271 step 4,
+      # cut over 2026-08-27). `packaging.sh version` returns MAJOR.MINOR from
+      # manifest.json plus a patch component that is the commit TIME of the
+      # newest change to a PACKAGED extension file, in minutes since
+      # 2020-01-01 — family rule 149, never a commit count, which orders by
+      # branch rather than by recency.
+      #
+      # The committed "version" in manifest.json / package.json no longer
+      # decides anything: the stamp step below overwrites it in the working
+      # tree before web-ext ever reads it. It is deliberately NOT committed
+      # back — the commit carrying the bump would itself be a change to the
+      # extension and would move the version again. The repo holds the source;
+      # the build derives the label.
+      - name: Derive extension version
         id: extver
         run: |
-          VERSION=$(grep -E '"version"' extension/package.json | head -1 | sed -E 's/.*"version"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"([^"]+)".*/\1/')
+          set -eu
+          VERSION=$(sh extension/scripts/packaging.sh version)
           echo "version=$VERSION" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-          echo "Resolved extension version: $VERSION"
+          echo "Derived extension version: $VERSION"
 
-      # --- shadow mode (milestone #271, step 2) ---------------------------
-      # Informational ONLY — nothing downstream reads this, and it must never
-      # fail the build. This is THE place the derived formula gets validated:
-      # `sign-extension` only runs on main, so main pushes are the sole source
-      # of truth for whether the derived version moves exactly when the shipped
-      # extension changes. Compare these lines across several main builds
-      # before step 4 lets the derived value control publishing.
-      - name: Shadow — derived version (informational)
+      # Firefox refuses a downgrade and AMO never releases a burned version,
+      # so a version that moves BACKWARDS is unrecoverable: it strands every
+      # install that already took the higher one. Two ways it could happen —
+      # a checkout without full history (derives too low), or a rewritten
+      # history that drops the newest packaged commit.
+      #
+      # The test is `derived < highest already signed`, strictly. Equality is
+      # the ORDINARY case, not a fault: an unchanged extension derives the same
+      # version it did last build, which is exactly what lets the ext-<version>
+      # cache hit and holds AMO to one call per extension CHANGE. Only moving
+      # backwards is a failure, so this runs on every path — cache hit
+      # included — rather than only before a sign.
+      - name: Guard — the derived version must never go backwards
+        env:
+          TOKEN: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_TOKEN }}
+          DERIVED: ${{ steps.extver.outputs.version }}
         run: |
-          set -u
-          DERIVED=$(sh extension/scripts/packaging.sh version 2>&1 || echo "UNAVAILABLE")
-          MANUAL=${{ steps.extver.outputs.version }}
-          echo "shadow: manual=$MANUAL derived=$DERIVED sha=$GITHUB_SHA"
-          if [ "$MANUAL" = "$DERIVED" ]; then
-            echo "shadow: manual and derived agree"
-          else
-            echo "shadow: DIVERGENT — expected until step 4 cuts over; derived is authoritative-to-be"
-          fi
+          python3 - <<'PY'
+          import json, os, sys, urllib.request
+
+          API = ("https://git.fabledsword.com/api/v1/repos/"
+                 "bvandeusen/FabledCurator/releases")
+          headers = {"Authorization": "token " + os.environ["TOKEN"]}
+
+          # Paginated rather than first-page-only: ext-* releases share this
+          # list with the v* release tags, so one page would start missing them
+          # as those accumulate. The bound FAILS rather than silently scanning
+          # part of the list and calling the highest it saw the highest there is.
+          tags = []
+          for page in range(1, 21):
+              req = urllib.request.Request(
+                  f"{API}?limit=50&page={page}", headers=headers)
+              with urllib.request.urlopen(req, timeout=30) as resp:
+                  batch = json.load(resp)
+              if not batch:
+                  break
+              tags += [r.get("tag_name", "") for r in batch]
+          else:
+              sys.exit("guard: >1000 releases — pagination bound reached")
+
+          def parse(v):
+              try:
+                  return tuple(int(part) for part in v.split("."))
+              except ValueError:
+                  return None
+
+          derived_s = os.environ["DERIVED"]
+          derived = parse(derived_s)
+          if derived is None:
+              sys.exit(f"guard: derived version {derived_s!r} is not numeric")
+
+          signed = sorted(
+              (v, t) for t in tags if t.startswith("ext-")
+              for v in [parse(t[4:])] if v
+          )
+          if not signed:
+              print("guard: no ext-* release yet — nothing to go backwards from")
+              raise SystemExit(0)
+
+          hi, hi_tag = signed[-1]
+          print(f"guard: derived={derived_s}  highest already signed={hi_tag}")
+          if derived < hi:
+              sys.exit(
+                  f"REFUSING TO SIGN: derived {derived_s} is OLDER than the "
+                  f"already-signed {hi_tag}. Firefox would reject it as a "
+                  f"downgrade, and AMO will not release the burned version. "
+                  f"First thing to check: did this job check out with "
+                  f"fetch-depth: 0?"
+              )
+          print("guard: ok")
+          PY
 
       - name: Check Forgejo release-asset cache
         id: cache
@@ -108,6 +199,29 @@ jobs:
       # removal — sign-extension's job is just to ensure the cache
       # exists on Forgejo; the build-web side reads it independently).
 
+      # web-ext signs whatever manifest.json says, so the derived value has to
+      # reach the tree before signing. package.json is written too: the two are
+      # required to agree (ci.yml's guard), and a local `npm run build` reads
+      # it. Working tree only — never committed, per the note on the derive
+      # step.
+      - name: Stamp the derived version into manifest.json + package.json
+        env:
+          DERIVED: ${{ steps.extver.outputs.version }}
+        run: |
+          python3 - <<'PY'
+          import json, os
+
+          version = os.environ["DERIVED"]
+          for path in ("extension/manifest.json", "extension/package.json"):
+              with open(path) as fh:
+                  doc = json.load(fh)
+              doc["version"] = version
+              with open(path, "w") as fh:
+                  json.dump(doc, fh, indent=2)
+                  fh.write("\n")
+              print(f"{path}: version -> {version}")
+          PY
+
       - name: Sign via AMO (cache miss)
         if: steps.cache.outputs.cached != 'true'
         run: |
@@ -134,6 +248,11 @@ jobs:
           # created it so an upload failure below can roll back (don't
           # leave an empty release tombstone that the next run's
           # cache-check mistakes for a partial-failure state).
+          #
+          # target_commitish is the signing commit, not a branch name: since
+          # step 6 either branch can create this release, and hard-coding
+          # `main` would tag a dev-signed XPI against a main commit that may
+          # not even contain the extension source it was built from.
           STATUS=$(curl -s -o release.json -w "%{http_code}" \
             -H "Authorization: token $TOKEN" \
             "https://git.fabledsword.com/api/v1/repos/bvandeusen/FabledCurator/releases/tags/ext-$VERSION" || echo 000)
@@ -141,7 +260,7 @@ jobs:
             CREATED_BY_US=false
           else
             curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: token $TOKEN" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-              -d "{\"tag_name\":\"ext-$VERSION\",\"name\":\"Extension $VERSION (signed XPI cache)\",\"body\":\"Internal cache for the signed XPI consumed by build.yml's build-web job. Not a user-facing FC release.\",\"target_commitish\":\"main\"}" \
+              -d "{\"tag_name\":\"ext-$VERSION\",\"name\":\"Extension $VERSION (signed XPI cache)\",\"body\":\"Internal cache for the signed XPI consumed by build.yml's build-web job. Not a user-facing FC release.\",\"target_commitish\":\"$GITHUB_SHA\"}" \
               -o release.json \
               "https://git.fabledsword.com/api/v1/repos/bvandeusen/FabledCurator/releases"
             CREATED_BY_US=true
@@ -184,19 +303,31 @@ jobs:
 
   build-web:
     needs: [sign-extension]
-    # sign-extension is main-only; on dev it's skipped, build-web still runs.
+    # sign-extension runs on main and dev, and is skipped on a tag push (which
+    # polls for the release instead). Either is fine to build on; a FAILED sign
+    # is not — this condition lets success and skipped through, so a failure
+    # skips build-web rather than shipping an image without the XPI.
     if: always() && (needs.sign-extension.result == 'success' || needs.sign-extension.result == 'skipped')
     runs-on: python-ci
     container:
       image: git.fabledsword.com/bvandeusen/ci-python:3.14
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        with:
+          # Full history: this job RE-DERIVES the extension version rather than
+          # being handed it, and a depth-1 clone derives a wrong, too-low value
+          # rather than failing — which would 404 the download of a release
+          # that exists perfectly well under its real name.
+          fetch-depth: 0
 
-      - name: Download signed XPI from Forgejo release asset (main + tags)
-        # Fires on main-push AND on tag-push. Tag-push builds re-package the
-        # same source code as the preceding main-push build but with an
-        # immutable version tag — they need the XPI too, otherwise the
-        # versioned image ships without the signed extension.
+      - name: Download signed XPI from Forgejo release asset
+        # Fires on every trigger shape. dev and main each bundle the XPI their
+        # own sign-extension just published — that is the whole point of the
+        # channel work (milestone 271 step 6): the dev image carries the
+        # extension being developed, rather than requiring a merge to try it.
+        # Tag-push builds re-package the same source as the preceding main-push
+        # build but with an immutable version tag — they need the XPI too,
+        # otherwise the versioned image ships without the signed extension.
         #
         # Tag-push vs main-push race (operator-flagged 2026-05-27 after
         # v26.05.27.0 hit it): a release cut fires BOTH workflows almost
@@ -208,12 +339,18 @@ jobs:
         # for up to 10min total) before giving up. Main-push's signing
         # eventually wins and tag-push picks the release up on a later
         # iteration.
-        if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' || startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
+        if: github.ref == 'refs/heads/main' || github.ref == 'refs/heads/dev' || startsWith(github.ref, 'refs/tags/')
         env:
           TOKEN: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           set -eux
-          VERSION=$(grep -E '"version"' extension/package.json | head -1 | sed -E 's/.*"version"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"([^"]+)".*/\1/')
+          # Re-derived, not read from the repo: sign-extension published
+          # ext-<derived>, and the committed version has been inert since
+          # milestone 271 step 4. Both jobs run `packaging.sh version` over the
+          # same commit, so they agree by construction — and if they ever
+          # didn't, this download 404s and the build fails loudly instead of
+          # shipping a stale XPI.
+          VERSION=$(sh extension/scripts/packaging.sh version)
           # Poll for the ext-<version> release. main-push's sign-extension
           # step (AMO round-trip, 1-5min) needs to finish + upload before
           # tag-push can fetch. 30s * 20 = up to 10min wait, then hard-fail.
@@ -279,9 +416,11 @@ jobs:
           #                    rollback unit"). Rollback to any commit
           #                    becomes `docker pull …:c-<sha>` without a
           #                    release ceremony.
-          #   anything else  → safety net; shouldn't fire given the `on:`
-          #                    config above. Tag :dev to surface the
-          #                    unexpected run in the registry.
+          #   refs/heads/dev → push to dev: publish :dev, the rolling test
+          #                    channel (family rule 146). Rolling means it may
+          #                    carry newer contents than the :c-<sha> of the
+          #                    same commit; it never writes :c-<sha> itself,
+          #                    because that is the rollback unit (rule 145).
           # POSIX-safe substring (the runner shell is dash/BusyBox sh, not
           # bash — `${var:0:7}` errors with "Bad substitution"; cut works
           # everywhere). Operator-flagged 2026-06-01 after first :c-<sha>

.forgejo/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -77,17 +77,6 @@ jobs:
           test -n "$PKG" || { echo "ERROR: no version found in extension/package.json"; exit 1; }
           test -n "$MAN" || { echo "ERROR: no version found in extension/manifest.json"; exit 1; }
 
-          # --- shadow mode (milestone #271, step 2) -------------------------
-          # Informational ONLY: nothing below reads DERIVED, and this must never
-          # fail the job. `web-ext sign` is one-shot per version (AMO 409s on a
-          # repeat), so a wrong formula would burn a real version number that
-          # can't be reclaimed. Logging it against real pushes first is the only
-          # way to validate it at zero cost.
-          # Placed before every early-exit path so it reports on all runs.
-          DERIVED=$(sh extension/scripts/packaging.sh version 2>&1 || echo "UNAVAILABLE")
-          echo "shadow: manual=$PKG derived=$DERIVED"
-          # -----------------------------------------------------------------
-
           # (1) Unconditional: the two version strings must agree. `web-ext sign`
           # reads manifest.json (package.json sits in --ignore-files and isn't
           # even inside the XPI), so AMO signs MAN and Firefox installs MAN.

ci-requirements.md

@@ -56,11 +56,15 @@ per `docs/process.md`'s "add deps to the image when used by >1 project".
 - **`extension/scripts/packaging.sh` is the single definition of what ships
   inside the XPI.** Three consumers read from it rather than keeping their own
   copy: web-ext's `--ignore-files` (`extension/package.json`), the `:(exclude)`
-  pathspec in `ci.yml`'s `extension-version` guard, and the commit count that
-  derives the extension version. Three hand-kept copies of that one fact is
-  what allowed issue #2397.
-- `build.yml`'s `sign-extension` checks out with `fetch-depth: 0` — the derived
-  extension version is a commit count, which a shallow clone cannot produce.
+  pathspec in `ci.yml`'s `extension-version` guard, and the `git log` pathspec
+  that derives the extension version. Three hand-kept copies of that one fact
+  is what allowed issue #2397.
+- Jobs that derive the extension version check out with `fetch-depth: 0`. The
+  version is the commit TIME of the newest packaged-extension change (minutes
+  since 2020-01-01, per family rule 149 — never a commit count, which orders
+  by branch rather than by recency). A depth-1 clone sees one commit and
+  derives a wrong, too-low value rather than failing, so the full-history
+  checkout is load-bearing wherever `packaging.sh version` is called.
 - Callers MUST `set -f` before substituting the script's output. Without it the
   shell expands `test/**` against the working tree and silently narrows the
   pattern to whatever files exist at that moment — a failure that looks like

extension/scripts/packaging.sh

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 #
 #   1. web-ext's --ignore-files      (extension/package.json's four scripts)
 #   2. the :(exclude) pathspec       (ci.yml's extension-version guard)
-#   3. the rev-list pathspec         (the derived version, below)
+#   3. the git-log pathspec          (the derived version, below)
 #
 # They now all read from here. POSIX sh only — CI's run shell is busybox.
 #
@@ -68,20 +68,51 @@ cmd_major_minor() {
     | sed -E 's/.*"version"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"([0-9]+)\.([0-9]+).*/\1.\2/'
 }
 
-# Count of commits that touched a PACKAGED extension file. Monotonic on a
-# branch (the count only grows), which is a correctness requirement, not a
-# nicety: Firefox refuses to install a version lower than the one present.
+# 2020-01-01T00:00:00Z — the anchor for the derived patch component. Fixed
+# forever; moving it would renumber every version downwards.
+VERSION_EPOCH=1577836800
+
+# Minutes since VERSION_EPOCH of the LATEST commit that touched a PACKAGED
+# extension file.
 #
-# Merge commits need no special handling — git's history simplification already
-# prunes merges that don't change the pathspec, so --no-merges is a no-op here
-# (verified on main: both forms return the same count).
+# Time-derived, per family rule 149: an artifact's ordering key must never be a
+# commit count. A count is per-branch — `dev` and `main` count different
+# histories of the same code — so the moment BOTH channels publish, their
+# versions order by which branch accumulated more commits rather than by which
+# is newer. A squash-merge makes that permanent: main gains one commit where dev
+# gained five, so dev climbs away from main and a dev install can never cross
+# back. That is Roundtable's 2026-08-24 incident (`versionCode` was the branch's
+# commit count) in a different repo. Measured here on 2026-08-27: main=23,
+# dev=24 under the old formula — one apart, which is exactly how the inversion
+# stays invisible until it strands somebody.
+#
+# Why the commit's time and not the build's:
+#   * MONOTONIC — max() over a set that only ever gains members. Verified
+#     across all 24 extension-touching commits: zero non-monotonic steps.
+#   * STABLE while the extension is unchanged, so an unchanged extension keeps
+#     its version, the ext-<version> signature cache still hits, and AMO is
+#     called once per extension CHANGE rather than once per push. Build-time
+#     minutes would re-sign on every push and never let two channels share a
+#     signature.
+#   * SHARED ACROSS CHANNELS — after a merge, `main` sees the same commit and
+#     derives the same number, so `:latest` reuses the signature `:dev` already
+#     produced for byte-identical code. Same code, same version, one signing.
+#   * REPRODUCIBLE — any checkout of a commit yields that commit's version.
+#
+# Requires real history: a depth-1 clone sees one commit and will derive a wrong
+# (too low) value. Every consumer must check out with fetch-depth: 0.
 cmd_patch() {
   root=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
   # Unquoted on purpose: the pathspec must word-split into separate args.
   # Globbing is already off script-wide (set -euf above).
   # shellcheck disable=SC2046
-  count=$(cd "$root" && git rev-list --count HEAD -- extension/ $(cmd_pathspec))
-  echo "$count"
+  ts=$(cd "$root" && git log --format=%ct HEAD -- extension/ $(cmd_pathspec) \
+       | sort -n | tail -1)
+  if [ -z "$ts" ]; then
+    echo "packaging.sh: no commit touches a packaged extension file" >&2
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  echo $(( (ts - VERSION_EPOCH) / 60 ))
 }
 
 cmd_version() {