channels: the dev channel publishes on dev-rolling, so its tag stops shadowing the branch

The rolling dev release lived on a tag named `dev`, beside the branch
named `dev`. Once a clone had fetched tags, `git push origin dev` failed
with "src refspec dev matches more than one" (Scribe #2184, note #3042),
and every session had to know to spell out refs/heads/dev.

The channel is still `dev` everywhere a person sees it: the app's
setting, `install.sh --channel dev`, the stored pref. Only the release
tag moves, to `dev-rolling`, matching roundtable-android. `stable` has no
branch to collide with and keeps its name.

- packaging/channel-tag.sh is the one channel -> tag mapping CI reads:
  the publish steps in android.yml and desktop.yml, the manifest job,
  fetch-clients.sh and guard-forward.sh. guard-forward exits 2 on an
  unmapped channel instead of fetching an empty URL and passing.
- update.rs and install.sh carry their own copy because neither can run
  it; update.rs gains a test that no channel feed is named like a branch.
- tests/test_channel_tag.py runs the script: no tag is a branch name,
  dev is exactly dev-rolling, an unknown channel fails with no output.
- publish-release.sh titles the release "ThoughtSync dev (rolling)", so
  the tag name does not leak into what people read.

TEMPORARY bridge: desktop apps installed before this have
.../download/dev/latest.json compiled in. The dev manifest job sets
BRIDGE_TAG=dev, and write-manifest.sh writes the same latest.json to
the old `dev` release. Its URLs name dev-rolling assets, so those apps
update once into a build that reads the new tag. The bridge, and the old
release and tag, are removed once installed apps have crossed over.
Until then the push still needs the explicit refspec, as
ci-requirements.md now says.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01DwoKYuw3qJmUUYsJeNherB

desktop/packaging/install.sh

@@ -93,7 +93,16 @@ say "Finding the latest ThoughtSync build on the $channel channel…"
 # are pruned to the current build, so the tag alone names the newest build on that
 # channel — which is exactly what an installer wants and what the in-app updater
 # already reads.
-json="$(curl -fsSL "$API/releases/tags/$channel" 2>/dev/null)" ||
+# The channel's RELEASE TAG, which is not always its name: `dev` publishes on the
+# tag `dev-rolling`, because a tag called `dev` shadowed the branch of the same name
+# and broke `git push origin dev` (Scribe #2184). Same mapping as
+# packaging/channel-tag.sh — inlined because this script is fetched alone through a
+# pipe and has nothing to source.
+case "$channel" in
+  dev) tag=dev-rolling ;;
+  *)   tag="$channel" ;;
+esac
+json="$(curl -fsSL "$API/releases/tags/$tag" 2>/dev/null)" ||
   die "the $channel channel has nothing published yet."
 
 # Pull asset URLs straight out of the release JSON (no jq). Anchored on the closing

desktop/packaging/publish-release.sh

@@ -32,8 +32,9 @@ set -euo pipefail
 : "${GITHUB_REF_NAME:?GITHUB_REF_NAME is required (the tag, e.g. v0.1.0)}"
 
 # The release to publish to. Defaults to the pushed tag (the versioned, stable
-# case). M10.9 also calls this with RELEASE_TAG=dev to maintain the rolling
-# development channel — a release whose tag never moves, because Forgejo has no
+# case). The channel publish steps call this with the channel's fixed tag —
+# `stable`, or `dev-rolling` for the dev channel (packaging/channel-tag.sh) — to
+# maintain a rolling release whose tag never moves, because Forgejo has no
 # `/releases/latest/download/<asset>` route for an updater to point at.
 RELEASE_TAG="${RELEASE_TAG:-$GITHUB_REF_NAME}"
 RELEASE_PRERELEASE="${RELEASE_PRERELEASE:-false}"
@@ -123,7 +124,11 @@ first_id() { grep -oE '"id"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*[0-9]+' | head -1 | grep -oE
 # every green push to dev, `stable` on every merge to main. Each says so, because a
 # release that prunes its own assets behaves differently from a versioned one and a
 # reader deserves to know which they are looking at.
-if [ "$TAG" = "dev" ]; then
+# Keyed on the TAG, which for the dev channel is `dev-rolling`, not `dev` — a tag
+# named `dev` shadowed the branch (Scribe #2184). CHANNEL_LABEL is the name a person
+# reads in the release title, so the rename does not leak into it.
+if [ "$TAG" = "dev-rolling" ]; then
+  CHANNEL_LABEL='dev (rolling)'
   INSTALL_TAIL='sh -s -- --channel dev'
   # Backticks BARE, not `\``. The heredoc below is unquoted, so there the backslash
   # is the shell's — it suppresses command substitution and never reaches the JSON.
@@ -131,18 +136,20 @@ if [ "$TAG" = "dev" ]; then
   # body as `\``, which is not a legal JSON escape: Forgejo answers 422.
   CHANNEL_NOTE='\n\nThis is the rolling **dev** channel: republished on every green push to `dev`, and pruned to the current build.'
 elif [ "$TAG" = "stable" ]; then
+  CHANNEL_LABEL='stable'
   # install.sh defaults to stable, so no flag.
   INSTALL_TAIL='sh'
   CHANNEL_NOTE='\n\nThis is the rolling **stable** channel: republished on every merge to `main`, and pruned to the current build. No tag is required for a build to arrive here.'
 else
+  CHANNEL_LABEL="$TAG"
   INSTALL_TAIL='sh'
   CHANNEL_NOTE=''
 fi
 
 echo "==> Creating release for $TAG"
 BODY=$(cat <<JSON
-{"tag_name":"$TAG","name":"ThoughtSync $TAG","draft":false,"prerelease":$RELEASE_PRERELEASE,
- "body":"ThoughtSync $TAG.\n\n**Desktop**\n\n- **Debian / Ubuntu** — native \`.deb\`\n- **Arch / CachyOS** — native \`.pkg.tar.*\`\n- **everything else** — \`.AppImage\` (de-bundled graphics: renders on any GPU/Wayland setup)\n\nInstall / update — picks the right one for your system:\n\`\`\`\ncurl -fsSL $GITHUB_SERVER_URL/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/raw/branch/dev/desktop/packaging/install.sh | $INSTALL_TAIL\n\`\`\`\n\n**Android** — \`thoughtsync.apk\`. Copy it and \`thoughtsync-android.json\` into your server's \`/var/thoughtsync/client/\` and the server will offer it to your devices; see docs/android-distribution.md.$CHANNEL_NOTE"}
+{"tag_name":"$TAG","name":"ThoughtSync $CHANNEL_LABEL","draft":false,"prerelease":$RELEASE_PRERELEASE,
+ "body":"ThoughtSync $CHANNEL_LABEL.\n\n**Desktop**\n\n- **Debian / Ubuntu** — native \`.deb\`\n- **Arch / CachyOS** — native \`.pkg.tar.*\`\n- **everything else** — \`.AppImage\` (de-bundled graphics: renders on any GPU/Wayland setup)\n\nInstall / update — picks the right one for your system:\n\`\`\`\ncurl -fsSL $GITHUB_SERVER_URL/$GITHUB_REPOSITORY/raw/branch/dev/desktop/packaging/install.sh | $INSTALL_TAIL\n\`\`\`\n\n**Android** — \`thoughtsync.apk\`. Copy it and \`thoughtsync-android.json\` into your server's \`/var/thoughtsync/client/\` and the server will offer it to your devices; see docs/android-distribution.md.$CHANNEL_NOTE"}
 JSON
 )
 
@@ -158,7 +165,7 @@ JSON
 # whether it has a JSON encoder; this script cannot assume python3 is on PATH in
 # every image that sources it.
 if [ -n "${RELEASE_BODY_JSON:-}" ]; then
-  BODY="{\"tag_name\":\"$TAG\",\"name\":\"ThoughtSync $TAG\",\"draft\":false,\"prerelease\":$RELEASE_PRERELEASE,\"body\":\"$RELEASE_BODY_JSON\"}"
+  BODY="{\"tag_name\":\"$TAG\",\"name\":\"ThoughtSync $CHANNEL_LABEL\",\"draft\":false,\"prerelease\":$RELEASE_PRERELEASE,\"body\":\"$RELEASE_BODY_JSON\"}"
 fi
 # 409 = a release for this tag already exists (re-run) — fall through to lookup.
 release="$(ALLOW_CODES=409 api POST "$API/releases" -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d "$BODY")"

desktop/packaging/write-manifest.sh

@@ -161,6 +161,41 @@ printf '{\n  "version_name": "%s",\n  "version_code": "%s"\n}\n' \
   "$DISPLAY_VERSION" "$APP_VERSION" > "$work/thoughtsync-desktop.json"
 replace_asset "$work/thoughtsync-desktop.json" "thoughtsync-desktop.json"
 
+# --- TEMPORARY: the one-shot bridge off a retired channel tag ------------------
+#
+# The dev channel's tag was renamed `dev` -> `dev-rolling`, because a tag named `dev`
+# shadowed the branch and broke `git push origin dev` (Scribe #2184). Desktop apps
+# installed before the rename have `.../download/dev/latest.json` compiled in, so
+# without this they would never be offered another build.
+#
+# BRIDGE_TAG names the old release; the SAME manifest is written there too. Its URLs
+# are absolute and name `dev-rolling` assets, so an old app updates once into a build
+# that reads the new tag, and never reads this one again. Only latest.json goes
+# across: the sidecar is read by CI and the image build, which already follow the
+# new tag.
+#
+# A missing bridge release is logged and skipped, not fatal — by then it has been
+# deleted on purpose. A failed WRITE to one that exists fails the job: a bridge that
+# silently stops is an installed base stranded without a word. Remove this block,
+# the BRIDGE_TAG line in desktop.yml, and the old release and tag together.
+if [ -n "${BRIDGE_TAG:-}" ]; then
+  bridge_release="$(curl -sS "${AUTH[@]}" "$API/releases/tags/$BRIDGE_TAG" || true)"
+  bridge_id="$(printf '%s' "$bridge_release" | grep -oE '"id"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*[0-9]+' | head -1 | grep -oE '[0-9]+' || true)"
+  if [ -z "$bridge_id" ]; then
+    echo "==> No release tagged $BRIDGE_TAG — nothing to bridge (retired?)."
+  else
+    # A subshell, so replace_asset's globals point at the bridge release for this
+    # one call only and the prune below still works on $RELEASE_TAG.
+    (
+      release_id="$bridge_id"
+      RELEASE_TAG="$BRIDGE_TAG"
+      assets="$(curl -sS "${AUTH[@]}" "$API/releases/$release_id/assets")"
+      replace_asset "$work/latest.json" "latest.json"
+    )
+    echo "==> Bridged: $BRIDGE_TAG/latest.json now advertises the same build."
+  fi
+fi
+
 echo "==> Done. $RELEASE_TAG now advertises $DISPLAY_VERSION ($APP_VERSION) for ${#entries[@]} platform(s)."
 
 # --- prune superseded builds from a rolling channel ---------------------------

desktop/src-tauri/src/update.rs

@@ -84,8 +84,21 @@ impl Channel {
         }
     }
 
+    /// The release tag holding this channel's builds — not the channel's name.
+    ///
+    /// `dev` used to be both, and a tag named `dev` shadowed the branch of the same
+    /// name, so `git push origin dev` failed as ambiguous (Scribe #2184). The channel
+    /// is still `dev` everywhere a person sees it and in the stored pref; only the tag
+    /// moved. Mirrors `packaging/channel-tag.sh`, which is what CI publishes with.
+    fn release_tag(self) -> &'static str {
+        match self {
+            Channel::Stable => "stable",
+            Channel::Dev => "dev-rolling",
+        }
+    }
+
     fn feed_url(self) -> String {
-        format!("{FEED_BASE}/{}/latest.json", self.as_str())
+        format!("{FEED_BASE}/{}/latest.json", self.release_tag())
     }
 }
 
@@ -415,10 +428,23 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(effective(&db), Channel::Dev);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn no_channel_feed_is_named_like_a_branch() {
+        // A release tag spelled like a branch makes `git push origin <branch>`
+        // ambiguous once the tag is fetched (Scribe #2184). `dev` and `main` are the
+        // branches this repo pushes.
+        for channel in [Channel::Stable, Channel::Dev] {
+            assert!(
+                !["dev", "main"].contains(&channel.release_tag()),
+                "{channel:?} publishes on a tag named like a branch"
+            );
+        }
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn each_channel_has_its_own_fixed_feed() {
         assert!(Channel::Stable.feed_url().ends_with("/stable/latest.json"));
-        assert!(Channel::Dev.feed_url().ends_with("/dev/latest.json"));
+        assert!(Channel::Dev.feed_url().ends_with("/dev-rolling/latest.json"));
         assert_ne!(Channel::Stable.feed_url(), Channel::Dev.feed_url());
     }