From 7f839afb32cc82c21ba7df94bb1b5514a7fa9185 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: lilleman <lilleman@larvit.se>
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2026 23:02:21 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Release nothing when no Renovate commit reached the app

---
 .gitea/workflows/renovate.yml | 6 +++++-
 README.md                     | 3 ++-
 2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/renovate.yml b/.gitea/workflows/renovate.yml
index 10428c7..af25981 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/renovate.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/renovate.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,8 @@ jobs:
   # After the renovate job, cut ONE tag covering the renovate-bot commits merged to main since the
   # last tag (batch per run). Targets origin/main — the real post-merge tip; the checkout SHA is the
   # trigger-time tip and lags the merges this run made. Skips when main's tip isn't a Renovate commit
-  # (a human owns that release) or nothing new merged. ff-only merges keep the renovate commit's
+  # (a human owns that release), nothing new merged, or nothing that merged carried a `Release-Bump:`
+  # trailer — a release nobody can observe is noise. ff-only merges keep the renovate commit's
   # authorship on the tip, so the author checks are reliable. Level = highest `Release-Bump:` trailer;
   # pre-1.0 shifts down (auto-release/next-version.ts). Tag-only — release.yml promotes the
   # already-built image; pushed with renovate-bot's PAT so release.yml fires (the built-in token won't).
@@ -54,6 +55,9 @@ jobs:
           fi
           BUMPS=$(git log "${LATEST}..origin/main" --author='renovate@larvit.se' \
                   --format='%(trailers:key=Release-Bump,valueonly)' | { grep -vx '' || true; })
+          if [ -z "$BUMPS" ]; then
+            echo "Renovate commits since ${LATEST}, but none carry Release-Bump — nothing reached a running Plainpages; skipping"; exit 0
+          fi
           NEXT=$(docker run --rm -v "$PWD:/repo" -w /repo node:24.19.0-alpine3.24 \
                  node auto-release/next-version.ts "$LATEST" $BUMPS)
           echo "Releasing $LATEST -> $NEXT"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 51f9d64..31bafa7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1419,7 +1419,8 @@ exact. Each PR runs the normal gate on its `renovate/*` branch and automerges on
 
 **Auto-release on dependency updates** — a second job in `renovate.yml` (`auto-release`) cuts **one**
 `vX.Y.Z` tag per run covering the renovate-bot commits merged to `main` since the last tag, and
-**skips** when the tip isn't a Renovate commit or nothing new merged. Renovate stamps a
+**skips** when the tip isn't a Renovate commit, nothing new merged, or nothing that merged carried a
+trailer — a dependency update that cannot reach the app releases nothing. Renovate stamps a
 `Release-Bump: <updateType>` trailer onto the updates that reach a running Plainpages — the root
 `package.json`'s runtime dependencies, the image base, and `compose.yml`'s services — and
 [`auto-release/next-version.ts`](auto-release/next-version.ts) turns the highest one into the next