openwisp / openwisp/openwisp-utils

[feature/fix] Excluding backported fixes from feature release change logs

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#502 4 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Python
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Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Follow up of #496.

We should do this once #496 is completed.

Two ways that we can both use to avoid duplicating backported bugfixes in the change log of new feature releases.

Step 1: automatically determine from current stable branch.

  • Detect whether we are on the main branch (master/main), if we are not, stop, else continue
  • Now we need to find out what's the latest stable version branch, I think a reliable way to do this would be to look at tags/releases (whatever is easier, if we use tags, we'll need to run git pull --tags first), look for the latest feature release, eg: 1.1.0, so we know the current stable branch is 1.1
  • If the branch does not exist, stop, else continue
  • Get the git log for the stable branch from the latest stable release onwards
  • Most commits contain the original commit hash from which they were cherry picked from in the main branch, eg: https://github.com/openwisp/openwisp-utils/commit/6eadd4e6594ac8e2ba437b1a0e178c69b12540c4, see (cherry picked from commit 5a32721), if this line is missing, stop, else continue
  • Fetch all the "cherry picked from commit" hashes and compile a temporary ignore file for gitcliff, or an alternative equivalent solution, as long as it works and is efficient

Step 2: [backport] tag mentioned (related to #501)

  • Loop over all the commits that are going to be included in the change log, if the commit message contains [backport], skip them or add them to the gitcliff ignore file (whatever makes the code easier to maintain/read).

Using both methods is redundant by design to catch most cases, including when we may forget to use the [backport] tag and perform the backport manually with git cherry-pick -x.

Step 3: cleanup

The ignore file for git-cliff should be generated on the fly, used during release process, and then discarded.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing follow-up issue #496 and the release process that invokes git-cliff. Trace how branches, tags, commit logs, cherry-picked commit markers, and [backport] messages are currently handled. Done means backported fixes are excluded from feature-release changelogs using a temporary ignore file that is generated during release and discarded afterward.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
git
Domain
release
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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