fix: add semantic-release note when creating initial tag and when tag exists

- Create initial tag step: add git note {"channels":["beta"]} and push refs/notes/semantic-release-v1.0.0-beta.1 so semantic-release treats v1.0.0-beta.1 as last release
- Release step prepare: only move tag when not in 'git tag --merged main'; always add and push the note when tag exists to avoid 'tag already exists' error

Author: strausr

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           ref: main
           fetch-depth: 0
+          fetch-tags: true
           token: ${{ secrets.RELEASE_TOKEN }}
 
       - name: Setup git branch
@@ -99,8 +100,12 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           if ! git rev-parse --verify "v1.0.0-beta.1" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             echo "Creating initial tag v1.0.0-beta.1"
-            git tag -a "v1.0.0-beta.1" -m "chore: initial beta release"
+            COMMIT=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
+            git tag -a "v1.0.0-beta.1" "$COMMIT" -m "chore: initial beta release"
             git push origin "v1.0.0-beta.1" || echo "Tag push failed (may not have permission or tag exists)"
+            # semantic-release treats a tag as "last release" for main (beta) only if it has this note
+            git notes --ref semantic-release-v1.0.0-beta.1 add -f -m '{"channels":["beta"]}' v1.0.0-beta.1
+            git push origin refs/notes/semantic-release-v1.0.0-beta.1
           else
             echo "Tag v1.0.0-beta.1 already exists"
           fi
@@ -145,24 +150,25 @@ jobs:
             npx semantic-release --dry-run 2>&1 | tee semantic-release.log || true
             grep -oE "The next release version is [^[:space:]]+" semantic-release.log 2>/dev/null | sed 's/The next release version is //' > next-version.txt || echo "" > next-version.txt
           else
-            # Prepare v1.0.0-beta.1 IN THIS SAME STEP so semantic-release sees it as last release (avoids "tag already exists").
-            # semantic-release uses "git tag --merged main" and git notes; tag must be in main history and have note.
+            # Prepare v1.0.0-beta.1 so semantic-release sees it as last release (avoids "tag already exists").
+            # semantic-release uses "git tag --merged main" and git notes ref semantic-release-<tag>; tag must be in main and have {"channels":["beta"]}.
             if git rev-parse --verify v1.0.0-beta.1 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-              RELEASE_COMMIT=$(git log main -1 --format=%H --grep="chore(release): 1.0.0-beta.1" 2>/dev/null || true)
-              if [ -z "$RELEASE_COMMIT" ]; then
-                RELEASE_COMMIT=$(git merge-base main origin/master 2>/dev/null || git rev-parse HEAD~1)
-              fi
-              CURRENT=$(git rev-parse v1.0.0-beta.1)
-              if [ "$CURRENT" != "$RELEASE_COMMIT" ]; then
+              if ! git tag --merged main | grep -qx v1.0.0-beta.1; then
+                RELEASE_COMMIT=$(git log main -1 --format=%H --grep="chore(release): 1.0.0-beta.1" 2>/dev/null || true)
+                if [ -z "$RELEASE_COMMIT" ]; then
+                  RELEASE_COMMIT=$(git merge-base main origin/master 2>/dev/null || git rev-parse HEAD~1)
+                fi
                 git tag -d v1.0.0-beta.1 2>/dev/null || true
                 git tag -a v1.0.0-beta.1 "$RELEASE_COMMIT" -m "chore: 1.0.0-beta.1"
                 git push origin v1.0.0-beta.1 --force
-                echo "Moved v1.0.0-beta.1 from $CURRENT to $RELEASE_COMMIT."
+                echo "Moved v1.0.0-beta.1 to $RELEASE_COMMIT (was not in main history)."
               fi
               git notes --ref semantic-release-v1.0.0-beta.1 add -f -m '{"channels":["beta"]}' v1.0.0-beta.1
               git push origin refs/notes/semantic-release-v1.0.0-beta.1
               git fetch origin '+refs/tags/*:refs/tags/*' '+refs/notes/*:refs/notes/*'
-              echo "Prepared v1.0.0-beta.1; running semantic-release..."
+              echo "Prepared v1.0.0-beta.1; state before semantic-release:"
+              echo "  Tags merged into main: $(git tag --merged main | tr '\n' ' ')"
+              git notes --ref semantic-release-v1.0.0-beta.1 show v1.0.0-beta.1 2>/dev/null && echo "  Note OK" || echo "  (no note for v1.0.0-beta.1)"
             fi
             npx semantic-release
           fi