From 6242ffffde1d694d0d859f214b4322099c3555de Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Joseph Hughes <jdhughes99+1@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2026 07:39:09 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] ci(release): do not repeat a release that is already underway

Preparing a release triggered on any push to the release branch, so
hand-editing the generated changelog on that branch prepended a second
section for the same version and failed trying to open a pull request that
already existed. The release is now prepared only when the release branch
is first pushed, leaving the branch open to corrections before it is merged.

Skipping an already released version reported success, so a later push to
main would attempt to upload the same version to PyPI again and open a
second pull request resetting develop. The release job now reports whether
it created a release, and the publish and reset jobs check it.
---
 .github/workflows/release.yml | 12 ++++++++----
 1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index bcb1b38..d34cfd4 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -44,8 +44,9 @@ jobs:
 
   prep:
     name: Prepare release
-    # runs on workflow_dispatch, or when a release branch is pushed
-    if: ${{ github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' || (github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref_name != 'main') }}
+    # runs on workflow_dispatch, or when a release branch is first pushed.
+    # later pushes to the release branch must not prepare the release again.
+    if: ${{ github.event_name == 'workflow_dispatch' || (github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref_name != 'main' && github.event.created) }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
       contents: write
@@ -195,6 +196,7 @@ jobs:
         shell: bash
     outputs:
       version: ${{ steps.release.outputs.version }}
+      released: ${{ steps.release.outputs.released }}
     steps:
 
       - name: Checkout main branch
@@ -214,8 +216,10 @@ jobs:
           # skip if this version has already been released
           if git rev-parse -q --verify "refs/tags/$version" >/dev/null; then
             echo "tag $version already exists, nothing to release"
+            echo "released=false" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
             exit 0
           fi
+          echo "released=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
           # pull this release's notes back out of the cumulative changelog
           notes=$(awk -v hdr="### Version $version" '
@@ -233,7 +237,7 @@ jobs:
     name: Publish package
     # runs after the release is created, or after a draft release is published manually
     needs: release
-    if: ${{ always() && github.repository_owner == 'MODFLOW-ORG' && ((github.event_name == 'push' && needs.release.result == 'success') || github.event_name == 'release') }}
+    if: ${{ always() && github.repository_owner == 'MODFLOW-ORG' && ((github.event_name == 'push' && needs.release.outputs.released == 'true') || github.event_name == 'release') }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
       contents: read
@@ -275,7 +279,7 @@ jobs:
     name: Reset develop
     # runs after the release is created, opens a PR merging main back into develop
     needs: release
-    if: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref_name == 'main' }}
+    if: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref_name == 'main' && needs.release.outputs.released == 'true' }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
       contents: write