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Charon/docs/plans/archive/propagation_workflow_update.md
2026-03-04 18:34:49 +00:00

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# Plan: Refine Propagation Workflow to Enforce Strict Hierarchy (Pittsburgh Model)
## 1. Introduction
This plan outlines the update of the `.github/workflows/propagate-changes.yml` workflow. The goal is to enforce a strict hierarchical propagation strategy ("The Pittsburgh Model") where changes flow downstream from `main` to `development`, and then from `development` to leaf branches (`feature/*`, `hotfix/*`). This explicitly prevents "loop-backs" and direct updates from `main` to feature branches.
## 2. Methodology & Rules
**The Pittsburgh Model (Strict Hierarchy):**
1. **Rule 1 (The Ohio River)**: `main` **ONLY** propagates to `development`.
- *Logic*: `main` is the stable release branch. Changes here (hotfixes, releases) must flow into `development` first.
- *Constraint*: `main` must **NEVER** propagate directly to `feature/*` or `hotfix/*`.
2. **Rule 2 (The Point)**: `development` is the **ONLY** branch that propagates to leaf branches.
- *Logic*: `development` is the source of truth for active work. It aggregates `main` changes plus ongoing development.
- *Targets*: `feature/*` and `hotfix/*`.
3. **Rule 3 (Loop Prevention)**: Determine the "source" PR to prevent re-propagation.
- *Problem*: When `feature/A` merges into `development`, we must not open a PR from `development` back to `feature/A`.
- *Mechanism*: Identify the source branch of the commit triggering the workflow and exclude it from targets.
## 3. Workflow Design
### 3.1. Branching Strategy Logic
| Trigger Branch | Source | Target(s) | Logic |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| `main` | `main` | `development` | Create PR `main` -> `development` |
| `development` | `development` | `feature/*`, `hotfix/*` | Create PR `development` -> `[leaf]` (Excluding changes source) |
| `feature/*` | - | - | No action (Triggers CI only) |
| `hotfix/*` | - | - | No action (Triggers CI only) |
### 3.2. Logic Updates Needed
**A. Strict Main Enforcement**
- Current logic likely does this, but we will explicitly verify `if (currentBranch === 'main') { propagate('development'); }` and nothing else.
**B. Development Distribution & Hotfix Inclusion**
- Update the branch listing logic to find both `feature/*` AND `hotfix/*` branches.
- Current code only looks for `feature/*`.
**C. Loop Prevention (The "Source Branch" Check)**
- **Trigger**: Script runs on push to `development`.
- **Action**:
1. Retrieve the Pull Request associated with the commit sha using the GitHub API.
2. If a merged PR exists for this commit, extract the source branch name (`head.ref`).
3. Exclude this source branch from the list of propagation targets.
### 3.3. Technical Implementation Details
- **File**: `.github/workflows/propagate-changes.yml`
- **Action**: `actions/github-script`
**Pseudo-Code Update:**
```javascript
// 1. Get current branch
const branch = context.ref.replace('refs/heads/', '');
// 2. Rule 1: Main -> Development
if (branch === 'main') {
await createPR('main', 'development');
return;
}
// 3. Rule 2: Development -> Leafs
if (branch === 'development') {
// 3a. Identify Source (Rule 3 Loop Prevention)
// NOTE: This runs on push, so context.sha is the commit sha.
let excludedBranch = null;
try {
const prs = await github.rest.repos.listPullRequestsAssociatedWithCommit({
owner: context.repo.owner,
repo: context.repo.repo,
commit_sha: context.sha,
});
// Find the PR that was merged
const mergedPr = prs.data.find(pr => pr.merged_at);
if (mergedPr) {
excludedBranch = mergedPr.head.ref;
core.info(`Commit derived from merged PR #${mergedPr.number} (Source: ${excludedBranch}). Skipping back-propagation.`);
}
} catch (e) {
core.info('Could not check associated PRs: ' + e.message);
}
// 3b. Find Targets
const branches = await github.paginate(github.rest.repos.listBranches, {
owner: context.repo.owner,
repo: context.repo.repo,
});
const targets = branches
.map(b => b.name)
.filter(b => (b.startsWith('feature/') || b.startsWith('hotfix/')))
.filter(b => b !== excludedBranch); // Exclude source
// 3c. Propagate
core.info(`Propagating to ${targets.length} branches: ${targets.join(', ')}`);
for (const target of targets) {
await createPR('development', target);
}
}
```
## 4. Implementation Steps
1. **Refactor `main` logic**: Ensure it returns immediately after propagating to `development` to prevent any fall-through.
2. **Update `development` logic**:
- Add `hotfix/` to the filter regex.
- Implement the `listPullRequestsAssociatedWithCommit` call to identify the exclusion.
- Apply the exclusion to the target list.
3. **Verify Hierarchy**:
- Confirm no path exists for `main` -> `feature/*`.
## 5. Acceptance Criteria
- [ ] Push to `main` creates a PR ONLY to `development`.
- [ ] Push to `development` creates PRs to all downstream `feature/*` AND `hotfix/*` branches.
- [ ] Push to `development` (caused by merge of `feature/A`) does **NOT** create a PR back to `feature/A`.
- [ ] A hotfix merged to `main` flows: `main` -> `development`, then `development` -> `hotfix/active-work` (if any exist).