Run CI on the Version Packages PR, and stop the version script rewriting Cargo.lock

[auxesis]

The Version Packages PR is the last PR before every npm release from cipherstash/stack. No CI runs on it, and its approval can predate its final content.

No workflow runs on the Version Packages PR

release.yml opens and updates the Version Packages PR with changesets/action, which pushes with GITHUB_TOKEN. GitHub does not start workflows for a push made with GITHUB_TOKEN. So none of the repository's CI runs on that PR.

On 2 October 2026, #1020 had one check, the Dependabot configuration check. It released @cipherstash/auth 0.44.1 and the stack family 1.2.1 with no test run on its final commit, 1487a1aa. Earlier Version Packages PRs, such as #928, had CI only because a person pushed a commit to them.

Approval does not reset when the PR changes

changesets/action rewrites the PR whenever a changeset reaches main. freshtonic approved #1020 at bb8d2f0a. The bot then added the changeset from #1010, and #1020 merged at 1487a1aa with that approval still counted.

The version script rewrites protect-ffi's Cargo.lock

#1020 changed one line in languages/typescript/packages/protect-ffi/Cargo.lock: winapi-util moved from windows-sys 0.48.0 to 0.52.0. Nothing in the release asked for that.

On every release, scripts/sync-lockstep-versions.mjs runs cargo update --package eql-bindings in each workspace that locks eql-bindings from a path. It runs even when EQL's version does not change, as in #1020. Its own comment says that command "re-resolves the whole graph and rewrites a complete lock". main's lock passed cargo metadata --locked before #1020, so the lock was not stale. A likely cause is that the release job's Cargo, from packages/eql/mise.toml, resolves the windows-sys edges differently from the Cargo that wrote the lock. This is not yet confirmed.

Fix

1. Give changesets/action a GitHub App installation token, made with actions/create-github-app-token, in place of GITHUB_TOKEN. GitHub starts workflows for an App's pushes. Keep commitMode: 'github-api', so the commits stay signed.
2. Decide whether a new push to the Version Packages PR should dismiss its approval. If the ruleset should not do this for every PR, a check could fail when the approved commit is not the head.
3. Skip cargo update when the eql-bindings version does not change. Then find out why the update rewrites the windows-sys edge. If the cause is the toolchain, run it with the same Rust that wrote the lock.

Done when

• The next Version Packages PR runs the full CI on its head commit.
• A release that does not bump EQL leaves every Cargo.lock unchanged.

Progress on 3 October 2026

• docs(skills): pin the 1.2.1 release in the stash-cli and stash-edge skills #1029 moved the stash skill pins to 1.2.1. Version Packages PR Version Packages #1020 had missed them, because no CI ran on it, and that turned main red.
• fix(release): leave Cargo.lock alone and move the skill pins in the version step #1028 fixed part 3. The version step now runs Cargo only when the eql-bindings version changes, and uses cargo update --workspace. The windows-sys flip came from cargo update --package, not from the Rust toolchain: Cargo 1.90.0, 1.94.1 and 1.99.0 all gave the same lock. fix(release): leave Cargo.lock alone and move the skill pins in the version step #1028 also added scripts/sync-skill-pins.mjs, which moves the skill pins in every Version Packages PR.
• docs(release): quote the three-step version script in every comment #1030 updates the comments that quote the version script.

Still to do

1. Part 1 needs a GitHub App. An administrator installs a GitHub App on cipherstash/stack, with these repository permissions: Contents read and write, Pull requests read and write, and Metadata read. Then they add its client ID as a repository variable, and its private key as a repository secret. After that, the workflow change is small.
2. Part 2 needs a decision. Choose one rule:
   • dismiss stale reviews when someone pushes, for every PR into main;
   • require approval of the most recent push, for every PR into main;
   • a required check, scoped to the Version Packages PR, that fails unless an approval names the head commit. This needs part 1 first.