fix(ci): wake release-plz back up with git_only, and make idling loud

.github/workflows/release-plz.yml

@@ -43,6 +43,25 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
+      # An idle release-plz is indistinguishable from a healthy one: it exits 0
+      # and prints {"prs":[]}. That is how this repo went from v0.3.0 to v0.3.1
+      # with no release PR ever opened, across a month of green runs. If there
+      # are feat/fix/breaking commits since the last tag and release-plz
+      # proposed nothing, say so out loud.
+      - name: Flag a silent no-op
+        if: steps.release-plz.outputs.prs_created != 'true' && steps.release-plz.outputs.releases_created != 'true'
+        run: |
+          set -uo pipefail
+          LAST_TAG="$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null || true)"
+          [[ -n "$LAST_TAG" ]] || exit 0
+          BUMPING="$(git log --format=%s "${LAST_TAG}..HEAD" |
+            grep -cE '^(feat|fix)(\([^)]*\))?!?:|^[a-z]+(\([^)]*\))?!:' || true)"
+          if [[ "${BUMPING:-0}" -gt 0 ]]; then
+            echo "::warning::release-plz proposed no release PR, but ${BUMPING} version-bumping commit(s) landed since ${LAST_TAG}. It may be skipping this package — check release-plz.toml (git_only) and Cargo.toml (publish)."
+          else
+            echo "release-plz proposed nothing; no version-bumping commits since ${LAST_TAG}. Expected."
+          fi
+
       # GITHUB_TOKEN-pushed tags never trigger workflows, so start the binary
       # build ourselves for each release this run just tagged.
       - name: Dispatch release build

Cargo.toml

@@ -10,8 +10,13 @@ readme = "README.md"
 keywords = ["dictation", "speech-to-text", "elevenlabs", "voice", "accessibility"]
 categories = ["command-line-utilities", "multimedia::audio"]
 # Not on crates.io — an unrelated "dit" crate (0.0.1, 2022) squats the name
-# there. This also stops release-plz from versioning against that foreign
-# crate; with no registry, it derives the last release from our git tags.
+# there, so this is purely a guard against an accidental `cargo publish`.
+#
+# It is NOT what keeps release-plz off that foreign crate — believing so cost us
+# every release PR between v0.3.0 and v0.3.1. release-plz skips private packages
+# outright, so this line alone makes it go silently, greenly idle. `git_only`
+# in release-plz.toml is what pins versioning to our git tags *and* re-admits a
+# private package; read the comment there before touching either line.
 publish = false
 
 [[bin]]

release-plz.toml

@@ -7,8 +7,27 @@
 # binaries and publishes the GitHub Release.
 
 [workspace]
-# We don't publish to crates.io.
-publish = false
+# Derive "the last release" from OUR git tags, never from crates.io.
+#
+# This is load-bearing twice over:
+#
+#  1. An unrelated `dit` crate (0.0.1, 2022) squats the name on crates.io. With
+#     registry lookups on, release-plz reads that as "registry 0.0.1 < local
+#     0.3.x" and parks a phantom release PR open forever (the bug PR #39 chased).
+#  2. `publish = false` alone does NOT stop those lookups — the release-plz docs
+#     are explicit: "release-plz will still use the cargo registry to check
+#     what's the latest release". Only `git_only` does, and it skips
+#     `cargo publish` on its own.
+#
+# The obvious-looking alternative — `publish = false` in **Cargo.toml** — is a
+# trap. It silences release-plz entirely: per its FAQ it "publishes all
+# packages, except: packages with `publish = false` in the Cargo.toml", so
+# `release-pr` returned {"prs":[]} and `release` said "nothing to release" on
+# every green run between v0.3.0 and v0.3.1, and no release PR was ever opened.
+# `git_only = true` is what makes a private package eligible again
+# (release-plz PR #2603, "consider private git_only packages", in 0.3.160+),
+# which is why Cargo.toml keeps its `publish = false` guard alongside this.
+git_only = true
 # release.yml owns the GitHub Release (it attaches the built binaries), so
 # release-plz must NOT create one…
 git_release_enable = false