Path filters not respected for tag pushes in workflow triggers #3932

[aviscode]

Bug Report

Description

Path filters in workflow triggers are not being respected when tags are pushed, causing workflows to run even when the specified paths haven't been modified.

Expected Behavior

A workflow with path filters should only run when the specified files are modified, regardless of whether it's a branch push or tag push.

Actual Behavior

Workflows with path filters run on tag pushes even when none of the specified paths have been modified.

Reproduction Steps

1. Create a workflow with path filters:

on:
  push:
    paths:
      - "specific-file.txt"
      - ".github/workflows/workflow.yaml"

2. Make a commit that doesn't modify any of the specified paths
3. Create and push a tag for that commit
4. Observe that the workflow runs despite no matching files being changed

Evidence

• Workflow configuration shows path filters
• Commit only modified unrelated files (e.g., pkg/config/config_utils.go)
• GitHub API shows workflow triggered by push event with tag as head_branch
• Expected: Workflow should not run
• Actual: Workflow runs

Workaround

Adding tags-ignore: "**" to the push trigger prevents the issue:

on:
  push:
    tags-ignore:
      - "**"
    paths:
      - "specific-file.txt"

Environment

• GitHub Actions (hosted runners)
• All workflow trigger types affected
• Reproducible across different repositories

Impact

This causes unnecessary workflow runs, wasting CI/CD resources and potentially causing confusion about when workflows should execute.