Fix wait-on-check-action ref mismatch

[Copilot]

The deploy workflow fails with "The requested check was never run against this ref" because wait-on-check-action uses branch refs instead of commit SHAs.

Changes

• Backend wait step: Use github.sha instead of github.ref
• Frontend wait step: Use github.sha instead of github.ref

# Before
ref: ${{ github.ref }}

# After
ref: ${{ github.sha }}

Check runs are tied to commit SHAs, not branch refs. Both wait steps now correctly reference the commit SHA to find the corresponding check runs from build-backend-image.yml and build-frontend-image.yml workflows.

Original prompt

GitHub Copilot Chat Assistant

Problem (from job logs)

• The wait-on-check action aborted with: "The requested check was never run against this ref, exiting...".
• The action is called with ref: ${{ github.ref }} and check-name values that do not match the check-run names seen in the logs (logs show checks like "Build and Lint Frontend", "Generate GraphQL Schema", etc.). The action therefore cannot find a matching check run for the ref/name pair.

Root causes

1. ref mismatch: ${{ github.ref }} expands to a branch ref (e.g. refs/heads/main) but check runs are tied to the commit SHA. The wait action expects the exact ref/sha used by the check runs.
2. check-name mismatch: the names supplied to wait-on-check-action must exactly match the check runs' names. The logs show a different name for the frontend check ("Build and Lint Frontend").

Fix (apply both changes)

• Use the commit SHA for the ref argument: ref: ${{ github.sha }}.
• Make check-name match the real check run names (from your logs change 'Build and Push Frontend Container' → 'Build and Lint Frontend' or whatever the build workflow actually reports).

Patch to .github/workflows/deploy-tailscale.yml (edit the wait steps)
Update the two wait steps as follows (apply to the copy at: https://github.com/PhantomDave/BankTrackerGraphQL/blob/5864cb3322890bf379414596c5e0b5bec2cec5b2/.github/workflows/deploy-tailscale.yml):

wait-for-backend (example)

• change:
  ref: ${{ github.ref }}
  check-name: 'Build and Push Backend Container'
• to:
  ref: ${{ github.sha }}
  check-name: 'Build and Push Backend Container' # only change ref if backend check name is already correct

wait-for-frontend

• change:
  ref: ${{ github.ref }}
  check-name: 'Build and Push Frontend Container'
• to:
  ref: ${{ github.sha }}
  check-name: 'Build and Lint Frontend' # must match exact check run name from the build workflow

Exact YAML snippets to replace (lines around 49–55 and 65–71):

• Backend wait step
  before:

  • name: Wait for backend image build
    uses: lewagon/wait-on-check-action@v1.3.4
    with:
    ref: ${{ github.ref }}
    check-name: 'Build and Push Backend Container'
    repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    wait-interval: 10
    after:
  • name: Wait for backend image build
    uses: lewagon/wait-on-check-action@v1.3.4
    with:
    ref: ${{ github.sha }}
    check-name: 'Build and Push Backend Container'
    repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    wait-interval: 10

• Frontend wait step
  before:

  • name: Wait for frontend image build
    uses: lewagon/wait-on-check-action@v1.3.4
    with:
    ref: ${{ github.ref }}
    check-name: 'Build and Push Frontend Container'
    repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    wait-interval: 10
    after:
  • name: Wait for frontend image build
    uses: lewagon/wait-on-check-action@v1.3.4
    with:
    ref: ${{ github.sha }}
    check-name: 'Build and Lint Frontend'
    repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
    wait-interval: 10

Additional recommendations

• Confirm the exact check-run names in the build workflows (open the Actions run for the build workflows and copy the exact check title). Update check-name values to match precisely (including whitespace, punctuation, and capitalization).
• If multiple check runs must be waited on, supply them as separate entries (the action supports listing multiple check names; confirm syntax in action docs). Alternatively create a single canonical combined check name in the build workflow.
• Confirm the build workflows run on the same commit/sha you’re deploying from (they must be triggered on the same push so their checks are tied to that commit).
• After making the changes, re-run the Deploy via Tailscale workflow and verify the wait steps find the checks and proceed.

Reference

• The workflow file to edit: https://github.com/PhantomDave/BankTrackerGraphQL/blob/5864cb3322890bf379414596c5e0b5bec2cec5b2/.github/workflows/deploy-tailscale.yml

If you want, I can prepare the exact patch/PR with these edits (YAML changes above) so you can review and merge.

---

💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.

[Copilot]

Pull Request Overview

This PR attempts to fix the wait-on-check-action configuration in the deploy workflow by changing from branch references to commit SHAs and updating check names. However, the frontend check name change introduces a critical bug that will cause deployment to wait for the wrong workflow.

Key Changes

• Changed ref: ${{ github.ref }} to ref: ${{ github.sha }} for both backend and frontend wait steps ✅
• Changed frontend check name from 'Build and Push Frontend Container' to 'Build and Lint Frontend' ❌ (incorrect)

[Copilot]

The check name 'Build and Lint Frontend' is incorrect. This workflow should wait for the image build job from build-frontend-image.yml, not the CI/lint job from frontend.yml.

The correct check name should remain 'Build and Push Frontend Container' which matches the job name in build-frontend-image.yml (line 63). The 'Build and Lint Frontend' job is from a different workflow (frontend.yml) that runs CI checks but doesn't build the container image needed for deployment.

Suggested fix:

check-name: 'Build and Push Frontend Container'

Suggested change

	check-name: 'Build and Lint Frontend'
	check-name: 'Build and Push Frontend Container'

[Copilot]

Fixed in 797689b. Reverted the check-name to 'Build and Push Frontend Container' to correctly wait for the container image build workflow from build-frontend-image.yml.

[PhantomDave]

@copilot apply changes based on the comments in this thread