fix: Race condition in GitHub actions release flow

[ksylvan]

Fix GitHub Release Creation Error Handling in CI/CD Pipeline

Summary

This PR improves the error handling in the GitHub Actions release workflow by properly checking if a release already exists before attempting to create it. The previous implementation could fail when the release view command returned a non-zero exit code.

This ensures that during the GitHub release before matrix builds start, we get only one build trying to create a release.

Related Issues

Closes #1554

Files Changed

• .github/workflows/release.yml: Modified the release creation logic to properly handle the case where a release tag already exists.

Code Changes

.github/workflows/release.yml

The release creation step has been refactored from a single line command to a proper conditional check:

Before:

gh release view ${{ env.latest_tag }} || gh release create ${{ env.latest_tag }} --title "Release ${{ env.latest_tag }}" --notes "Automated release for ${{ env.latest_tag }}"

After:

if ! gh release view ${{ env.latest_tag }} >/dev/null 2>&1; then
  gh release create ${{ env.latest_tag }} --title "Release ${{ env.latest_tag }}" --notes "Automated release for ${{ env.latest_tag }}"
else
  echo "Release ${{ env.latest_tag }} already exists."
fi

Reason for Changes

The previous implementation using the || operator could cause issues in the CI/CD pipeline when gh release view returned an error. This could happen when:

• The release doesn't exist (expected behavior)
• Network issues occur
• API rate limits are hit

By explicitly checking the exit code and redirecting output to /dev/null, we ensure that:

1. The workflow doesn't fail on expected "release not found" errors
2. We get clearer feedback when a release already exists
3. The pipeline is more robust against transient failures

Impact of Changes

• Improved Reliability: The release workflow will be more stable and less prone to failures due to race conditions or timing issues
• Better Logging: Clear feedback when a release already exists helps with debugging CI/CD issues
• No Functional Changes: The end result remains the sam. Releases are created only when they don't exist

Test Plan

This change can be tested by:

1. Running the workflow on a tag that doesn't have a release (should create a new release)
2. Re-running the workflow on the same tag (should skip creation and log that the release exists)
3. Verifying that the workflow completes successfully in both cases

Additional Notes

This is a defensive programming improvement that makes the CI/CD pipeline more resilient. The change follows shell scripting best practices by:

• Properly handling command exit codes
• Redirecting both stdout and stderr when we only care about the exit status
• Providing informative feedback for different scenarios

[Copilot]

Pull Request Overview

This PR refactors the GitHub Actions release workflow to improve error handling by explicitly checking if a release exists before attempting to create it, thereby preventing race conditions in the CI/CD pipeline.

• Refactors the release creation command to a conditional check.
• Redirects output to suppress expected errors when a release isn’t found.
• Logs a clear message when a release already exists.

Comments suppressed due to low confidence (1)

.github/workflows/release.yml:114

• Consider adding a comment above this conditional to explain the use of '/dev/null' redirection, clarifying that it's intended to suppress expected 'release not found' errors and handle transient failures gracefully.

          if ! gh release view ${{ env.latest_tag }} >/dev/null 2>&1; then