Relocate entries-layout changelog date to changelogs/current/.date with current.yaml read fallback

[Copilot]

This updates entries-layout changelog state so release date no longer depends on changelogs/current.yaml. In entries mode, date is now read/written from changelogs/current/.date, while keeping a compatibility read fallback to current.yaml when .date is absent.

• New on-disk date source for entries layout

  • Added CHANGELOG_CURRENT_DATE_PATH = "changelogs/current/.date".
  • Added rel_current_date_path and current_date_path helpers on AChangelogs.

• Entries-layout parse behavior

  • Updated AChangelog.get_data_from_entries(...) to:
    1. read date from .date when present,
    2. fall back to current.yaml date when .date is missing,
    3. raise ChangelogParseError when neither source exists.

• Entries-layout write paths no longer touch current.yaml

  • write_current() now creates changelogs/current/ and writes Pending\n to .date.
  • write_date() now writes the formatted date to .date.
  • write_version() now freezes current data, recreates changelogs/current/, and resets .date to Pending\n (without writing current.yaml).

• Commit change-set updates

  • changes_for_commit() now adds CHANGELOG_CURRENT_DATE_PATH (instead of CHANGELOG_CURRENT_PATH) for release/dev when _entries_layout is true.
  • Legacy single-yaml layout behavior is unchanged.

• Test coverage updates

  • Updated existing AChangelogs tests for write_current, write_date, write_version, and changes_for_commit in entries mode.
  • Added get_data_from_entries tests for:
    • .date-first reads,
    • yaml fallback reads,
    • parse error when both date sources are missing.
  • Added an end-to-end-style entries-layout test covering .date-only repos (no current.yaml) across is_pending, write_date, and write_version.

if current_date_path.exists():
    date = current_date_path.read_text().strip()
elif yaml_path.exists():
    yaml_data = utils.from_yaml(yaml_path, typing.ChangelogSourceDict)
    date = yaml_data["date"]
else:
    raise exceptions.ChangelogParseError(
        f"Failed to parse changelog entries: neither {current_date_path} nor {yaml_path} exists")

Original prompt

Background

This is the second PR in a sequence to remove changelogs/current.yaml from envoyproxy/envoy and from the toolshed tooling that drives the changelog lifecycle.

• PR 1 (separate, in flight): decouples discovery of the "current version" from current.yaml, making changelogs/current/ (the directory) the sentinel.
• This PR (PR 2): relocates the release date (Pending / May 19, 2026) out of current.yaml so the yaml file has no remaining functional role in entries-layout mode.
• PR 3 (later): drop the compatibility shim and any now-dead current.yaml references.

Context envoy PR: envoyproxy/envoy#45093
Context envoy issue: envoyproxy/envoy#45095

Goal

In entries-layout mode, store the release date in a small dedicated file inside changelogs/current/ instead of in changelogs/current.yaml. After this PR, an envoy checkout with only the changelogs/current/ directory (no current.yaml) MUST be fully usable end-to-end: parse, check date, write date on release, freeze on dev, etc.

For a transition window, support reading the date from changelogs/current.yaml if the new date file is missing (compatibility shim — to be removed in PR 3).

New on-disk format

• Add CHANGELOG_CURRENT_DATE_PATH = "changelogs/current/.date".
• File contents: a single line, either Pending or a formatted date string (same format as today — DATE_FORMAT = "%B %-d, %Y"). No yaml, no key prefix — just the value, optional trailing newline.
• This file lives inside the entries directory so it travels with the rest of the per-entry files and shares their merge-conflict-resistance properties.

Scope (entries-layout only)

All behavioral changes MUST be gated on _entries_layout being true. The legacy single-yaml layout (no changelogs/current/ directory) MUST be completely unaffected — same reads, same writes, same commit set.

Required changes

py/envoy.base.utils/envoy/base/utils/abstract/project/changelog.py

Add the constant:

CHANGELOG_CURRENT_DATE_PATH = "changelogs/current/.date"

In AChangelogs, add helpers:

• rel_current_date_path -> pathlib.Path(CHANGELOG_CURRENT_DATE_PATH)
• current_date_path -> self.project.path.joinpath(self.rel_current_date_path)

Update the following methods. In every case, if _entries_layout is false, behavior is unchanged.

AChangelog.get_data_from_entries

Currently reads date from the yaml file at yaml_path. Change to:

1. If current_date_path exists, read date from it (strip whitespace).
2. Otherwise, fall back to the existing yaml read (compatibility shim).
3. If neither exists, raise ChangelogParseError with a clear message.

The function's signature can stay the same (yaml_path, entry_dir); just consult the sibling date file first. Alternatively, refactor to take an AChangelogs reference — pick whichever is cleaner; the abstract method on AChangelogs already has both pieces of state available.

AChangelogs.write_current

In entries-layout branch, replace:

self.current_path.write_text("date: Pending\n")
self.current_dir_path.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)

with:

self.current_dir_path.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
self.current_date_path.write_text("Pending\n")

Do NOT write to current_path anymore in entries mode.

AChangelogs.write_date

In entries-layout branch, replace:

self.current_path.write_text(f"date: {date}\n")

with:

self.current_date_path.write_text(f"{date}\n")

AChangelogs.write_version

In entries-layout branch, the current sequence is:

data = self.changelog_class.get_data_from_entries(
    self.current_path, self.current_dir_path)
version_file.write_text(self.dump_yaml(data))
self.current_path.write_text("date: Pending\n")
shutil.rmtree(self.current_dir_path)
self.current_dir_path.mkdir()

Change to:

data = self.changelog_class.get_data_from_entries(
    self.current_path, self.current_dir_path)  # may still read yaml as fallback
version_file.write_text(self.dump_yaml(data))
shutil.rmtree(self.current_dir_path)
self.current_dir_path.mkdir()
self.current_date_path.write_text("Pending\n")

Do NOT touch current_path in entries mode.

AChangelogs.is_pending

Currently:

return (
    await self[self.current].release_date
    == "Pending")

That goes through AChangelog.data -> get_data_from_entries, so once get_data_from_entries reads the new file, is_pending works automatically. No change needed unless you want to short-circuit by reading current_date_path directly (optional optimization — fine to leave).

AChangelogs.changes_for_commit

Currently adds CHANGELOG_CURRENT_PATH to the commit set on release/dev. In entries-layout mode, swap to the new date file:

if any(k in change for k in ["release", "dev"]):
    if self._entries_layout:
        changed.ad...

</details>



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