docs: note @main go run behaviour in changelog

When github.action_ref is not a semver tag (e.g. main), skip binary
download and run vociferate directly via 'go run ./cmd/vociferate' from
the action's own source directory (GITHUB_ACTION_PATH). A conditional
Setup Go step installs the toolchain only on that path.

When pinned to a semver tag (v*), the existing prebuilt binary download
and cache behaviour is unchanged.

This makes the prepare-release workflow self-contained on main — it no
longer requires a published release to bootstrap itself.

action.yml

@@ -62,42 +62,44 @@ runs:
             ;;
         esac
 
-        release_tag="$ACTION_REF"
-        if [[ -z "$release_tag" || "$release_tag" == refs/* || "$release_tag" != v* ]]; then
-          release_tag="$(curl -fsSL \
-            -H "Authorization: token ${TOKEN}" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            "${API_URL}/repos/aether/vociferate/releases/latest" | sed -n 's/.*"tag_name"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p' | head -n 1)"
+        if [[ "$ACTION_REF" == v* ]]; then
+          release_tag="$ACTION_REF"
+          normalized_version="${release_tag#v}"
+          asset_name="vociferate_${normalized_version}_linux_${arch}"
+          cache_dir="${RUNNER_TEMP}/vociferate/${release_tag}/linux-${arch}"
+          binary_path="${cache_dir}/vociferate"
+          asset_url="${SERVER_URL}/aether/vociferate/releases/download/${release_tag}/${asset_name}"
+
+          mkdir -p "$cache_dir"
+
+          echo "use_binary=true"          >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "release_tag=$release_tag" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "asset_name=$asset_name"   >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "asset_url=$asset_url"     >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "cache_dir=$cache_dir"     >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "binary_path=$binary_path" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        else
+          echo "use_binary=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
         fi
 
-        if [[ -z "$release_tag" ]]; then
-          echo "Unable to resolve a vociferate release tag for binary download" >&2
-          exit 1
-        fi
-
-        normalized_version="${release_tag#v}"
-        asset_name="vociferate_${normalized_version}_linux_${arch}"
-        cache_dir="${RUNNER_TEMP}/vociferate/${release_tag}/linux-${arch}"
-        binary_path="${cache_dir}/vociferate"
-        asset_url="${SERVER_URL}/aether/vociferate/releases/download/${release_tag}/${asset_name}"
-
-        mkdir -p "$cache_dir"
-
-        echo "release_tag=$release_tag" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-        echo "asset_name=$asset_name" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-        echo "asset_url=$asset_url" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-        echo "cache_dir=$cache_dir" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-        echo "binary_path=$binary_path" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+    - name: Setup Go
+      if: steps.resolve-binary.outputs.use_binary != 'true'
+      uses: actions/setup-go@v5
+      with:
+        go-version: '1.26.1'
+        cache: true
+        cache-dependency-path: ${{ github.action_path }}/go.sum
 
     - name: Restore cached vociferate binary
       id: cache-vociferate
+      if: steps.resolve-binary.outputs.use_binary == 'true'
       uses: actions/cache@v4
       with:
         path: ${{ steps.resolve-binary.outputs.cache_dir }}
         key: vociferate-${{ steps.resolve-binary.outputs.release_tag }}-linux-${{ runner.arch }}
 
     - name: Download vociferate binary
-      if: steps.cache-vociferate.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+      if: steps.resolve-binary.outputs.use_binary == 'true' && steps.cache-vociferate.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
       shell: bash
       env:
         TOKEN: ${{ inputs.token != '' && inputs.token || github.token }}
@@ -117,10 +119,17 @@ runs:
       shell: bash
       env:
         VOCIFERATE_BIN: ${{ steps.resolve-binary.outputs.binary_path }}
+        USE_BINARY: ${{ steps.resolve-binary.outputs.use_binary }}
       run: |
         set -euo pipefail
 
-        common_args=(--root .)
+        if [[ "$USE_BINARY" == "true" ]]; then
+          run_vociferate() { "$VOCIFERATE_BIN" "$@"; }
+        else
+          run_vociferate() { (cd "$GITHUB_ACTION_PATH" && go run ./cmd/vociferate "$@"); }
+        fi
+
+        common_args=(--root "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE")
 
         if [[ -n "${{ inputs.version-file }}" ]]; then
           common_args+=(--version-file "${{ inputs.version-file }}")
@@ -135,16 +144,16 @@ runs:
         fi
 
         if [[ "${{ inputs.recommend }}" == "true" ]]; then
-          resolved_version="$("$VOCIFERATE_BIN" "${common_args[@]}" --recommend)"
+          resolved_version="$(run_vociferate "${common_args[@]}" --recommend)"
           echo "$resolved_version"
           echo "version=$resolved_version" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
           exit 0
         else
           resolved_version="$(printf '%s' "${{ inputs.version }}" | sed 's/^[[:space:]]\+//; s/[[:space:]]\+$//')"
           if [[ -z "$resolved_version" ]]; then
-            resolved_version="$("$VOCIFERATE_BIN" "${common_args[@]}" --recommend)"
+            resolved_version="$(run_vociferate "${common_args[@]}" --recommend)"
           fi
         fi
 
         echo "version=$resolved_version" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-        "$VOCIFERATE_BIN" "${common_args[@]}" --version "$resolved_version" --date "$(date -u +%F)"
+        run_vociferate "${common_args[@]}" --version "$resolved_version" --date "$(date -u +%F)"

changelog.md

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ A `### Breaking` section is used in addition to Keep a Changelog's standard sect
 - `publish/action.yml` outputs `release-id`, `tag`, and `version` so consumers can upload their own release assets after the release is created.
 - `prepare/action.yml` accepts a `git-add-files` input so repositories using a custom `version-file` can stage the correct set of files for the release commit.
 - The `prepare-release.yml` and `do-release.yml` vociferate workflows now use the local `./prepare` and `./publish` actions, validating the actions in the self-release pipeline.
+- `prepare/action.yml` and `action.yml` use `go run ./cmd/vociferate` directly from the action source (via `GITHUB_ACTION_PATH`) when invoked at `@main`, and download a prebuilt binary when invoked at a semver tag. This makes development and CI on `main` self-contained without requiring a published release.
 
 - Release version recommendation now reads the current version from the most recent released section in the changelog instead of requiring a separate version file. When no prior releases exist the version defaults to `0.0.0`, yielding `v1.0.0` as the first recommended tag.
 - `vociferate prepare` creates the `release-version` file if it does not already exist, removing the need to pre-seed it in new repositories.

prepare/action.yml

@@ -80,42 +80,44 @@ runs:
             ;;
         esac
 
-        release_tag="$ACTION_REF"
-        if [[ -z "$release_tag" || "$release_tag" == refs/* || "$release_tag" != v* ]]; then
-          release_tag="$(curl -fsSL \
-            -H "Authorization: token ${TOKEN}" \
-            -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-            "${API_URL}/repos/aether/vociferate/releases/latest" | sed -n 's/.*"tag_name"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p' | head -n 1)"
+        if [[ "$ACTION_REF" == v* ]]; then
+          release_tag="$ACTION_REF"
+          normalized_version="${release_tag#v}"
+          asset_name="vociferate_${normalized_version}_linux_${arch}"
+          cache_dir="${RUNNER_TEMP}/vociferate/${release_tag}/linux-${arch}"
+          binary_path="${cache_dir}/vociferate"
+          asset_url="${SERVER_URL}/aether/vociferate/releases/download/${release_tag}/${asset_name}"
+
+          mkdir -p "$cache_dir"
+
+          echo "use_binary=true"          >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "release_tag=$release_tag" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "asset_name=$asset_name"   >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "asset_url=$asset_url"     >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "cache_dir=$cache_dir"     >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          echo "binary_path=$binary_path" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+        else
+          echo "use_binary=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
         fi
 
-        if [[ -z "$release_tag" ]]; then
-          echo "Unable to resolve a vociferate release tag for binary download" >&2
-          exit 1
-        fi
-
-        normalized_version="${release_tag#v}"
-        asset_name="vociferate_${normalized_version}_linux_${arch}"
-        cache_dir="${RUNNER_TEMP}/vociferate/${release_tag}/linux-${arch}"
-        binary_path="${cache_dir}/vociferate"
-        asset_url="${SERVER_URL}/aether/vociferate/releases/download/${release_tag}/${asset_name}"
-
-        mkdir -p "$cache_dir"
-
-        echo "release_tag=$release_tag"   >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-        echo "asset_name=$asset_name"     >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-        echo "asset_url=$asset_url"       >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-        echo "cache_dir=$cache_dir"       >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
-        echo "binary_path=$binary_path"   >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+    - name: Setup Go
+      if: steps.resolve-binary.outputs.use_binary != 'true'
+      uses: actions/setup-go@v5
+      with:
+        go-version: '1.26.1'
+        cache: true
+        cache-dependency-path: ${{ github.action_path }}/../go.sum
 
     - name: Restore cached vociferate binary
       id: cache-vociferate
+      if: steps.resolve-binary.outputs.use_binary == 'true'
       uses: actions/cache@v4
       with:
         path: ${{ steps.resolve-binary.outputs.cache_dir }}
         key: vociferate-${{ steps.resolve-binary.outputs.release_tag }}-linux-${{ runner.arch }}
 
     - name: Download vociferate binary
-      if: steps.cache-vociferate.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+      if: steps.resolve-binary.outputs.use_binary == 'true' && steps.cache-vociferate.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
       shell: bash
       env:
         TOKEN: ${{ inputs.token != '' && inputs.token || github.token }}
@@ -135,11 +137,19 @@ runs:
       shell: bash
       env:
         VOCIFERATE_BIN: ${{ steps.resolve-binary.outputs.binary_path }}
+        USE_BINARY: ${{ steps.resolve-binary.outputs.use_binary }}
         INPUT_VERSION: ${{ inputs.version }}
       run: |
         set -euo pipefail
 
-        common_args=(--root .)
+        if [[ "$USE_BINARY" == "true" ]]; then
+          run_vociferate() { "$VOCIFERATE_BIN" "$@"; }
+        else
+          action_root="$(realpath "$GITHUB_ACTION_PATH/..")"
+          run_vociferate() { (cd "$action_root" && go run ./cmd/vociferate "$@"); }
+        fi
+
+        common_args=(--root "$GITHUB_WORKSPACE")
 
         if [[ -n "${{ inputs.version-file }}" ]]; then
           common_args+=(--version-file "${{ inputs.version-file }}")
@@ -155,13 +165,13 @@ runs:
 
         provided_version="$(printf '%s' "${INPUT_VERSION:-}" | sed 's/^[[:space:]]\+//; s/[[:space:]]\+$//')"
         if [[ -z "$provided_version" ]]; then
-          provided_version="$("$VOCIFERATE_BIN" "${common_args[@]}" --recommend)"
+          provided_version="$(run_vociferate "${common_args[@]}" --recommend)"
         fi
 
         normalized_version="${provided_version#v}"
         tag="v${normalized_version}"
 
-        "$VOCIFERATE_BIN" "${common_args[@]}" --version "$provided_version" --date "$(date -u +%F)"
+        run_vociferate "${common_args[@]}" --version "$provided_version" --date "$(date -u +%F)"
 
         echo "version=$tag" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"