docs: log upx fallback in release workflows

.gitea/workflows/release.yml

@@ -43,7 +43,9 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           apt-get update
-          apt-get install -y upx-ucl || apt-get install -y upx
+          if ! apt-get install -y upx-ucl && ! apt-get install -y upx; then
+            echo "UPX package install failed; release binaries will be uploaded uncompressed." >&2
+          fi
 
       - name: Validate formatting
         run: test -z "$(gofmt -l .)"
@@ -248,13 +250,13 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
 
+          upx_cmd=""
           if command -v upx >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             upx_cmd=upx
           elif command -v upx-ucl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             upx_cmd=upx-ucl
           else
-            echo "UPX is not available on PATH after installation." >&2
+            echo "UPX is not available on PATH; continuing without binary compression." >&2
-            exit 1
           fi
 
           mkdir -p dist
@@ -265,7 +267,9 @@ jobs:
 
             bin="vociferate_${RELEASE_VERSION}_${os}_${arch}"
             GOOS="$os" GOARCH="$arch" go build -trimpath -ldflags="-s -w" -o "dist/${bin}" ./cmd/vociferate
-            "${upx_cmd}" --best --lzma "dist/${bin}"
+            if [[ -n "${upx_cmd}" ]]; then
+              "${upx_cmd}" --best --lzma "dist/${bin}"
+            fi
           done
 
           (
@@ -345,7 +349,7 @@ jobs:
               echo "- Tag: ${TAG_NAME}"
               echo "- Release notes sourced from changelog entry ${RELEASE_VERSION}."
               echo "- Published assets: vociferate_${RELEASE_VERSION}_linux_amd64, vociferate_${RELEASE_VERSION}_linux_arm64, checksums.txt"
-              echo "- Release binaries were compressed with UPX before upload."
+              echo "- Release binaries are compressed with UPX when available, otherwise uploaded uncompressed."
             } >> "$SUMMARY_FILE"
           else
             {

.gitea/workflows/update-release.yml

@@ -126,7 +126,9 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
           apt-get update
-          apt-get install -y upx-ucl || apt-get install -y upx
+          if ! apt-get install -y upx-ucl && ! apt-get install -y upx; then
+            echo "UPX package install failed; release binaries will be uploaded uncompressed." >&2
+          fi
 
       - name: Preflight release API access
         env:
@@ -170,13 +172,13 @@ jobs:
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
 
+          upx_cmd=""
           if command -v upx >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             upx_cmd=upx
           elif command -v upx-ucl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
             upx_cmd=upx-ucl
           else
-            echo "UPX is not available on PATH after installation." >&2
+            echo "UPX is not available on PATH; continuing without binary compression." >&2
-            exit 1
           fi
 
           mkdir -p dist
@@ -187,7 +189,9 @@ jobs:
 
             bin="vociferate_${RELEASE_VERSION}_${os}_${arch}"
             GOOS="$os" GOARCH="$arch" go build -trimpath -ldflags="-s -w" -o "dist/${bin}" ./cmd/vociferate
-            "${upx_cmd}" --best --lzma "dist/${bin}"
+            if [[ -n "${upx_cmd}" ]]; then
+              "${upx_cmd}" --best --lzma "dist/${bin}"
+            fi
           done
 
           (
@@ -267,7 +271,7 @@ jobs:
               echo "- Tag: ${TAG_NAME}"
               echo "- Release notes sourced from changelog entry ${RELEASE_VERSION}."
               echo "- Published assets: vociferate_${RELEASE_VERSION}_linux_amd64, vociferate_${RELEASE_VERSION}_linux_arm64, checksums.txt"
-              echo "- Release binaries were compressed with UPX before upload."
+              echo "- Release binaries are compressed with UPX when available, otherwise uploaded uncompressed."
             } >> "$SUMMARY_FILE"
           else
             {

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ A `### Breaking` section is used in addition to Keep a Changelog's standard sect
 ### Fixed
 
 - Hardened `coverage-gate` file input handling by validating and normalizing policy/profile paths before opening files, resolving `G304` findings in `coverage-gate/parse.go`.
+- Made release binary builds resilient when `upx` is unavailable by falling back to uncompressed artifacts in both `release.yml` and `update-release.yml`.
 
 ## [1.1.0] - 2026-03-21