fix: auto-upgrade gh-aw extension during `gh aw upgrade` to prevent stale version in lock files by Copilot · Pull Request #20300 · github/gh-aw

Copilot · 2026-03-10T02:17:42Z

gh aw upgrade detected outdated extension versions but only warned, then continued compiling lock files with the old version string baked into the running process. Lock file headers (GH_AW_INFO_CLI_VERSION) and generated YAML ended up referencing the previous version.

Changes

update_extension_check.go — New upgradeExtensionIfOutdated(verbose bool) (bool, error) that:
- Automatically runs gh extension upgrade github/gh-aw when a newer release is detected
- Uses golang.org/x/mod/semver.Compare instead of string comparison (fixes incorrect ordering for versions like 0.9.0 vs 0.10.0)
- Returns (true, nil) on successful upgrade; silently ignores API/network errors; skips dev builds
upgrade_command.go — Replaces the warn-only ensureLatestExtensionVersion call with upgradeExtensionIfOutdated. When an upgrade is performed, the command automatically re-launches the freshly-installed binary with the same flags plus a hidden --skip-extension-upgrade flag that prevents infinite recursion. This ensures all subsequent steps (codemods, lock-file compilation) run under the new binary and embed the correct version string. The relaunchWithSameArgs helper re-execs the binary with forwarded stdin/stdout/stderr and preserves the child exit code.
update_extension_check_test.go — Tests for upgradeExtensionIfOutdated covering dev build skip and silent API failure.

Behaviour

Scenario	Before	After
Newer version available	Warn only; compile with old version	Auto-upgrade; relaunch new binary transparently
Already up to date	Silent / verbose message	Continue upgrade normally
API unreachable	Continue silently	Continue silently (unchanged)
Dev build	Skip check	Skip check (unchanged)

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pelikhan · 2026-03-10T02:30:21Z

@copilot if upgrade occurred, relaunch cli with same flags (and a special flag to prevent recursion hidden)

…run with new version Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

…e version in lock files Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-03-10T02:45:19Z

@copilot if upgrade occurred, relaunch cli with same flags (and a special flag to prevent recursion hidden)

Done in be37b31. After the extension is upgraded, the CLI now re-launches the freshly-installed binary automatically with the same flags plus a hidden --skip-extension-upgrade flag that prevents the re-launched process from entering the upgrade branch again (recursion guard).

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- Triggering command: /usr/bin/gh gh api /repos/github/gh-aw/git/ref/tags/v2.0.0 --jq .object.sha -json GO111MODULE 64/bin/go GOINSECURE GOMOD GOMODCACHE sh -c "prettier" --check '**/*.cjs' '*GOINSECURE GOPROXY 64/bin/go GOSUMDB GOWORK 64/bin/go go (http block)

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Pull request overview

This PR fixes a bug where gh aw upgrade would detect an outdated extension version but only warn, then continue compiling lock files with the old version string baked into the running process. The fix introduces automatic self-upgrade via gh extension upgrade and re-launching the freshly-installed binary with a hidden --skip-extension-upgrade flag to prevent recursion, ensuring all subsequent steps use the correct version string. Additionally, it replaces string-based version comparison with proper semver comparison via golang.org/x/mod/semver.

Changes:

Added upgradeExtensionIfOutdated() in update_extension_check.go that auto-upgrades the extension and uses proper semver comparison
Modified upgrade_command.go to relaunch the new binary after upgrade via relaunchWithSameArgs(), with a hidden --skip-extension-upgrade flag to prevent infinite recursion
Added tests for dev build skip and silent API failure scenarios

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

File	Description
`pkg/cli/update_extension_check.go`	New `upgradeExtensionIfOutdated` function with semver-based comparison and automatic `gh extension upgrade`
`pkg/cli/upgrade_command.go`	Replaced warn-only check with auto-upgrade + relaunch mechanism; added `relaunchWithSameArgs` helper and `--skip-extension-upgrade` flag
`pkg/cli/update_extension_check_test.go`	Tests for dev build skip and silent API failure in the new function

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Copilot · 2026-03-10T04:23:19Z

pkg/cli/upgrade_command.go

+		if upgraded {
+			upgradeLog.Print("Extension was upgraded; re-launching with new binary")
+			fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatInfoMessage("Continuing upgrade with newly installed version..."))
+			return relaunchWithSameArgs("--skip-extension-upgrade")


Bug: When --create-pull-request (or --pr) is passed and the extension is upgraded, the child process relaunched via relaunchWithSameArgs receives all original arguments including --create-pull-request. The child process performs the full upgrade and creates the PR. After the child exits successfully, relaunchWithSameArgs returns nil, which propagates back to RunE. The code at line 100 then checks createPR again and attempts to create a second PR.

To fix this, runUpgradeCommand should signal to the caller that a relaunch occurred (e.g., by returning a sentinel error or a boolean), so that RunE can skip the PR creation step. Alternatively, the relaunch path could call os.Exit(0) after the child succeeds (similar to how it handles child failures), since the child has already done all the work.

Suggested change

return relaunchWithSameArgs("--skip-extension-upgrade")

if err := relaunchWithSameArgs("--skip-extension-upgrade"); err != nil {

// If the child process failed, propagate the error to the caller.

return err

}

// The child process completed successfully and has already performed the upgrade

// (including any side effects such as creating pull requests). Exit the parent

// process so we do not repeat the remaining steps.

os.Exit(0)

return nil

Copilot · 2026-03-10T04:23:19Z

pkg/cli/update_extension_check.go

+		// Fall back to normalised string comparison when versions are not valid semver.
+		currentNorm := strings.TrimPrefix(currentVersion, "v")
+		latestNorm := strings.TrimPrefix(latestVersion, "v")
+		if currentNorm >= latestNorm {
+			updateExtensionCheckLog.Print("Extension is already up to date (string comparison fallback)")
+			if verbose {
+				fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatSuccessMessage("✓ gh-aw extension is up to date"))
+			}
+			return false, nil
+		}


Bug: The string comparison fallback (currentNorm >= latestNorm) suffers from the exact same lexicographic ordering problem the PR claims to fix. For example, "0.9.0" >= "0.10.0" evaluates to true lexicographically (since "9" > "1"), which would incorrectly report the extension as up-to-date when it's actually outdated. This would prevent the upgrade from happening, which is the opposite of what the PR intends.

While this fallback is only reached for non-semver version strings, it would be safer to log a warning and proceed with the upgrade attempt rather than relying on broken string comparison. Or simply remove this fallback and always require valid semver.

Suggested change

// Fall back to normalised string comparison when versions are not valid semver.

currentNorm := strings.TrimPrefix(currentVersion, "v")

latestNorm := strings.TrimPrefix(latestVersion, "v")

if currentNorm >= latestNorm {

updateExtensionCheckLog.Print("Extension is already up to date (string comparison fallback)")

if verbose {

fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, console.FormatSuccessMessage("✓ gh-aw extension is up to date"))

}

return false, nil

}

// Versions are not valid semver; skip unreliable string comparison and

// proceed with upgrade to avoid incorrectly treating an outdated version

// as up to date.

updateExtensionCheckLog.Printf("Non-semver versions detected (current=%q, latest=%q); proceeding with upgrade", currentVersion, latestVersion)

pelikhan · 2026-03-10T04:43:44Z

@coplot review and apply comments

pelikhan · 2026-03-10T04:44:13Z

@copilot review and apply comments

…ove broken string-comparison fallback Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-03-10T04:50:22Z

@copilot review and apply comments

Both review comments addressed in 011edea:

Duplicate PR creation — relaunchWithSameArgs now calls os.Exit(0) on success so the parent process terminates immediately after the child finishes, preventing a second CreatePRWithChanges call.
Broken string-comparison fallback — removed the currentNorm >= latestNorm branch entirely. For non-semver versions we now log a debug message and fall through to the upgrade, avoiding the "0.9.0" >= "0.10.0" false-positive.

pelikhan · 2026-03-10T04:54:00Z

@copilot review and simplify updates

… dead ensureLatestExtensionVersion Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-03-10T05:01:46Z

@copilot review and simplify updates

Done in 518c7e4. Simplifications applied:

v-prefix normalization condensed from 4-line if !strings.HasPrefix blocks to single-line "v" + strings.TrimPrefix(..., "v") expressions
Arg-copy in relaunchWithSameArgs collapsed from 4 lines to one append(append([]string(nil), os.Args[1:]...), extraFlag)
Removed the dead ensureLatestExtensionVersion function (no production callers since upgradeExtensionIfOutdated replaced it) and its two now-redundant tests

@Mossaka

Adds the 🌍 Community Contributions table with 5 confirmed attributions linking community-labeled issues to their resolving PRs: - #21630 (@Mossaka) → #21655 sparse-checkout support docs - #21243 (@holwerda) → #21286 github-app auth in dependencies - #20299 (@grahame-white) → #20300 fix gh aw upgrade lock files - #20249 (@mvdbos) → #20301 cross-repo workflow_call validation - #18480 (@JoshGreenslade) → #21993 GHE Cloud data residency docs Also flags 241 community-labeled issues as attribution candidates needing manual review. Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Initial plan

7069a80

Copilot AI assigned Copilot and pelikhan Mar 10, 2026

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan March 10, 2026 02:17 View session

Copilot AI linked an issue Mar 10, 2026 that may be closed by this pull request

Bug: gh aw upgrade generates lock files with previous version after upgrade #20299

Closed

fix: auto-upgrade gh-aw extension in upgrade command and stop for re-…

1294d0e

…run with new version Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot AI changed the title ~~[WIP] Fix lock files to reference correct version after gh aw upgrade~~ fix: auto-upgrade gh-aw extension during gh aw upgrade to prevent stale version in lock files Mar 10, 2026

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan March 10, 2026 02:36

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan March 10, 2026 02:36 View session

fix: relaunch with same flags after extension upgrade to prevent stal…

be37b31

…e version in lock files Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan March 10, 2026 02:46

pelikhan marked this pull request as ready for review March 10, 2026 04:19

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings March 10, 2026 04:19

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of pelikhan March 10, 2026 04:20 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Mar 10, 2026

View reviewed changes

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan March 10, 2026 04:44 View session

fix: exit parent after relaunch to prevent duplicate PR creation; rem…

011edea

…ove broken string-comparison fallback Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan March 10, 2026 04:50

Copilot started work on behalf of pelikhan March 10, 2026 04:54 View session

refactor: simplify version prefix normalization, arg copy, and remove…

518c7e4

… dead ensureLatestExtensionVersion Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot finished work on behalf of pelikhan March 10, 2026 05:02

pelikhan merged commit 746d9ab into main Mar 10, 2026
51 checks passed

pelikhan deleted the copilot/fix-lock-file-version-after-upgrade branch March 10, 2026 05:48

github-actions bot mentioned this pull request Mar 21, 2026

[community] Update community contributions in README #22174

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fix: auto-upgrade gh-aw extension during `gh aw upgrade` to prevent stale version in lock files#20300

fix: auto-upgrade gh-aw extension during `gh aw upgrade` to prevent stale version in lock files#20300
pelikhan merged 5 commits intomainfrom
copilot/fix-lock-file-version-after-upgrade

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-			return relaunchWithSameArgs("--skip-extension-upgrade")
+			if err := relaunchWithSameArgs("--skip-extension-upgrade"); err != nil {
+				// If the child process failed, propagate the error to the caller.
+				return err
+			}
+			// The child process completed successfully and has already performed the upgrade
+			// (including any side effects such as creating pull requests). Exit the parent
+			// process so we do not repeat the remaining steps.
+			os.Exit(0)
+			return nil

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