Use release flag instead of version heuristics for action mode detection

pkg/workflow/action_mode.go

@@ -45,14 +45,13 @@ func (m ActionMode) UsesExternalActions() bool {
 	return true
 }
 
-// DetectActionMode determines the appropriate action mode based on environment and version.
-// Returns ActionModeRelease if the binary version is a release tag,
-// otherwise returns ActionModeDev as the default.
-// Can be overridden with GH_AW_ACTION_MODE environment variable.
-// If version parameter is provided, it will be used to determine release mode.
-// Never uses dirty SHA - only clean version tags or dev mode with local paths.
+// DetectActionMode determines the appropriate action mode based on the release flag.
+// Returns ActionModeRelease if this binary was built as a release (controlled by the
+// isReleaseBuild flag set via -X linker flag at build time), otherwise returns ActionModeDev.
+// Can be overridden with GH_AW_ACTION_MODE environment variable or GitHub Actions context.
+// The version parameter is kept for backward compatibility but is no longer used for detection.
 func DetectActionMode(version string) ActionMode {
-	actionModeLog.Printf("Detecting action mode: version=%s", version)
+	actionModeLog.Printf("Detecting action mode: version=%s, isRelease=%v", version, IsRelease())
 
 	// Check for explicit override via environment variable
 	if envMode := os.Getenv("GH_AW_ACTION_MODE"); envMode != "" {
@@ -64,11 +63,10 @@ func DetectActionMode(version string) ActionMode {
 		actionModeLog.Printf("Invalid action mode in environment: %s, falling back to auto-detection", envMode)
 	}
 
-	// Check if version indicates a release build
-	// Release tags are clean version strings (not "dev", not empty, no "-dirty" suffix, and start with "v")
-	if version != "" && version != "dev" && !strings.Contains(version, "-dirty") && strings.HasPrefix(version, "v") {
-		// Version is a clean release tag, use release mode
-		actionModeLog.Printf("Detected release mode from binary version: %s", version)
+	// Check if this binary was built as a release using the release flag
+	// This flag is set at build time via -X linker flag and does not rely on version string heuristics
+	if IsRelease() {
+		actionModeLog.Printf("Detected release mode from build flag (isReleaseBuild=true)")
 		return ActionModeRelease
 	}
 
@@ -92,7 +90,7 @@ func DetectActionMode(version string) ActionMode {
 	// 1. Running on a PR (refs/pull/*)
 	// 2. Running locally (no GITHUB_REF)
 	// 3. Running on any other branch (including main)
-	// 4. Version is "dev" or empty
-	actionModeLog.Printf("Detected dev mode (default): version=%s, ref=%s", version, githubRef)
+	// 4. Non-release builds (isReleaseBuild=false)
+	actionModeLog.Printf("Detected dev mode (default): isRelease=%v, ref=%s", IsRelease(), githubRef)
 	return ActionModeDev
 }

pkg/workflow/compiler_action_mode_test.go

@@ -156,6 +156,120 @@ func TestActionModeReleaseValidation(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestActionModeDetectionWithReleaseFlag tests that DetectActionMode uses the release flag
+func TestActionModeDetectionWithReleaseFlag(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name         string
+		isRelease    bool
+		githubRef    string
+		githubEvent  string
+		envOverride  string
+		expectedMode ActionMode
+		description  string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:         "release flag true",
+			isRelease:    true,
+			githubRef:    "",
+			githubEvent:  "",
+			expectedMode: ActionModeRelease,
+			description:  "Release flag set to true should use release mode",
+		},
+		{
+			name:         "release flag false",
+			isRelease:    false,
+			githubRef:    "",
+			githubEvent:  "",
+			expectedMode: ActionModeDev,
+			description:  "Release flag set to false should use dev mode",
+		},
+		{
+			name:         "release flag true with main branch",
+			isRelease:    true,
+			githubRef:    "refs/heads/main",
+			githubEvent:  "push",
+			expectedMode: ActionModeRelease,
+			description:  "Release flag should take precedence over branch",
+		},
+		{
+			name:         "release flag false with release tag",
+			isRelease:    false,
+			githubRef:    "refs/tags/v1.0.0",
+			githubEvent:  "push",
+			expectedMode: ActionModeRelease,
+			description:  "GitHub release tag should still work when release flag is false",
+		},
+		{
+			name:         "env override with release flag",
+			isRelease:    true,
+			githubRef:    "",
+			githubEvent:  "",
+			envOverride:  "dev",
+			expectedMode: ActionModeDev,
+			description:  "Environment variable should override release flag",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			// Save original environment and release flag
+			origRef := os.Getenv("GITHUB_REF")
+			origEvent := os.Getenv("GITHUB_EVENT_NAME")
+			origMode := os.Getenv("GH_AW_ACTION_MODE")
+			origRelease := IsRelease()
+
+			defer func() {
+				// Restore environment variables
+				if origRef != "" {
+					os.Setenv("GITHUB_REF", origRef)
+				} else {
+					os.Unsetenv("GITHUB_REF")
+				}
+				if origEvent != "" {
+					os.Setenv("GITHUB_EVENT_NAME", origEvent)
+				} else {
+					os.Unsetenv("GITHUB_EVENT_NAME")
+				}
+				if origMode != "" {
+					os.Setenv("GH_AW_ACTION_MODE", origMode)
+				} else {
+					os.Unsetenv("GH_AW_ACTION_MODE")
+				}
+				// Restore release flag
+				SetIsRelease(origRelease)
+			}()
+
+			// Set test environment
+			if tt.githubRef != "" {
+				os.Setenv("GITHUB_REF", tt.githubRef)
+			} else {
+				os.Unsetenv("GITHUB_REF")
+			}
+
+			if tt.githubEvent != "" {
+				os.Setenv("GITHUB_EVENT_NAME", tt.githubEvent)
+			} else {
+				os.Unsetenv("GITHUB_EVENT_NAME")
+			}
+
+			if tt.envOverride != "" {
+				os.Setenv("GH_AW_ACTION_MODE", tt.envOverride)
+			} else {
+				os.Unsetenv("GH_AW_ACTION_MODE")
+			}
+
+			// Set release flag
+			SetIsRelease(tt.isRelease)
+
+			// Test detection (version parameter is ignored now)
+			mode := DetectActionMode("ignored-version")
+			if mode != tt.expectedMode {
+				t.Errorf("%s: expected mode %s, got %s", tt.description, tt.expectedMode, mode)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 // TestReleaseModeCompilation tests workflow compilation in release mode
 // Note: This test uses create_issue which already has ScriptName set.
 // Other safe outputs (add_labels, etc.) don't have ScriptName yet and will use inline mode.