fix(release): tag only, before the cutover fires this for the first time

The same two faults link/release.yml has, in the copy this repo was
forked from -- and this one has never run at all, so the cutover would
have been its first execution.

An empty template expression written literally in a comment makes the
runner fail to build the "Commit version bump and push tag" step and
skip it WITHOUT failing the job. link carried that for six releases,
which is why its Cargo.toml still says 0.1.0 while its tags reach
v1.1.1; the tags exist because the release API creates one when it
publishes.

And the step pushes to main, which is protected -- the bundle job
proved that today with `pre-receive hook declined`. A first release
must not depend on a write to a protected branch.

So the tag is the version, as in servuo-plugins. The version is still
written into Cargo.toml before building, so a released binary
self-reports correctly; it is simply not committed back.

The prerequisites header said `main` must accept a direct push from the
CI user. It does not, and it should not; that line is replaced with the
reason.

Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>

.gitea/workflows/release.yml

@@ -39,11 +39,11 @@
 # Prerequisites (Settings → Actions → Secrets on RunicGateway/installer):
 #   REGISTRY_USER   — Gitea username the token below belongs to
 #   REGISTRY_TOKEN  — Gitea access token with `write:repository`, so it can push
-#                     the bump commit + tag and create the release.
-#   Also: `main` must accept a direct push from that user (disable branch
-#   protection for it, or add it as an exception) — the bump commit lands on main.
+#                     the release tag and create the release.
 #
-# The bump commit carries `[skip ci]`, so it does not re-trigger this workflow.
+# `main` needs NO push exception: this workflow tags and publishes, and never
+# writes to a branch. Keeping it that way is deliberate — a first release that
+# depends on a write to a protected branch fails at the worst possible moment.
 
 name: Release installer
 
@@ -66,7 +66,8 @@ env:
 jobs:
   release:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    # Don't loop on our own bump commit (belt-and-suspenders with [skip ci]).
+    # Vestigial since this workflow stopped writing a bump commit, and kept as
+    # belt-and-braces in case one ever returns.
     # Quoted because the expression contains a colon (`chore(release):`), which an
     # unquoted YAML scalar would misparse as a mapping value.
     if: "${{ !contains(github.event.head_commit.message, 'chore(release): bump version') }}"
@@ -300,33 +301,45 @@ jobs:
           ls -l dist && echo "----" && cat dist/SHA256SUMS
 
       # ── RELEASE ENGINE: commit the bump, tag, push ───────────────────────
-      - name: Commit version bump and push tag
+      # Tag only — `main` is never pushed to.
+      #
+      # This step used to commit the version bump back to main first, and it has
+      # never executed in any repo that carries it: an EMPTY template expression
+      # written literally in the comment below (the `$`+`{{ }}` token, spelled
+      # out here for that reason) makes the runner fail to build the script and
+      # skip the step WITHOUT failing the job. link/release.yml carried the same
+      # bug for six releases, which is why its Cargo.toml still says 0.1.0 while
+      # its tags reach v1.1.1 — the release API creates the tag when it
+      # publishes, so the pipeline worked by accident.
+      #
+      # It also would have been declined if it had run: `main` is protected, and
+      # the bundle job proved that on 2026-08-05 (`pre-receive hook declined`).
+      # A first release must not depend on a write to a protected branch.
+      #
+      # So the tag is the version, as in servuo-plugins. The version is still
+      # written into Cargo.toml before building, so a released binary
+      # self-reports correctly; it is simply not committed back. The next
+      # version is computed from the newest tag, never from the file.
+      - name: Push the release tag
         if: ${{ steps.plan.outputs.release == 'true' }}
         env:
           REGISTRY_USER: ${{ secrets.REGISTRY_USER }}
           REGISTRY_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.REGISTRY_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           set -euo pipefail
-          VERSION="${{ steps.plan.outputs.version }}"
           TAG="${{ steps.plan.outputs.tag }}"
           # Secrets can arrive with a trailing newline (depending on how they were
           # pasted); a stray CR/LF corrupts the remote URL ("credential url cannot
-          # be parsed"). Strip line breaks before building the URL. Passing them via
-          # env (not inline ${{ }}) also keeps a newline from breaking this script.
+          # be parsed"). Strip line breaks before building the URL. They are passed
+          # via env rather than interpolated into this script, so a newline cannot
+          # break it — do NOT write a template token literally in a comment here,
+          # or the runner will skip this step without failing the job.
           CI_USER="$(printf '%s' "${REGISTRY_USER}" | tr -d '\r\n')"
           CI_TOKEN="$(printf '%s' "${REGISTRY_TOKEN}" | tr -d '\r\n')"
           git config user.name  "installer-ci"
           git config user.email "ci@whitlocktech.com"
           git remote set-url origin \
             "https://${CI_USER}:${CI_TOKEN}@${GITEA_HOST}/${REPO}.git"
-
-          git add Cargo.toml Cargo.lock
-          if ! git diff --cached --quiet; then
-            git commit -m "chore(release): bump version to ${TAG} [skip ci]"
-            git push origin "HEAD:main"
-          else
-            echo "Version unchanged (first release) — no bump commit needed."
-          fi
           # The tag may already exist when finishing a run that died after
           # tagging (see the plan step). `git tag` on an existing name fails
           # under `set -e`; pushing an identical existing tag is a harmless