nova-update

nova-update

What it is

nova-update: compare installed tools with their latest releases, and update one when asked

Why use it

Inspect versions and apply one chosen update.

Install

go install github.com/mas-bandwidth/nova-tools/cmd/nova-update@latest
nova-update version

First run

The transcript below is executed line for line by the docs tests; the full record is in docs/TESTS.md.

$ nova-update example --out versions.tsv
EXAMPLE OK wrote=versions.tsv entries=1 unchanged=false
EXAMPLE NOTE next: nova-update report --file versions.tsv
$ nova-update report --file versions.tsv
REPORT OK checked=1 known=1 unknown=0 changed=- sent=- took=23ms file=versions.tsv host=- as=- entries=1 kinds=tool at=2026-10-02T02:55:03Z timeout=5s budget=1m0s max=20 snapshot=-
REPORT TOOL name=go kind=tool version=1.27.1 raw=go\x20version\x20go1.27.1\x20darwin/arm64 path=/opt/homebrew/bin/go

Verbs

The nova-update section of the command reference documents every verb's flags, effect and exit codes.

• example
• check
• status
• apply
• report
• watch
• adoption
• release
• help
• version

Release cut

nova-update release cut reads every check run on the commit it is tagging and refuses the cut when any is not success, skipped or neutral. It sets aside a cancelled release.yml run of an older tag on the same commit (the publish recipe cancels that run when the cut publishes its own assets), so a second cut from the same commit is not blocked by a previous tag's cancelled run; the RELEASE CUT line names what was set aside as ci-set-aside=<run id>@<tag>,.... It also sets aside a whole cancelled suite when a later green suite of the same workflow path at the same commit covers the same job names: every run of the cancelled suite is completed and its workflow run concluded cancelled (an aggregate job such as certification-ok that failed only because its needs were cancelled is part of the cancelled suite), the green suite completed later with every run success, skipped or neutral, and it has a run for every job name the cancelled suite has, matrix legs included. Those runs are named ci-set-aside=<run id>:superseded-by=<run id>, and the set-aside is written into the tag annotation and the CHANGELOG section as CI set aside: .... A cancelled suite with no later green suite of its workflow, a later suite that is itself red, pending, or missing a job name, and a failed (not cancelled) suite all still refuse. A cancelled run whose head branch is the release branch or the version being cut is still a stop, and --waive-ci still refuses when every remaining check is green — including when the only non-green runs were the set-aside ones ("the previous tag's release run is set aside; no waiver is needed").

Spec

The contract is docs/SPEC-UPDATE.md.