fix: improve beta release cicd (#202)

* improve beta release ci

* fix beta versioning to find latest stable release and wait for code checks

* lint

* fix git ref

* do not commit package.json beta version

* remove the changelog logic

* skip code checks when no beta tag

* refactor

* clean up

* try the pkg.pr.new

* ci: clean upp add ci skip condition

* ci: skip ci test commit

* revert ci condition, simplify workflow

* document canary releases

Author: MQ37

.github/scripts/before-beta-release.cjs

@@ -1,108 +1,55 @@
 name: Create a pre-release
 
 on:
-    workflow_dispatch:
-    # Push to master will deploy a beta version
-    push:
-        branches:
-            - master
-        tags-ignore:
-            - "**" # Ignore all tags to prevent duplicate builds when tags are pushed.
+    # Only trigger on PRs with "beta" label
+    pull_request:
+        types: [labeled, synchronize, reopened]
 
 concurrency:
     group: release
     cancel-in-progress: false
 
 jobs:
-    release_metadata:
-        if: "!startsWith(github.event.head_commit.message, 'docs') && !startsWith(github.event.head_commit.message, 'ci') && startsWith(github.repository, 'apify/')"
-        name: Prepare release metadata
-        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-        outputs:
-            version_number: ${{ steps.release_metadata.outputs.version_number }}
-            changelog: ${{ steps.release_metadata.outputs.changelog }}
-        steps:
-            -   uses: apify/workflows/git-cliff-release@main
-                name: Prepare release metadata
-                id: release_metadata
-                with:
-                    release_type: prerelease
-                    existing_changelog_path: CHANGELOG.md
-
     wait_for_checks:
+        # Run ONLY when PR has the "beta" label
+        if: contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'beta')
         name: Wait for code checks to pass
         runs-on: ubuntu-latest
         steps:
-            -   uses: lewagon/[email protected]
+            -   name: Wait for existing checks or skip if none
+                uses: lewagon/[email protected]
                 with:
-                    ref: ${{ github.ref }}
+                    ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.sha }}
                     repo-token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
                     check-regexp: (Code checks)
-                    wait-interval: 5
-
-    update_changelog:
-        needs: [ release_metadata, wait_for_checks ]
-        name: Update changelog
+                    wait-interval: 10
+                    running-workflow-name: 'Wait for code checks to pass'
+                    allowed-conclusions: success,neutral,skipped
+                continue-on-error: false
+                
+    push_pkg_pr_new:
+        needs: [ wait_for_checks ]
+        name: Push to pkg.pr.new
         runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-        outputs:
-            changelog_commitish: ${{ steps.commit.outputs.commit_long_sha || github.sha }}
 
         steps:
             -   name: Checkout repository
                 uses: actions/checkout@v4
                 with:
-                    token: ${{ secrets.APIFY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+                    ref: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.ref }}
+                    repository: ${{ github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name }}
 
-            -   name: Use Node.js 22
-                uses: actions/setup-node@v4
-                with:
-                    node-version: 22
-
-            -   name: Update package version in package.json
-                run: npm version --no-git-tag-version --allow-same-version ${{ needs.release_metadata.outputs.version_number }}
-
-            -   name: Update CHANGELOG.md
-                uses: DamianReeves/write-file-action@master
-                with:
-                    path: CHANGELOG.md
-                    write-mode: overwrite
-                    contents: ${{ needs.release_metadata.outputs.changelog }}
-
-            -   name: Commit changes
-                id: commit
-                uses: EndBug/add-and-commit@v9
-                with:
-                    author_name: Apify Release Bot
-                    author_email: [email protected]
-                    message: "chore(release): Update changelog and package version [skip ci]"
-
-    publish_to_npm:
-        name: Publish to NPM
-        needs: [ release_metadata, wait_for_checks ]
-        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-        steps:
-            -   uses: actions/checkout@v4
-                with:
-                    ref: ${{ needs.update_changelog.changelog_commitish }}
             -   name: Use Node.js 22
                 uses: actions/setup-node@v4
                 with:
                     node-version: 22
                     cache: 'npm'
                     cache-dependency-path: 'package-lock.json'
+
             -   name: Install dependencies
-                run: |
-                    echo "access=public" >> .npmrc
-                    echo "//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${NPM_TOKEN}" >> .npmrc
-                    npm ci
-            - # Check version consistency and increment pre-release version number for beta only.
-                name: Bump pre-release version
-                run: node ./.github/scripts/before-beta-release.cjs
-            -   name: Build module
+                run: npm ci
+                
+            -   name: Build
                 run: npm run build
-            -   name: Publish to NPM
-                run: npm publish --tag beta
 
-env:
-    NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.APIFY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NPM_TOKEN }}
-    NPM_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.APIFY_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NPM_TOKEN }}
+            -   run: npx -y pkg-pr-new publish

.github/workflows/pre_release.yaml

@@ -235,6 +235,12 @@ npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node ./dist/stdio.js
 
 Upon launching, the Inspector will display a URL that you can open in your browser to begin debugging.
 
+## 🐦 Canary PR releases
+
+Due to the current architecture where Apify MCP is split across two repositories, this one containing the core MCP logic and the private [apify-mcp-server](https://github.com/apify/apify-mcp-server) repository that handles the actual server implementation for [mcp.apify.com](https://mcp.apify.com), development can be challenging as changes need to be synchronized between both repositories.
+
+You can create a canary release from your PR branch by adding the `beta` tag. This will test the code and publish the package to [pkg.pr.new](https://pkg.pr.new/) which you can then use, for example, in a staging environment to test before actually merging the changes. This way we do not need to create new NPM releases and keep the NPM versions cleaner. The workflow runs whenever you commit to a PR branch that has the `beta` tag or when you add the `beta` tag to an already existing PR. For more details check out [the workflow file](.github/workflows/pre_release.yaml).
+
 # 🐛 Troubleshooting (local MCP server)
 
 - Make sure you have `node` installed by running `node -v`.