feat(ci): add manual version suffix and package exclusion to dev publish

- Support custom version suffixes for manual workflow triggers
- Exclude 'pre' and 'test-utils' from dev publishing
- Simplify auto-publish versions to use only git hash
- Restrict auto-trigger to epic-v*.*.x branches and comment the logic for now

Author: Muhammad-Altabba

.github/workflows/publish-dev.yml

@@ -1,11 +1,17 @@
 name: Publish Dev Packages
 
 on:
-  push:
-    branches:
-      - 'epic-**'
+  #push:
+  #  branches:
+  #    - 'epic-v[0-9]+.[0-9]+.x'
   workflow_dispatch:
     inputs:
+      version_suffix:
+        description:
+          'Version and tag suffix (used in tag: dev-{suffix} and version:
+          x.y.z-dev.{suffix}.commit)'
+        required: true
+        type: string
       reason:
         description: 'Reason for manual publish'
         required: false
@@ -46,6 +52,7 @@ jobs:
         id: publish
         env:
           NODE_AUTH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.NPM_TOKEN }}
+          VERSION_SUFFIX: ${{ github.event.inputs.version_suffix }}
         run: pnpm run publish:dev
 
       - name: Create release summary
@@ -57,6 +64,7 @@ jobs:
           echo "**Build:** \`${GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER}\`" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
           if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "workflow_dispatch" ]; then
             echo "**Trigger:** Manual (by ${{ github.actor }})" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+            echo "**Version Suffix:** ${{ github.event.inputs.version_suffix }}" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
             echo "**Reason:** ${{ github.event.inputs.reason }}" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
           fi
           echo "" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
@@ -77,7 +85,14 @@ jobs:
           echo "### Installation" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
           echo "" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
           echo '```bash' >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
-          echo 'pnpm add @nucypher/shared@dev' >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
-          echo 'pnpm add @nucypher/taco@dev' >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
-          echo 'pnpm add @nucypher/taco-auth@dev' >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+          if [ -n "${{ github.event.inputs.version_suffix }}" ]; then
+            TAG="dev-${{ github.event.inputs.version_suffix }}"
+            echo "pnpm add @nucypher/shared@${TAG}" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+            echo "pnpm add @nucypher/taco@${TAG}" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+            echo "pnpm add @nucypher/taco-auth@${TAG}" >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+          else
+            echo 'pnpm add @nucypher/shared@dev' >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+            echo 'pnpm add @nucypher/taco@dev' >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+            echo 'pnpm add @nucypher/taco-auth@dev' >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY
+          fi
           echo '```' >> $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY

README.md

@@ -18,33 +18,44 @@ pnpm add @nucypher/taco
 
 ### Development Versions
 
-For testing features from `epic-**` branches before they're officially released, you can install development versions published with the `dev` tag:
+Development versions are available for testing features before official releases. They can be installed using npm tags:
 
 ```bash
+# Latest auto-published dev version
 pnpm add @nucypher/taco@dev
 pnpm add @nucypher/taco-auth@dev
 pnpm add @nucypher/shared@dev
+
+# Specific manually-published version with custom tag
+pnpm add @nucypher/taco@dev-access-client
+pnpm add @nucypher/taco-auth@dev-access-client
+pnpm add @nucypher/shared@dev-access-client
 ```
 
-**Development version format:**
+**Development version formats:**
+
+*Auto-published (from epic versions branches):*
 ```
-{next-version}-dev.{branch-name}.{date}.{commit-hash}.{build-number}
+{version}-dev.{commit-hash}
+Example: 0.5.1-dev.a1b2c3d4
 ```
 
-**Example:**
+*Manually published (custom suffix):*
 ```
-1.2.4-dev.epic-new-feature.20250120.aeed464a.17
+{version}-dev.{suffix}.{commit-hash}
+Example: 0.5.1-dev.access-client.a1b2c3d4
 ```
 
 **When to use dev versions:**
-- ✅ Testing new features from epic branches which contains pre-release functionality
+- ✅ Testing new features
 - ✅ Providing feedback on unreleased features
+- ✅ Testing specific feature branches via custom tags (e.g., `@dev-access-client`)
 
 **When NOT to use dev versions:**
 - ❌ Production environments
 - ❌ Stable development work
 
-**Note:** Dev versions are automatically published when code is merged to `epic-**` branches and sometimes manually published. These versions are unstable and may contain breaking changes or even sometimes broken code.
+**Note:** Dev versions are automatically published when code is merged to `epic-v*.*.x` branches and can be manually published with custom tags. These versions are unstable and may contain breaking changes or even sometimes broken code..
 
 ## Tutorial
 

scripts/publish-dev.sh

@@ -11,29 +11,22 @@ NC='\033[0m' # No Color
 
 echo -e "${BLUE}📦 Publishing development packages...${NC}"
 
-# Extract branch name
-if [ -n "$GITHUB_REF" ]; then
-  BRANCH_NAME="${GITHUB_REF#refs/heads/}"
+SHORT_HASH=$(git rev-parse --short=8 HEAD)
+
+# Check if VERSION_SUFFIX is provided (manual workflow)
+if [ -n "$VERSION_SUFFIX" ]; then
+  echo -e "${BLUE}Using manual version suffix:${NC} $VERSION_SUFFIX"
+  DEV_TAG="dev-${VERSION_SUFFIX}"
+  # Append 8-character hash from git commit
+  VERSION_ID="${VERSION_SUFFIX}.${SHORT_HASH}"
 else
-  BRANCH_NAME=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
+  # Auto mode: use only short hash
+  DEV_TAG="dev"
+  VERSION_ID="${SHORT_HASH}"
 fi
 
-# Sanitize branch name for npm version (replace / with -)
-SAFE_BRANCH_NAME=$(echo "$BRANCH_NAME" | sed 's/\//-/g')
-
-# Get timestamp
-TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d)
-
-# Build number from GitHub or git commit
-if [ -n "$GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER" ]; then
-  BUILD_NUMBER="$(git rev-parse --short HEAD).$GITHUB_RUN_NUMBER"
-else
-  BUILD_NUMBER=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)
-fi
-
-echo -e "${BLUE}Branch:${NC} $SAFE_BRANCH_NAME"
-echo -e "${BLUE}Timestamp:${NC} $TIMESTAMP"
-echo -e "${BLUE}Build:${NC} $BUILD_NUMBER"
+echo -e "${BLUE}Tag:${NC} $DEV_TAG"
+echo -e "${BLUE}Version ID:${NC} $VERSION_ID"
 echo ""
 
 # Array to track published packages
@@ -51,22 +44,22 @@ update_package_version() {
 
     # Check if this is the first dev publish (version doesn't have -dev suffix)
     if [[ ! "$CURRENT_VERSION" =~ -dev\. ]]; then
-      # First dev publish: bump minor version
+      # Dev publish: bump patch version
       BASE_VERSION=$(node -p "
         const ver = '${CURRENT_VERSION}'.split('.');
         const major = ver[0];
         const minor = ver[1];
         const patch = ver[2];
-        const newPatch = parseInt('${CURRENT_VERSION}'.split('-')[0]) + 1;
+        const newPatch = parseInt(patch.split('-')[0]) + 1;
         \`\${major}.\${minor}.\${newPatch}\`;
       ")
-      echo -e "${BLUE}First dev publish - bumping minor version${NC}"
+      echo -e "${BLUE}dev publish - bumping patch version${NC}"
     else
       # Subsequent dev publish: strip existing -dev.* suffix to prevent duplication
       BASE_VERSION="${CURRENT_VERSION%%-dev.*}"
     fi
 
-    DEV_VERSION="${BASE_VERSION}-dev.${SAFE_BRANCH_NAME}.${TIMESTAMP}.${BUILD_NUMBER}"
+    DEV_VERSION="${BASE_VERSION}-dev.${VERSION_ID}"
 
     echo -e "${GREEN}Updating ${PACKAGE_NAME}:${NC} ${CURRENT_VERSION} → ${DEV_VERSION}"
 
@@ -80,17 +73,42 @@ update_package_version() {
   fi
 }
 
+# Packages to exclude from publishing
+EXCLUDED_PACKAGES=("pre" "test-utils")
+
+# Function to check if package should be excluded
+is_excluded() {
+  local package_name="$1"
+  for excluded in "${EXCLUDED_PACKAGES[@]}"; do
+    if [ "$package_name" = "$excluded" ]; then
+      return 0  # true, is excluded
+    fi
+  done
+  return 1  # false, not excluded
+}
+
 # Update all publishable packages
 echo -e "${BLUE}Updating package versions...${NC}"
 for package_dir in packages/*/; do
+  package_name=$(basename "$package_dir")
+  if is_excluded "$package_name"; then
+    echo -e "${BLUE}Skipping excluded package:${NC} $package_name"
+    continue
+  fi
   update_package_version "$package_dir"
 done
 
 echo ""
-echo -e "${BLUE}Publishing packages with 'dev' tag...${NC}"
+echo -e "${BLUE}Publishing packages with '${DEV_TAG}' tag...${NC}"
+
+# Build filter to exclude specific packages
+FILTER_ARGS=""
+for excluded in "${EXCLUDED_PACKAGES[@]}"; do
+  FILTER_ARGS="$FILTER_ARGS --filter '!@nucypher/${excluded}'"
+done
 
-# Publish all packages with dev tag
-pnpm -r --filter './packages/**' publish --tag dev --access public --no-git-checks
+# Publish all packages except excluded ones with the appropriate dev tag
+eval "pnpm -r --filter './packages/**' $FILTER_ARGS publish --tag ${DEV_TAG} --access public --no-git-checks"
 
 echo ""
 echo -e "${BLUE}Restoring original package.json versions...${NC}"