[ci] Add update-release-info command suggestion when version check fails

[jmagman]

When the version and CHANGELOG updates are missing, suggest the helpful update-release-info command.

Log showing this in action:
https://logs.chromium.org/logs/flutter/buildbucket/cr-buildbucket/8706431147753704257/+/u/Run_package_tests/CHANGELOG_and_version_validation/stdout

No version change found, but the change to this package could not be verified to be exempt
from version changes according to repository policy.
If this is a false positive, please comment in the PR to explain why the PR
is exempt, and add (or ask your reviewer to add) the "override: no versioning needed" label.

No CHANGELOG change found.
If this PR needs an exemption from the standard policy of listing all changes in the CHANGELOG,
comment in the PR to explain why the PR is exempt, and add (or ask your reviewer to add) the
"override: no changelog needed" label.
Otherwise, please add a NEXT entry in the CHANGELOG as described in the contributing guide.

If this PR is not exempt, you may update the version and CHANGELOG with the "update-release-info" command. Example:
$ dart run script/tool/bin/flutter_plugin_tools.dart update-release-info \
	--version=minimal \
	--base-branch=upstream/main \
	--changelog="Description of the change."

Pre-Review Checklist

• I read the Contributor Guide and followed the process outlined there for submitting PRs.
• I read the Tree Hygiene page, which explains my responsibilities.
• I read and followed the relevant style guides and ran the auto-formatter.
• I signed the CLA.
• The title of the PR starts with the name of the package surrounded by square brackets, e.g. [shared_preferences]
• I linked to at least one issue that this PR fixes in the description above.
• I updated pubspec.yaml with an appropriate new version according to the pub versioning philosophy, or I have commented below to indicate which version change exemption this PR falls under¹.
• I updated CHANGELOG.md to add a description of the change, following repository CHANGELOG style, or I have commented below to indicate which CHANGELOG exemption this PR falls under¹.
• I updated/added any relevant documentation (doc comments with ///).
• I added new tests to check the change I am making, or I have commented below to indicate which test exemption this PR falls under¹.
• All existing and new tests are passing.

If you need help, consider asking for advice on the #hackers-new channel on Discord.

Note: The Flutter team is currently trialing the use of Gemini Code Assist for GitHub. Comments from the gemini-code-assist bot should not be taken as authoritative feedback from the Flutter team. If you find its comments useful you can update your code accordingly, but if you are unsure or disagree with the feedback, please feel free to wait for a Flutter team member's review for guidance on which automated comments should be addressed.

Footnotes

1. Regular contributors who have demonstrated familiarity with the repository guidelines only need to comment if the PR is not auto-exempted by repo tooling. ↩ ↩² ↩³

[gemini-code-assist]

Code Review

This pull request enhances the version check CI by suggesting the update-release-info command when both version and CHANGELOG updates are missing. The logic in version_check_command.dart is correctly modified to check for both missing items before exiting, and a corresponding test is updated to validate this new, more helpful error reporting. I have one suggestion to slightly refactor the new logic for better clarity and to avoid a redundant check.

[gemini-code-assist]

This logic for printing the suggestion and returning the error string can be slightly simplified to improve clarity and avoid a redundant check. By nesting the check for the combined error message, you can make the control flow more direct.

    if (missingVersionChange) {
      if (missingChangelogChange) {
        printError('If this PR is not exempt, you may update the version and '
            'CHANGELOG with the "update-release-info" command. Example:\n'
            '\t\$ dart run script/tool/bin/flutter_plugin_tools.dart update-release-info \\\
'
            '\t--version=minimal \\\
'
            '\t--base-branch=upstream/main \\\
'
            '\t--changelog="Description of the change."');
      }
      return 'Missing version change';
    }
    if (missingChangelogChange) {
      return 'Missing CHANGELOG change';
    }

[jmagman]

My setup is for my fork to be origin and flutter org repo to be upstream, but maybe this is a niche setup, I could make it --base-branch=origin/main open to suggestions.

[stuartmorgan-g]

It shouldn't be niche; it's what we tell people to do for both flutter/packages and flutter/flutter.

[jmagman]

I really wanted to add this to the top of dependabot PR descriptions (ex #9622), but that's not configurable:

CHANGELOG and version update instructions

If repo_checks "CHANGELOG and version validation" check fails, the following steps will update the relevant version and CHANGELOG files:

1. Copy the name of the dependabot branch by clicking the ⧉ button next to the blue branch name above.

2. From the packages repository root directory, run:

$ git fetch --all
$ git checkout <copied branch name>
$ git rebase main
$ dart run script/tool/bin/flutter_plugin_tools.dart update-release-info \
  --version=minimal \
  --base-branch=upstream/main \
  --changelog="Bumps <dependency> from <old version> to <new version>"
$ git add .
$ git commit -m "CHANGELOG"
$ git push -f

Suggested --changelog value is the following line:

[stuartmorgan-g]

My one hesitation here is that minimal isn't magic (no matter what Gemini insists on believing); it's very common that external contributors are adding a feature, where minor is the right value.

What about linking to https://github.com/flutter/flutter/blob/master/docs/ecosystem/contributing/README.md#version-and-changelog-updates instead of showing this? That tells people they should probably use the tool, and links to the tool docs. It's more steps, but it already has context on things like what you should pass to --version.

[jmagman]

I can link to it. I could update the Flutter docs to include this example command, and swap minimal to minor? I think an example would be helpful.

[stuartmorgan-g]

There's an example in the full tool README, which that section of the contributing docs link to.

I've generally tried to put full details and examples in the README, which is in-repo, and have other things link to it, so we aren't maintaining multiple copies of examples, which could get out of sync with each other (especially the out-of-repo ones). Is the concern that people won't click through to the example?