feat(release-please): require initial-version on every package - #14

PR Summary

Low Risk
Adds an opt-out preflight on release config only; default-on validation could fail existing consumers with incomplete config, but it does not change tagging or release-please behavior when validation passes.

Overview
Adds a pre-release guard on the composite release-please action so workflows fail early when release-please config would let a package ship without an explicit first version.

A new require-initial-version input defaults to true. When enabled, a Validate configuration step runs Node on the runner (via lib/main.mjs) before googleapis/release-please-action, reads .github/release-please-config.json from the checkout, and requires each entry in packages to have a non-empty initial-version (per-package or top-level default). Missing packages are listed in the error; successful runs log each package’s starting version. Set require-initial-version: false to skip the check (e.g. if the repo is not checked out).

Implementation adds a small core.mjs shim for GitHub Actions-style inputs/logging without depending on @actions/core, plus index.mjs validation helpers and Node tests for boolean input parsing and config edge cases. README documents the requirement and the new input.

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Walkthrough

The Release Please action adds a configurable check for package initial-version values. Before release, it reads and validates the checkout configuration, reports validation errors, and logs the selected version for each package.

Changes

Initial-version validation

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~20 minutes

Change: Feature

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant Action as Composite action
  participant Main as lib/main.mjs
  participant Validator as lib/index.mjs
  participant Config as Checkout config
  participant Release as Release Please
  Action->>Main: Run validation step
  Main->>Validator: Call main
  Validator->>Config: Read and validate JSON
  Config-->>Validator: Return configuration
  Validator-->>Action: Log selected versions or report failure
  Action->>Release: Run release step after validation

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_{A rabbit checks each package’s start,
And reads the config, part by part.
If versions shine, the checks are through,
The release step can then pursue.
I nibble greens and hop away,
With tidy versions saved today.}

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