ci(nightly): move the tag and edit the release in place, instead of delete+recreate

[soloturn]

Summary

Retargeting the nightly tag (via the Git Data API - no checkout needed in this job) is what actually moves the release, since a release points at whatever commit its tag currently resolves to, not a fixed SHA recorded on the release object. Editing the release in place then just refreshes title/notes; assets are swapped explicitly (delete what's there, upload this run's builds) since edit doesn't touch assets, and filenames embed the commit hash so old ones are never overwritten by new uploads.

Besides being simpler than delete+recreate, this means no new "release published" notification goes out on every push to master: a bare tag move isn't a notified event, and editing an already-published release doesn't re-fire its original publish notification. (The prior delete+recreate approach relied on --prerelease being excluded from most watchers' default notification preferences instead - this drops that reliance.)

Also drops the full commit SHA from the release title - a short hash (7 chars) is enough there; the full SHA stays in the notes and in every asset's own filename.

Test plan

• YAML validated with yq; both run: blocks syntax-checked with bash -n.
• Verified gh release edit actually supports a bare --prerelease flag (via gh release edit --help), rather than assuming.
• Not yet exercised in Actions - needs a push to master or a manual workflow_dispatch to confirm the full move-tag -> edit-release -> swap-assets chain end-to-end (including the very-first-run fallback path, though that's already covered since the nightly release/tag already exist from prior runs).

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Organization UI

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Pro Plus

Run ID: 12c3de1d-5742-4676-a74d-9cb35a26b8b1

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between e5c73fc and 75dfc77.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• .github/workflows/nightly.yml

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📝 Walkthrough

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Bug Fixes
  • Improved nightly release updates to preserve the existing release instead of deleting and recreating it.
  • Nightly releases now reliably update their tag, metadata, and assets.
  • Added support for creating the nightly release automatically on its first run.

Walkthrough

The nightly workflow now moves or creates the nightly tag through the GitHub API. It updates an existing release and replaces its assets, or creates the release when it does not exist.

Changes

Nightly release publication

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Retarget tag and publish release .github/workflows/nightly.yml	The publish job retargets or creates the nightly tag, computes release metadata, and updates or creates the nightly release with current artifacts.

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant NightlyPublishJob
  participant GitHubAPI
  participant NightlyArtifacts
  NightlyPublishJob->>GitHubAPI: Create or force-update nightly tag
  NightlyPublishJob->>GitHubAPI: Update or create nightly release
  GitHubAPI->>NightlyArtifacts: Delete old release assets
  NightlyPublishJob->>GitHubAPI: Upload current artifacts

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Possibly related PRs

• MovingBlocks/TerasologyLauncher#724: Both changes modify nightly release publication in .github/workflows/nightly.yml.

Poem

A rabbit saw the nightly tag hop,
It moved to the newest commit on top.
Old assets left, new ones flew,
The release was refreshed anew.
“Create it once, then update with care!”
Said the rabbit, twitching its ear.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description check	✅ Passed	The description clearly explains the workflow changes, implementation details, notification behavior, and testing status.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly summarizes the main workflow change: moving the tag and editing the release instead of recreating it.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch ci/nightly-edit-not-recreate

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