Develop sync helper: protected fork develop must use PR/merge-queue sync instead of direct push

[svelderrainruiz]

Summary

priority:develop:sync cannot update protected fork develop branches once the fork enforces pull-request-only + merge-queue rules.

After upstream PR LabVIEW-Community-CI-CD#985 merged on March 10, 2026, the checked-in helper still tried to push directly:

git push origin develop

GitHub rejected that with GH013 on LabVIEW-Community-CI-CD/compare-vi-cli-action-fork:

Repository rule violations found for refs/heads/develop.
- 11 of 11 required status checks are expected.
- Changes must be made through the merge queue.
- Changes must be made through a pull request.

Why this matters

The dual-fork control plane requires fork develop to stay aligned with upstream/develop before future fork work can be resumed safely. Once fork develop is protected like upstream, a direct-push sync path is no longer valid.

Evidence

• Upstream merge that triggered the sync attempt: Update for standing priority #978 compare-vi-cli-action#985
• Failing helper: node tools/npm/run-script.mjs priority:develop:sync -- --fork-remote all
• Current failing path:
  • tools/priority/develop-sync.mjs
  • tools/priority/Sync-OriginUpstreamDevelop.ps1
• Observed failure time: 2026-03-10T02:29Z

Expected behavior

• priority:develop:sync detects when a target fork develop branch is PR-only / merge-queue-managed.
• The helper chooses a queue-safe sync path instead of direct git push <fork> develop.
• The helper emits deterministic parity/sync reports that distinguish direct-push sync from PR/queue sync.
• Future agents can keep fork develop aligned without ad hoc raw GitHub commands.

Acceptance

• Protected fork develop sync no longer fails with GH013 when PR-only/merge-queue rules are enabled.
• The helper can stage or open the required sync PR/queue path deterministically for origin, personal, or all.
• Coverage pins protected-fork behavior alongside the existing direct-push path.
• Reports explain which sync mode was used and why.

Related

• Epic: implement dual-fork merge-queue delivery for origin and personal fork planes compare-vi-cli-action#967 dual-fork control plane epic
• Merge sync helper: queue-enabled develop PRs must not pass --delete-branch and must report the correct reason compare-vi-cli-action#973 merge-sync helper queue-mode branch-deletion bug

[svelderrainruiz]

Taking this as the active fork standing lane. Current code already has protected-sync PR machinery, but priority:develop:sync still waits for a direct-push rejection before switching modes. The fix will move detection earlier so protected fork develop uses the PR / merge-queue path deterministically.

[svelderrainruiz]

Checkpoint:

• PR: #6 Detect protected fork develop sync before direct push #12
• branch: issue/origin-6-protected-develop-sync
• head: f05b3340

What landed:

• tools/priority/Sync-OriginUpstreamDevelop.ps1
• tools/priority/__tests__/develop-sync.test.mjs

Behavior now:

• active protected branch rules can preempt direct push and route fork develop sync through the protected PR helper
• actor-bypassable or inconclusive ruleset probes stay on deterministic direct-push detection
• sync reports now distinguish direct-push from protected PR staging metadata

Validation:

• node --test tools/priority/__tests__/develop-sync.test.mjs tools/priority/__tests__/protected-develop-sync-pr.test.mjs
• git diff --check
• node tools/npm/run-script.mjs priority:develop:sync -- --fork-remote origin
• live report: tests/results/_agent/issue/develop-sync-report.json

Copilot CLI:

• attempted on the final staged diff
• current receipt is an auth/environment failure because this shell only exposes classic PAT credentials, which Copilot rejects:
  tests/results/_agent/reviews/protected-develop-sync-6-bounded-receipt.json

Tracking:

• added issue #6 and PR #12 to LabVIEW-Community-CI-CD/projects/2
• stale PR #9 is closed and retired

Next move:

• watch #12
• fix only a fresh current-head failure if one appears
• otherwise let merge/approval flow land it and then rotate to #10

[svelderrainruiz]

Correction to the prior checkpoint:

• the long-running staged Copilot CLI pass eventually completed cleanly
• final receipt status: passed
• receipt: tests/results/_agent/reviews/protected-develop-sync-6-bounded-receipt.json

I have updated PR #12 metadata to reflect the final Copilot result.