workflow-dispatch-validation-routing

name	workflow-dispatch-validation-routing
description	Keep mixed validation/release GitHub workflow dispatch inputs from misrouting validation runs
domain	release-engineering
confidence	high
source	morpheus-earned

Workflow Dispatch Validation Routing

Pattern

In a GitHub Actions workflow that serves both validation-only packaging and upload-ready release packaging:

1. Route by the selected group first, not by whether the optional version field is non-empty.
2. Treat validation as a fixed CI-only path that always emits <release-version>-ci.<run-number> artifacts.
3. Normalize stale version input to empty for validation runs, then emit a notice instead of failing.
4. Let release groups (libraries, analyzers, cli) consume the explicit version override, or fall back to the canonical version source when blank.

When to use it

• One workflow handles both branch-style validation and manual release-artifact builds.
• GitHub’s dispatch form exposes optional inputs that operators may leave populated between runs.
• A repo has a single canonical release version but still needs CI-only package suffixes for validation.

Why it matters

GitHub Actions forms preserve prior input values, so gating first on “version provided” can accidentally turn validation into a release-mode failure. Group-first routing plus normalization protects zero-config validation, keeps release intent explicit, and removes a class of operator error without adding another workflow.