fix(release): let the Electron workflow start again — grant actions:read to the npm leg (#11973)

v3.8.50 shipped with zero desktop assets. The tag push did trigger electron-release.yml
(run 33005490476) but GitHub refused the run at startup:

  Error calling workflow 'npm-publish.yml@5458026'. The nested job 'publish' is
  requesting 'actions: read', but is only allowed 'actions: none'.

npm-publish.yml's `publish` job gained `actions: read` (it downloads the next-build
artefact) and the caller job here never widened its grant — a reusable workflow may not
request more than its caller allows, and the refusal is a startup failure of the WHOLE
run, so the `release` job that attaches the installers, the source archives and the
SBOM never ran either. Nothing about it is visible through the API (no jobs, no
check-runs); only the run page shows the annotation.

- publish-npm: `actions: read` added, with the rule written down (keep the block a
  superset of every job in npm-publish.yml).
- workflow_dispatch: new boolean input `publish_npm` (default true) and the npm leg
  is gated on it, so re-attaching assets to a release whose package already shipped
  does not try to publish the same version twice.
- web-build / build / release checkouts pin `ref: needs.validate.outputs.version`:
  a dispatch builds the tag it names, not the dispatching branch (a tag push resolves
  to the same commit, so nothing changes on the normal path).

actionlint clean; electron-release-desktop-channel-8949, electron-release-efficiency,
build-next-isolated-windows-home-2402, electron-release-latest-yml.repro and
check-workflows suites pass. Next step: dispatch on main with version=v3.8.50 and
publish_npm=false to attach the missing assets.

.github/workflows/electron-release.yml

@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ on:
         description: "Release version (e.g., v1.6.8)"
         required: true
         type: string
+      publish_npm:
+        description: "Also run the npm publish leg (turn off when re-attaching desktop assets to a release whose npm package already shipped)"
+        required: false
+        default: true
+        type: boolean
 
 # Least-privilege default: read-only at the top level; each job grants the writes it
 # needs (build/release upload assets, publish-npm forwards npm provenance / packages
@@ -76,6 +81,9 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
+          # workflow_dispatch: build the tag being (re)built, not the dispatching branch. On a
+          # tag push this resolves to the same commit.
+          ref: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.version }}
       - name: Setup Node
         uses: actions/setup-node@v7
         with:
@@ -161,6 +169,9 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v7
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
+          # workflow_dispatch: build the tag being (re)built, not the dispatching branch. On a
+          # tag push this resolves to the same commit.
+          ref: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.version }}
       - name: Setup Node
         uses: actions/setup-node@v7
         with:
@@ -347,6 +358,8 @@ jobs:
         with:
           persist-credentials: false
           fetch-depth: 0
+          # Source archives + SBOM come from the tag being released, not the dispatching branch.
+          ref: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.version }}
 
       # `merge-multiple` is deliberately OFF. It resolves same-name collisions by ARRIVAL
       # ORDER, and the two macOS jobs each emit their own `latest-mac.yml` listing only their
@@ -462,11 +475,20 @@ jobs:
   publish-npm:
     name: Publish to npm
     needs: [validate, release]
+    # A re-dispatch that only re-attaches desktop assets must not publish the npm package again.
+    if: ${{ github.event_name != 'workflow_dispatch' || inputs.publish_npm }}
     permissions:
       # Must be `write`, not `read`: this job calls the reusable npm-publish.yml whose
       # `publish` job needs `contents: write` (gh release upload — attach the SBOM, #3874).
       # A reusable workflow's job cannot request more permission than the caller grants,
       # so a `read` here makes GitHub reject the run at startup (startup_failure).
+      #
+      # `actions: read` for the same reason: the called `publish` job downloads the next-build
+      # artefact and requests it. v3.8.50 (run 33005490476) died at startup with "The nested
+      # job 'publish' is requesting 'actions: read', but is only allowed 'actions: none'" — and
+      # because `release` lives in this same workflow, the tag shipped with ZERO assets. Keep
+      # this block a superset of every job's permissions in npm-publish.yml.
+      actions: read
       contents: write
       id-token: write # npm provenance (forwarded to the reusable workflow)
       packages: write # publish to npm.pkg.github.com

changelog.d/fixes/v3850-electron-release-assets.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- Electron release workflow: the `publish-npm` job now grants `actions: read` to the reusable `npm-publish.yml` it calls (its `publish` job requests it), which is what made GitHub refuse the whole v3.8.50 run at startup and ship the release with zero desktop assets; a `workflow_dispatch` now builds the requested tag instead of the dispatching branch and can skip the npm leg (`publish_npm=false`) when only re-attaching assets