fix: publish keeps a closing trailer block of --message last, so git reads Co-Authored-By again (#149)

Files changed:
- CHANGES.md
- VERSION
- tools/CONTRACT.md
- tools/chemenu/commands/git_publish.py
- tools/chemenu/tests/test_git_publish.py

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01SnAJ7Z3CpVD3PRbN73QtU2

CHANGES.md

@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ concern - readable here, never shipped as something to parse.
 
 ---
 
-## 8.0.0-beta.22 - 2026-10-02 - tools/bugreport: Starter für den Bugreport-Sammler, überspringt die Store-Aliase (#166)
+## 8.0.0-beta.23 - 2026-10-02 - publish keeps a closing trailer block of --message last, so git reads Co-Authored-By again (#149)
 
 **Author:** Torben Nehmer
 
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ concern - readable here, never shipped as something to parse.
 - Windows-Portabilität: Pfadtrenner, Zeilenenden, Encoding und Locks
 - INSTALL.md an die Installationsinstruktionen gekoppelt: Voraussetzungen generiert, Setup-Fragen geprüft
 - tools/bugreport: Starter für den Bugreport-Sammler, überspringt die Store-Aliase (#166)
+- publish keeps a closing trailer block of --message last, so git reads Co-Authored-By again (#149)
 
 **Low impact**
 - version bump no longer points at version release in its output
@@ -134,6 +135,25 @@ concern - readable here, never shipped as something to parse.
 - preflight.ps1: the asset-mode error helper is Exit-Asset, so PSScriptAnalyzer passes
 <!-- /wikitool:bumps -->
 
+### `publish` keeps a closing trailer block of `--message` last (#149)
+
+`publish` appended its `Files changed:` list to the end of `--message`. git reads trailers only
+from a message's last paragraph, so a message ending in `Co-Authored-By:`/`Claude-Session:`
+lines ended up with the file list as its last paragraph, and `git log --format=%(trailers)`,
+`git interpret-trailers --parse` and the co-author display on Gitea and GitHub read nothing.
+That held for every attributed commit `publish` made.
+
+The list now goes in front of a closing trailer block. Whether `--message` ends in one is
+decided by `git interpret-trailers --parse --no-divider`, not by a pattern of our own, so
+continuation lines, `(cherry picked from ...)`, the title rule and the share of trailer lines a
+block needs are judged the way git judges them. `--no-divider` matches how `git log` reads a
+commit: past a `---` line. The list moves only when git reads exactly the same trailers from the
+result as from `--message`. A message without a trailer block is committed byte-identically to
+before. Neither gate token covers `--message`, so a `--confirm` or `--confirm-rebase` token
+clears exactly what it cleared before.
+
+Commits already on `main` keep their unreadable trailers: rewriting them would need a force-push.
+
 ### `tools/bugreport`: the collector finds its own Python (#166)
 
 The bug-report collector is the one part of the stack that has to run when nothing else does,

VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-8.0.0-beta.22
+8.0.0-beta.23

tools/CONTRACT.md

@@ -1746,6 +1746,7 @@ Reconcile with `<remote>/<branch>`, then stage all changes, commit, and push.
 - The `--confirm` token covers each counted path, the blob id of its contents and the publish target: a different file list or edited contents need a new clearance.
 - Publish-Remote Gate: when the checkout carries `.wikitool-remotes.json` and the push URL of `--remote` is not listed in it, exits 42 before the reconcile fetches anything. The URL is read with `git remote get-url --push`, so a repointed remote does not pass on its name. An absent file means unrestricted; a malformed one is an error, not permission.
 - `--path` (repeatable) scopes the whole operation - gate count, staging and commit - to that subtree.
+- Commit message: `--message`, then a `Files changed:` paragraph listing every committed path. When `--message` ends in a paragraph git reads as a trailer block (`Co-Authored-By:` and the like), that block stays the last paragraph and the list goes in front of it, since git reads trailers from the last paragraph only. `git interpret-trailers` decides whether there is such a block, and the list moves only when git reads the same trailers from the result; otherwise it is appended at the end. `--message` is not part of any gate token.
 - After a successful commit or push whose changed files include `tools/`, `types/`, `instructions/`, `AGENTS.md` or a path ending in `CONTRACT.md`, prints one reminder line: the phase past this point (an issue-body rewrite, `docs/` staleness, a changelog entry's accuracy) is not covered by `docs verify`, `instructions verify` or `pytest`. It is not a gate: no exit code change, nothing to clear, and silent for an ordinary content publish.
 
 **SEE ALSO**

tools/chemenu/commands/git_publish.py

@@ -80,11 +80,12 @@ DEFAULT_MASS_UPDATE_THRESHOLD = 10
 GATE_EXEMPT_PREFIXES = ("work/",)
 
 
-def _run(args: list[str]) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess:
+def _run(args: list[str], input: Optional[str] = None) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess:
     """Run a `git ...` argument list, starting git from its recorded path."""
     if args and args[0] == "git":
         args = [toolpaths.git(), *args[1:]]
-    return subprocess.run(args, cwd=config.ROOT, capture_output=True, text=True, encoding="utf-8")
+    return subprocess.run(args, cwd=config.ROOT, capture_output=True, text=True, encoding="utf-8",
+                          input=input)
 
 
 # --- Publish-Remote Gate -----------------------------------------------------
@@ -1077,6 +1078,43 @@ def sync_command(
     success(summary or f"Nothing to reconcile against {remote}/{branch}.")
 
 
+def _trailers(message: str) -> str:
+    """The trailers git reads from `message`, one normalized `Key: value` per line, or "".
+
+    `--no-divider` because that is how `git log --format=%(trailers)` reads a commit: a `---`
+    line in the body does not end the message there. Run in `config.ROOT`, so a `trailer.*`
+    setting of this checkout counts the same way it does for `git log`."""
+    result = _run(["git", "interpret-trailers", "--parse", "--no-divider"], input=message)
+    return result.stdout if result.returncode == 0 else ""
+
+
+def commit_message(message: str, changed_files: list[str]) -> str:
+    """`message` plus the "Files changed:" list - before a closing trailer block, not after it.
+
+    git reads trailers (`Co-Authored-By:` and the like) only from the last paragraph of a
+    message, so appending the list behind them would hide them from every tool that reads
+    them. Whether `message` ends in a trailer block is git's call, not a regex's: continuation
+    lines, `(cherry picked from ...)`, the title rule and the share of trailer lines a block
+    needs all decide it there. The list moves in front of the last paragraph only when git
+    reads exactly the same trailers from the result as from `message`; in every other case
+    the message is the plain append it always was."""
+    file_list = "\n".join(f"- {f}" for f in changed_files)
+    plain = f"{message}\n\nFiles changed:\n{file_list}"
+    trailers = _trailers(message)
+    if not trailers:
+        return plain
+    lines = message.rstrip().split("\n")
+    blank = [i for i, line in enumerate(lines) if not line.strip()]
+    if not blank:
+        return plain
+    head = "\n".join(lines[:blank[-1]]).rstrip()
+    tail = "\n".join(lines[blank[-1] + 1:])
+    if not head:
+        return plain
+    candidate = f"{head}\n\nFiles changed:\n{file_list}\n\n{tail}"
+    return candidate if _trailers(candidate) == trailers else plain
+
+
 @cli_contract.record(cli_contract.CommandRecord(
     path="publish",
     summary="Reconcile with `<remote>/<branch>`, then stage all changes, commit, and push.",
@@ -1143,6 +1181,13 @@ def sync_command(
         "permission.",
         "`--path` (repeatable) scopes the whole operation - gate count, staging and commit - "
         "to that subtree.",
+        "Commit message: `--message`, then a `Files changed:` paragraph listing every committed "
+        "path. When `--message` ends in a paragraph git reads as a trailer block "
+        "(`Co-Authored-By:` and the like), that block stays the last paragraph and the list "
+        "goes in front of it, since git reads trailers from the last paragraph only. "
+        "`git interpret-trailers` decides whether there is such a block, and the list moves "
+        "only when git reads the same trailers from the result; otherwise it is appended at "
+        "the end. `--message` is not part of any gate token.",
         "After a successful commit or push whose changed files include `tools/`, `types/`, "
         "`instructions/`, `AGENTS.md` or a path ending in `CONTRACT.md`, prints one reminder "
         "line: the phase past this point (an issue-body rewrite, `docs/` staleness, a "
@@ -1373,8 +1418,7 @@ def publish_command(
         if add_result.returncode != 0:
             fail(f"git add failed:\n{add_result.stderr}")
 
-        file_list = "\n".join(f"- {f}" for f in changed_files)
-        full_message = f"{message}\n\nFiles changed:\n{file_list}"
+        full_message = commit_message(message, changed_files)
 
         # With a pathspec, `git commit -- <paths>` commits exactly those paths and
         # ignores anything else that happens to be staged, so batches stay disjoint.

tools/chemenu/tests/test_git_publish.py

@@ -969,11 +969,11 @@ def test_publish_reactive_retry_survives_a_genuine_race(repo, monkeypatch):
     raced = {"done": False}
     real_run = git_publish._run
 
-    def racy_run(args):
+    def racy_run(args, **kwargs):
         if args[:2] == ["git", "push"] and not raced["done"]:
             raced["done"] = True
             _push_from_writer(writer, "mid-race.md", "landed during the push\n")
-        return real_run(args)
+        return real_run(args, **kwargs)
 
     monkeypatch.setattr(git_publish, "_run", racy_run)
 
@@ -1391,3 +1391,98 @@ def test_gate_has_no_flag_that_opens_it(repo):
 
     params = inspect.signature(publish_command).parameters
     assert not any("remote" in name and "confirm" in name for name in params)
+
+
+# --- The commit message: "Files changed:" stays in front of a closing trailer block ---
+
+ATTRIBUTION = "Co-Authored-By: A <a@x>\nClaude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_x"
+
+
+def _plain(message, files):
+    """The message `publish` has always written - the layout every message without a trailer
+    block must keep, byte for byte."""
+    return message + "\n\nFiles changed:\n" + "\n".join(f"- {f}" for f in files)
+
+
+def _git_trailers(root, message):
+    return subprocess.run(
+        ["git", "interpret-trailers", "--parse", "--no-divider"],
+        cwd=root, input=message, capture_output=True, text=True, check=True,
+    ).stdout
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("message", [
+    "fix: something",
+    "fix: something\n\nA body paragraph.",
+    # A colon in prose is not a trailer: git needs every line of the last paragraph to be one
+    # (or a quarter of them, alongside a git-generated one).
+    "fix: something\n\nSee: this free paragraph has a colon in it\nand carries on in prose.",
+    # The first paragraph is the title and is never a trailer block, whatever it looks like.
+    "Co-Authored-By: A <a@x>",
+    # Trailers that are not in the last paragraph are not trailers for git either.
+    "fix: something\n\n" + ATTRIBUTION + "\n\nA closing remark.",
+])
+def test_a_message_without_a_trailer_block_is_byte_identical_to_before(repo, message):
+    assert _git_trailers(repo, message) == ""
+    assert git_publish.commit_message(message, ["kb/a.md", "kb/b.md"]) == _plain(message, ["kb/a.md", "kb/b.md"])
+
+
+def test_the_file_list_goes_in_front_of_a_closing_trailer_block(repo):
+    message = "fix: something\n\nA body.\n\n" + ATTRIBUTION
+    assert git_publish.commit_message(message, ["kb/a.md", "kb/b.md"]) == (
+        "fix: something\n\nA body.\n\nFiles changed:\n- kb/a.md\n- kb/b.md\n\n" + ATTRIBUTION
+    )
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("message", [
+    "fix: something\n\n" + ATTRIBUTION,
+    # A continuation line belongs to the trailer above it.
+    "fix: something\n\nA body.\n\nCo-Authored-By: A\n  <a@x>\nClaude-Session: x",
+    # A git-generated trailer lets a block carry non-trailer lines (the 25% rule).
+    "fix: something\n\nA body.\n\nfree text\n(cherry picked from commit abc123)\nSigned-off-by: A <a@x>",
+    # `git log` reads past a `---` line, and so does the check.
+    "fix: something\n\nA body.\n---\nmore body\n\n" + ATTRIBUTION,
+    # Trailing whitespace after the block, which `git commit` strips anyway.
+    "fix: something\n\nA body.\n\n" + ATTRIBUTION + "\n\n  \n",
+])
+def test_git_reads_the_same_trailers_after_the_file_list_is_added(repo, message):
+    """Whatever git reads as the message's trailers, it still reads from the commit message -
+    and the file list is in there in full."""
+    expected = _git_trailers(repo, message)
+    assert expected
+    result = git_publish.commit_message(message, ["kb/a.md", "kb/b.md"])
+    assert _git_trailers(repo, result) == expected
+    assert "\n\nFiles changed:\n- kb/a.md\n- kb/b.md\n\n" in result
+
+
+def test_publish_commits_trailers_git_log_can_read(repo):
+    _write_files(repo, 3)
+    _publish(message="fix: something\n\nA body.\n\n" + ATTRIBUTION)
+    assert _git(
+        repo, "log", "-1", "--format=%(trailers:key=Co-Authored-By,valueonly)"
+    ).stdout.strip() == "A <a@x>"
+    body = _git(repo, "log", "-1", "--format=%B").stdout
+    assert "Files changed:\n- kb/page0.md\n- kb/page1.md\n- kb/page2.md\n" in body
+
+
+def test_publish_without_trailers_commits_the_same_message_as_before(repo):
+    _write_files(repo, 2)
+    _publish(message="fix: something\n\nA body.")
+    assert _git(repo, "log", "-1", "--format=%B").stdout.rstrip("\n") == _plain(
+        "fix: something\n\nA body.", ["kb/page0.md", "kb/page1.md"]
+    )
+
+
+def test_a_mass_update_token_does_not_depend_on_the_message(repo):
+    """The token binds the changeset, never `--message`: one issued while publishing a plain
+    message clears the same changeset carrying a trailer block, and the trailers survive."""
+    _write_files(repo, 10)
+    with pytest.raises(typer.Exit) as excinfo:
+        _publish(message="big change")
+    assert excinfo.value.exit_code == EXIT_NEEDS_CLEARANCE
+
+    _publish(message="big change\n\n" + ATTRIBUTION, confirm=_token_for(repo))
+    assert _git(repo, "status", "--porcelain", "-uall").stdout == ""
+    assert _git(
+        repo, "log", "-1", "--format=%(trailers:key=Co-Authored-By,valueonly)"
+    ).stdout.strip() == "A <a@x>"