fix(ci): add error handling for GitHub API in upgrade-test.yml.

[Priyanshu-u07]

Description of your changes:

The "Get last release tag" step in [upgrade-test.yml] calls the GitHub API with no error handling. If the API fails (rate limiting, timeout, or outage), lastRelease becomes empty or "null", causing the deploy step to fail with a confusing Kubernetes error.

This PR adds:

• Retry logic (3 attempts with 5s delay)
• Validation for empty and "null" responses
• Clear ::error:: annotation and exit 1 on failure

Fixes #12875
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[google-oss-prow]

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[google-oss-prow]

Hi @Priyanshu-u07. Thanks for your PR.

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[Copilot]

Pull request overview

Adds explicit failure handling to the “Get last release tag” step in the upgrade test GitHub Actions workflow so the pipeline fails early with a clear error when the GitHub Releases API cannot provide a valid tag.

Changes:

• Wrap GitHub Releases API fetch in a 3-attempt retry loop with delay.
• Validate tag_name is non-empty and not "null", otherwise emit ::error:: and exit non-zero.

[jeffspahr]

Code Review: Error handling for GitHub API in upgrade-test.yml

Overview

Adds retry logic (3 attempts, 5s delay), response validation, and auth to the "Get last release tag" step in the upgrade test workflow. Previously, a failed API call would silently produce an empty/null tag, causing a confusing downstream kubectl failure.

Assessment: Looks good overall

This is a sensible, low-risk improvement. A few minor notes:

Minor Issues

1. -L (follow redirects) was dropped. The original curl flags were -sSL; the new version uses -sS. While the GitHub releases API endpoint is unlikely to redirect, the -L flag was there for a reason and removing it is an unnecessary behavioral change. Add it back:

   curl -sSL --fail-with-body --connect-timeout 10 --max-time 60 \
   

2. Pipeline exit code masking. The construct:

   lastRelease=$(curl ... | jq -r .tag_name 2>/dev/null || echo "")

   If curl succeeds but returns an error JSON body (e.g. rate limit response {"message":"API rate limit exceeded"...}), jq -r .tag_name will output null (since there's no tag_name field), which is caught by the validation. So this works correctly — just noting it's not immediately obvious.

3. Auth token is a good addition. Using ${{ github.token }} raises the rate limit from 60/hr (unauthenticated) to 1,000/hr, which addresses the most likely failure mode. This is the most impactful part of the PR.

Nits

• The PR title says test: but the conventional commit format in this repo typically uses chore: or fix(ci): for workflow changes. Looking at the repo's commit history, fix or chore would be more consistent for CI fixes.

Verdict

Clean, focused improvement. Add back the -L flag and this is good to go.

[google-oss-prow]

New changes are detected. LGTM label has been removed.

[Priyanshu-u07]

@jeffspahr I have addressed the feedback and updated the PR title.
Could you please re-LGTM when convenient?
Thanks!