Yaml update that includes a inline comment not working as expected

[brian-provenzano]

I have the following configuration and it appears that updatecli is detecting a change even when none is actually present due to the way the yaml is interpreted. I only see the issue when there is a yaml comment on same line as the key:value (version). Configuration is as follows. It is totally possible I have configured this badly so wanted to get thoughts before I submit a bug report. We can move this to a sep line for this case, but wondered if there was a way around that in case someone does this in the future (to avoid breaking updatecli)

My chart config (actually kustomize chart generator) - note the comment on the same line as version:

apiVersion: builtin
kind: HelmChartInflationGenerator
metadata:
  name: kargo
releaseName: kargo
name: kargo
namespace: kargo-system
version: 1.8.4 # https://github.com/akuity/kargo/releases/tag/v1.8.4 (chart follows app version - no separate release notes for chart)
repo: oci://ghcr.io/akuity/kargo-charts
# https://github.com/akuity/kargo/blob/main/charts/kargo/values.yaml
valuesInline:
...

My pipeline config:

# Updatecli configuration for Kargo Helm chart
# Note: Kargo chart version follows app version - no separate chart releases
# Note: This config references scms and actions defined in _updatecli.yaml
name: Kargo Helm Chart Check and Update
pipelineid: kargo-update

sources:
  # Chart name source - extracts the chart name from helm-chart source spec for use in templating
  # This reads the spec.name value (kargo) from the helm-chart source definition below
  # Note: The value is defined once in helm-chart.spec.name and referenced here via templating
  chart-name:
    kind: yaml
    name: Get chart name from helm-chart source spec so we can use it in the PR title
    spec:
      file: updatecli.d/kargo.yaml
      key: $.sources.helm-chart.spec.name
  
  helm-chart:
    kind: helmchart
    name: Get latest Kargo chart version
    spec:
      name: kargo
      url: oci://ghcr.io/akuity/kargo-charts
      versionfilter:
        kind: regex
        pattern: '^v?[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$'
        # Regex pattern matches only GA releases (no pre-release suffixes)
        # Matches: v1.20.0, 1.20.0
        # Excludes: v1.20.0-alpha.0, v1.20.0-beta.1, v1.20.0-rc.1 since this project uses those suffixes for prereleases
targets:
  helm-chart-target:
    kind: yaml
    name: Update Kargo chart version in chart.yaml
    sourceid: helm-chart
    spec:
      file: platform-app-manifests/apps/kargo/helm/base/chart.yaml
      key: $.version
    scmid: default
    actionid: default
    transformers:
      - trimprefix: "v"  # Remove 'v' prefix for consistency

conditions:
  helm-chart-release-notes:
    kind: githubrelease
    name: Check Kargo Helm Chart release notes
    sourceid: helm-chart
    spec:
      owner: akuity
      repository: kargo
      token: '{{ requiredEnv "GITHUB_TOKEN" }}'
      versionfilter:
        kind: semver
        pattern: '{{ source "helm-chart" }}'
    transformers:
      - addprefix: "v"  # releases use 'v' prefix

output of the pipeline:

updatecli diff  --config updatecli.d/kargo.yaml                                                      ✔  beauty-stage 󱃾  12:22:44 


+++++++++++
+ PREPARE +
+++++++++++

Loading Pipeline "updatecli.d/kargo.yaml"

SCM repository retrieved: 1


++++++++++++++++++
+ AUTO DISCOVERY +
++++++++++++++++++



++++++++++++
+ PIPELINE +
++++++++++++


#####################################
# KARGO HELM CHART CHECK AND UPDATE #
#####################################

Pipeline ID     : kargo-update
Dry Run         : enabled

source: chart-name
------------------

✔ value "kargo" found for key "$.sources.helm-chart.spec.name" in the yaml file "updatecli.d/kargo.yaml"

source: helm-chart
------------------

Searching for version matching pattern "^v?[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+$"
✔ OCI version "1.8.4" found matching pattern "^v?[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+\\.[0-9]+$"

condition: helm-chart-release-notes
-----------------------------------

[transformers]
✔ Result correctly transformed from "1.8.4" to "v1.8.4"
✔ GitHub release "v1.8.4" found

target: helm-chart-target
-------------------------

Repository      : github.com/daysmart/bridge-platform@main

[transformers]
✔ Result correctly transformed from "1.8.4" to "1.8.4"
⚠ - change detected:
        * key "$.version" should be updated from "1.8.4 # https://github.com/akuity/kargo/releases/tag/v1.8.4 (chart follows app version - no separate release notes for chart)" to "1.8.4", in file "platform-app-manifests/apps/kargo/helm/base/chart.yaml"


ACTIONS
========

---
Pipeline Name   : Kargo Helm Chart Check and Update
Pipeline ID     : kargo-update
Dry run         : true
Repository      : github.com/daysmart/bridge-platform@main
Action          : Cluster Service Upgrade [kargo]: Update the Helm Chart to version 1.8.4
---

An action of kind "github/pullrequest" is expected.

=============================

SUMMARY:

⚠ Kargo Helm Chart Check and Update:
        Source:
                ✔ [chart-name] Get chart name from helm-chart source spec so we can use it in the PR title
                ✔ [helm-chart] Get latest Kargo chart version
        Condition:
                ✔ [helm-chart-release-notes] Check Kargo Helm Chart release notes
        Target:
                ⚠ [helm-chart-target] Update Kargo chart version in chart.yaml
                      * Repository: https://github.com/daysmart/bridge-platform.git (branch: main)


Run Summary
===========
Pipeline(s) run:
  * Changed:    1
  * Failed:     0
  * Skipped:    0
  * Succeeded:  0
  * Total:      1

We should not create a PR bc versions are the same, but updatecli wants to - seems to be that comment..?

Thanks!

[olblak]

Thanks for the detailed issue.
Could you try to use the parameter engine: yamlpath on your yaml target such as

targets:
  helm-chart-target:
    kind: yaml
    engine: yamlpath
    name: Update Kargo chart version in chart.yaml
    sourceid: helm-chart
    spec:
      file: platform-app-manifests/apps/kargo/helm/base/chart.yaml
      key: $.version
    scmid: default
    actionid: default
    transformers:
      - trimprefix: "v"  # Remove 'v' prefix for consistency

There are two libraries in the Golang ecosystem and both comes with their own limitation.
In Updatecli we have the ability to pick one or the other, which is the purpose of the parameter engine