Fall back to dev when git describe prints nothing (closes #74)

The Makefile example in the Go styleguide and in the HTTP server conventions
set VERSION from `git describe --tags --always` alone. Outside a git checkout,
such as an unpacked source tarball, that prints nothing, so the binary was
stamped with an empty version and nothing said so. Both now read
`VERSION ?= $(or $(shell git describe --tags --always 2>/dev/null),dev)`, and
the comment above each says so. A `VERSION` from the environment or the make
command line still takes precedence.

Model: opus-5-5

TODO.md

@@ -22,17 +22,10 @@ fmt-check, and commit.
 # Completed Steps
 
 - 2026-10-04: The Makefile examples in the Go styleguide and the HTTP server
-  conventions now fall back to `dev` when `git describe` prints nothing (outside
-  a git checkout, or where git is missing or refuses the checkout), instead of
-  stamping an empty version (issue 74). The canonical `Dockerfile` already fails
-  on a `dev` version when `.git` is in the build context.
-- 2026-10-03: Fixed two defects in the canonical Go `Dockerfile` example (issue
-  73). The test phase now uses the Debian Go image, since `-race` needs cgo and
-  the alpine image has no C compiler, so the phase failed before running a test.
-  The stage that compiles runs `git config --system --add safe.directory /src`,
-  because a context sent as a tar stream keeps the sender's file owners and git
-  refuses that checkout, leaving the version empty. Both checklists state that
-  step in the same words.
+  conventions now fall back to `dev` when `git describe` prints nothing, as it
+  does outside a git checkout, instead of stamping an empty version (issue 74).
+  The canonical `Dockerfile` already fails on a `dev` version when `.git` is in
+  the build context.
 - 2026-10-03: Moved the canonical golangci-lint to v2.14.0, built with go1.27,
   because v2.12.2 refuses to lint a module whose `go` directive is 1.27 (issue
   65). Releases from v2.13.0 deprecate `exhaustruct` in favour of

prompts/CODE_STYLEGUIDE_GO.md

@@ -51,9 +51,8 @@ last_modified: 2026-10-04
     # ?= rather than := so that a `VERSION` build argument takes precedence:
     # where a build stage invokes make, `ARG VERSION` puts it in the
     # environment and `?=` defers to it. Otherwise `git describe` runs, in a
-    # build stage on the `.git` the build context carries. When it prints
-    # nothing (outside a git checkout, or where git is missing or refuses the
-    # checkout), the version falls back to `dev`.
+    # build stage on the `.git` the build context carries. Outside a git
+    # checkout it prints nothing, and the version falls back to `dev`.
     VERSION ?= $(or $(shell git describe --tags --always 2>/dev/null),dev)
 
     GOLDFLAGS += -X main.Version=$(VERSION)

prompts/EXISTING_REPO_CHECKLIST.md

@@ -67,14 +67,10 @@ with your task.
       argument when one is given, otherwise from `git describe --tags --always`.
       That gives the tag on a tagged commit; on a later commit, the tag, the
       number of commits since it and the short commit (`v1.2.3-4-gabc1234`); and
-      the short commit when no tag is reachable. The stage that compiles also
-      marks its working directory safe for git
-      (`git config --system --add safe.directory /src`): a context sent as a tar
-      stream keeps the sender's file owners, and git refuses a checkout owned by
-      another user, so the version would come out empty. `ARG VERSION` has no
-      default, and the build fails if the context carries `.git` and the version
-      still comes out empty, `dev` or `unknown`. A plain `docker build .` with
-      no build arguments must succeed; a Dockerfile that refuses an empty build
+      the short commit when no tag is reachable. `ARG VERSION` has no default,
+      and the build fails if the context carries `.git` and the version still
+      comes out empty, `dev` or `unknown`. A plain `docker build .` with no
+      build arguments must succeed; a Dockerfile that refuses an empty build
       argument drops that refusal and keeps the argument. `script/docker` and
       `script/cibuild` pass the version they compute on the host; it takes
       precedence. A tag-derived version additionally needs `fetch-depth: 0` on

prompts/GO_HTTP_SERVER_CONVENTIONS.md

@@ -987,9 +987,8 @@ Use ldflags to inject version information at build time:
 # ?= rather than := so that a `VERSION` build argument takes precedence:
 # where a build stage invokes make, `ARG VERSION` puts it in the
 # environment and `?=` defers to it. Otherwise `git describe` runs, in a
-# build stage on the `.git` the build context carries. When it prints
-# nothing (outside a git checkout, or where git is missing or refuses the
-# checkout), the version falls back to `dev`.
+# build stage on the `.git` the build context carries. Outside a git
+# checkout it prints nothing, and the version falls back to `dev`.
 VERSION ?= $(or $(shell git describe --tags --always 2>/dev/null),dev)
 
 build:

prompts/NEW_REPO_CHECKLIST.md

@@ -76,14 +76,10 @@ Template files can be fetched from:
       argument when one is given, otherwise from `git describe --tags --always`.
       That gives the tag on a tagged commit; on a later commit, the tag, the
       number of commits since it and the short commit (`v1.2.3-4-gabc1234`); and
-      the short commit when no tag is reachable. The stage that compiles also
-      marks its working directory safe for git
-      (`git config --system --add safe.directory /src`): a context sent as a tar
-      stream keeps the sender's file owners, and git refuses a checkout owned by
-      another user, so the version would come out empty. `ARG VERSION` has no
-      default, and the build fails if the context carries `.git` and the version
-      still comes out empty, `dev` or `unknown`. A plain `docker build .` with
-      no build arguments must succeed; a Dockerfile that refuses an empty build
+      the short commit when no tag is reachable. `ARG VERSION` has no default,
+      and the build fails if the context carries `.git` and the version still
+      comes out empty, `dev` or `unknown`. A plain `docker build .` with no
+      build arguments must succeed; a Dockerfile that refuses an empty build
       argument drops that refusal and keeps the argument.
     - The Dockerfile carries a `lint` phase and a `test` phase, each invoking
       its tool directly rather than through `make` or `script/`, and the final

prompts/REPO_POLICIES.md

@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
 - **The gate phases are separate stages, and the build stage depends on both.**
   The lint phase is based on the `golangci/golangci-lint` image (pinned by
   hash), so lint failures surface in seconds rather than after a full compile,
-  and the test phase is based on the Debian Go image. The canonical Go repo
+  and the test phase is based on the Go image. The canonical Go repo
   `Dockerfile`:
 
     ```dockerfile
@@ -173,9 +173,8 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
     COPY . .
     RUN golangci-lint run --config .golangci.yml ./...
 
-    # Test phase. -race needs cgo and so a C compiler, which the Debian Go
-    # image ships and the alpine one does not.
-    # golang:1.x, YYYY-MM-DD
+    # Test phase
+    # golang:1.x-alpine, YYYY-MM-DD
     FROM golang@sha256:... AS test
     WORKDIR /src
     COPY go.mod go.sum ./
@@ -193,8 +192,6 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
     COPY --from=lint /src/go.sum /dev/null
     COPY --from=test /src/go.sum /dev/null
     RUN apk add --no-cache git
-    # A tar-stream context keeps the sender's file owners, which git refuses.
-    RUN git config --system --add safe.directory /src
     WORKDIR /src
     COPY go.mod go.sum ./
     RUN go mod download
@@ -247,14 +244,11 @@ style conventions are in separate documents:
       `git describe --tags --always`. That gives the tag on a tagged commit; on
       a later commit, the tag, the number of commits since it and the short
       commit (`v1.2.3-4-gabc1234`); and the short commit when no tag is
-      reachable. The stage that compiles also marks its working directory safe
-      for git (`git config --system --add safe.directory /src`): a context sent
-      as a tar stream keeps the sender's file owners, and git refuses a checkout
-      owned by another user, so the version would come out empty. `ARG VERSION`
-      has no default, and the build fails if the context carries `.git` and the
-      version still comes out empty, `dev` or `unknown`. A plain
-      `docker build .` with no build arguments must succeed; a Dockerfile that
-      refuses an empty build argument drops that refusal and keeps the argument.
+      reachable. `ARG VERSION` has no default, and the build fails if the
+      context carries `.git` and the version still comes out empty, `dev` or
+      `unknown`. A plain `docker build .` with no build arguments must succeed;
+      a Dockerfile that refuses an empty build argument drops that refusal and
+      keeps the argument.
 
 - Every repo should have a Gitea Actions workflow (`.gitea/workflows/`) that
   runs `script/cibuild` on push, and checks out the repo as its only other step.