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

@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@ 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, 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

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: Code Styleguide — Go
-last_modified: 2026-10-02
+last_modified: 2026-10-04
 ---
 
 1.  Try to hard wrap long lines at 77 characters or less.
@@ -51,8 +51,9 @@ last_modified: 2026-10-02
     # ?= 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.
-    VERSION ?= $(shell git describe --tags --always)
+    # 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/GO_HTTP_SERVER_CONVENTIONS.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 title: Go HTTP Server Conventions
-last_modified: 2026-10-02
+last_modified: 2026-10-04
 ---
 
 This document defines the architectural patterns, design decisions, and
@@ -987,8 +987,9 @@ 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.
-VERSION ?= $(shell git describe --tags --always)
+# 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:
     go build -ldflags "-X main.Version=$(VERSION)" ./cmd/httpd