# ADR 014 — Pin actions/upload-artifact to v3 (Gitea act_runner v4 protocol incompatibility)

**Status:** Accepted  
**Date:** 2026-05-14  
**Issues:** [#557 — re-regression](https://git.raddatz.cloud/marcel/familienarchiv/issues/557) · [#14 — original incident](https://git.raddatz.cloud/marcel/familienarchiv/issues/14)

---

## Context

`actions/upload-artifact` is available in two incompatible major versions. The v4 client
uploads via a GitHub-specific artifact API that is **not implemented** in Gitea's
`act_runner` (the self-hosted CI substrate established by ADR-011). When a workflow step
uses `actions/upload-artifact@v4` on this runner, `act_runner` returns a non-zero exit
code from the v4 client even when all tests pass, producing:

> green test suite — red job status — no artifact uploaded

The failure lands in the upload step, _after_ the test output, making it hard to diagnose
from the build log.

### Incident history

| Date | Commit | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-19 | `9f3f022e` | Original downgrade: `upload-artifact@v4 → v3` |
| 2026-03-19 | `4142c7cd` | Rationale committed; closes #14 |
| 2026-05-05 | `410b91e2` | Re-regression: upgraded back to v4 without referencing #14 |
| 2026-05-14 | this PR | Second downgrade + ADR + grep guard |

The root cause of the re-regression was institutional-memory failure: the original
rationale was captured only in a commit body, invisible at the point of change (the
`uses:` line). This ADR, the inline comments, and the grep guard are the three
defence layers that replace that missing breadcrumb.

---

## Decision

**Pin all `actions/upload-artifact` and `actions/download-artifact` call sites to `@v3`.**

Both action families share the same v4 protocol incompatibility with `act_runner`.
Pinning to the major tag (`@v3`) keeps us on the latest v3 patch without Renovate noise.

Three call sites are pinned:
- `.gitea/workflows/ci.yml` — "Upload coverage reports" step
- `.gitea/workflows/ci.yml` — "Upload screenshots" step
- `.gitea/workflows/coverage-flake-probe.yml` — "Upload coverage log on failure" step

Each pinned `uses:` line carries a load-bearing inline comment:

```yaml
# Gitea Actions (act_runner) does not implement upload-artifact v4 protocol — pinned per ADR-014. Do NOT upgrade. See #557.
- uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
```

A CI grep guard enforces the constraint automatically (see below).

---

## Consequences

### Enforcement layers (defence in depth)

1. **Inline comments** on every `uses:` line — visible at the point of change.
2. **CI grep guard** in `.gitea/workflows/ci.yml` ("Assert no (upload|download)-artifact
   past v3") — fails the build if a future commit re-introduces `@v4` or higher on any
   workflow file. Anchored to YAML `uses:` lines to avoid false positives on embedded
   shell strings. Includes a self-test that proves the regex catches v4+ before scanning
   the repo.
3. **This ADR** — canonical rationale; cross-referenced by comments and guard message.

### How to spot the symptom

- Test suite output shows green (vitest, surefire, pytest all exit 0)
- CI job status shows red
- Artifacts section of the run is empty
- Build log shows a non-zero exit from the `Upload …` step immediately after green tests

### `@v3` maintenance-mode status

GitHub placed `actions/upload-artifact@v3` in maintenance mode (no new features) but it
has not been removed and carries no known unpatched CVE as of this writing. If GitHub
publishes a v3-specific security advisory, that is an additional trigger to re-evaluate
(see upgrade conditions below).

### When to remove this pin

Re-evaluate pinning **when either condition is met:**

1. `gitea/act_runner` ships a release with v4 artifact protocol support. Track upstream:
   <https://gitea.com/gitea/act_runner>
2. `actions/upload-artifact@v3` acquires an unpatched CVE that cannot be mitigated
   at the runner level.

When upgrading: remove the grep guard step, update all three `uses:` lines, remove the
inline comments, and update this ADR's status to Superseded.

---

## Alternatives

### SHA pinning (`uses: actions/upload-artifact@<sha>`)

More secure against action repository compromise, but adds Renovate update friction
and is disproportionate for a self-hosted, single-tenant Gitea instance with one
trusted contributor (ADR-011). Rejected.

### Minor/patch pinning (`@v3.4.0`)

Avoids Renovate PRs but freezes us on a specific patch. The v3 major track is in
maintenance mode — minor pinning has no benefit and would require manual updates
for any v3 security patches. Rejected.

### Renovate `packageRules` bypass

Would prevent automated PRs from proposing v4. Not needed while Renovate is not
configured for this repository. Revisit if Renovate is introduced.

### Migrating the runner to a v4-compatible Gitea release

Out of scope for this issue. A separate decision; tracked in #557's non-goals.
