Docs deploy skips pre-releases

.github/workflows/docs-deploy.yml

@@ -9,11 +9,13 @@ name: Deploy Docs
 #
 # The site tracks the *released* CLI, not main: deploys happen on the
 # same trigger as the PyPI publish, so the docs never document behavior
-# that `pip install lightcone-cli` can't deliver yet. For an
-# intermediate deploy (typo fix, clarification), trigger manually from
-# the Actions tab — workflow_dispatch runs against the selected ref and
-# redeploys the snapshot for the given version (defaults to the latest
-# tag reachable from that ref).
+# that `pip install lightcone-cli` can't deliver yet. Pre-releases are
+# skipped for the same reason — PyPI hands an rc only to someone who
+# asks for it by name, so the site must keep serving the last full
+# release. For an intermediate deploy (typo fix, clarification),
+# trigger manually from the Actions tab — workflow_dispatch runs
+# against the selected ref and redeploys the snapshot for the given
+# version (defaults to the latest tag reachable from that ref).
 
 on:
   release:
@@ -37,6 +39,9 @@ concurrency:
 
 jobs:
   deploy:
+    # A pre-release deploys nothing. `github.event.release` is null on a
+    # workflow_dispatch run, so the manual path stays unconditional.
+    if: ${{ !github.event.release.prerelease }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v4

CLAUDE.md

@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ tests/                      # pytest — mirrors src/
 
 The whole docs site is versioned with [mike](https://github.com/squidfunk/mike) — specifically squidfunk's fork, which Zensical's versioning provider depends on. Each release deploys a full copy of the site to a subdirectory of the `gh-pages` branch (`/0.0.9/`, `/latest/`, etc.). Mike is enabled via `[project.extra.version] provider = "mike"` in `zensical.toml`; the version dropdown in the header is rendered natively.
 
-Release flow: `.github/workflows/docs-deploy.yml` runs on every published release — it runs `mike deploy --push --update-aliases X.Y.Z latest` (version taken from the tag) followed by `mike set-default --push latest`, so the bare site root always redirects to `/latest/`. For an intermediate redeploy of an existing version, trigger the workflow manually from the Actions tab. For local/manual operations, run the same mike commands directly (`uv run mike list`, `uv run mike deploy ...`, `uv run mike delete ...` — the docs dependency group installs mike).
+Release flow: `.github/workflows/docs-deploy.yml` runs on every published release — it runs `mike deploy --push --update-aliases X.Y.Z latest` (version taken from the tag) followed by `mike set-default --push latest`, so the bare site root always redirects to `/latest/`. A **pre-release deploys nothing**: `release: published` fires for pre-releases too (`released` is the type that skips them), and moving `latest` onto an rc would serve as default what `pip install` deliberately withholds, so the job carries `if: ${{ !github.event.release.prerelease }}`. PyPI needs no equivalent — "pre-release" there is derived from the PEP 440 version alone (an rc tag ⇒ hatch-vcs ⇒ `0.5.0rc1`), never from the GitHub checkbox, so `pypi-publish.yaml` stays unconditional. For an intermediate redeploy of an existing version, trigger the workflow manually from the Actions tab. For local/manual operations, run the same mike commands directly (`uv run mike list`, `uv run mike deploy ...`, `uv run mike delete ...` — the docs dependency group installs mike).
 
 Hosting: mike pushes to `gh-pages`. GitHub Pages (which serves docs.lightconeresearch.org) must be configured to "Deploy from a branch" / `gh-pages` in the repo's Pages settings, not via the Actions artifact deploy. Without this, `mike deploy` runs successfully but the site doesn't pick up versioned URLs in production.
 

docs/contributing/setup.md

@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ uv run zensical serve        # live preview
 ```
 
 The site deploys on release (`docs-deploy.yml`), so docs track the
-released CLI, not `main`.
+released CLI, not `main`. A pre-release deploys nothing — the site keeps
+serving the last full release.
 
 ## Building the wheel