Validation Rules

Target directives are validated to prevent version regression.

Target Directive Format

target: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH

Optional v prefix and trailing pre-release/metadata are stripped.

Rules

A target directive is ignored if any of these conditions hold:

A. Regression vs Reachable Final

If a reachable final tag exists with core F:

target <= F  →  ignored

Example:

Reachable final: 2.2.5
target: 2.2.4  →  ignored (regression)
target: 2.2.5  →  ignored (equality with final)
target: 2.2.6  →  accepted

B. Regression vs Reachable Pre-release

If the highest reachable tag is a pre-release with core P:

target < P   →  ignored
target == P  →  accepted (equality allowed with pre-release)

Example:

Reachable highest: 3.1.0-rc.2
target: 3.0.0  →  ignored
target: 3.1.0  →  accepted

C. No Reachable Base

When no tags are reachable from HEAD, validation uses repository-wide highest:

Repository highest final: 4.3.0
target: 4.3.0  →  ignored (regression)
target: 5.0.0  →  accepted

If only pre-releases exist:

Repository highest: 2.0.0-rc.1
target: 2.0.0  →  accepted (equality with pre-release)

D. At a Final Tag

If HEAD carries a final tag with core T:

target <= T  →  ignored

E. Malformed

Invalid targets are ignored:

• Partial cores: target: 1.2
• Non-numeric: target: a.b.c
• Negative values: target: 1.-1.0
• Overflow: target: 999999999999.0.0

F. Multiple Targets

If multiple valid targets survive A–E:

Highest core wins; others ignored

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Equality Rule Summary

Examples