Directive 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. Regression vs Repository-wide Highest

Beyond the reachable tags, the highest final tag anywhere in the repository is a floor - a target may not regress below a release that exists on any branch. This holds whether or not a base is reachable:

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

When the repository has no final tags, its highest pre-release is the floor, with equality allowed:

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

D. 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

E. Multiple Targets

If multiple valid targets survive A-D:

Highest core wins; others ignored

Equality Rule Summary

Examples