fix(release): attribute desktop candidates to the operator (#6831)

The desktop release tooling hardcoded one contributor's personal
identity into every release candidate commit.
`scripts/prepare-desktop-release.sh` committed the candidate with a `git
-c user.name='Wes' -c user.email='wesbillman@users.noreply.github.com'`
override, and `scripts/desktop_release.py` `validate` required the
candidate author to be exactly `Wes
<wesbillman@users.noreply.github.com>` plus a matching `Signed-off-by`
trailer. That leaked from Wes's working setup into the validation
contract in #3568, so a release cut by any other operator was falsely
attributed to and signed off by Wes (as happened on #6828).

## Change

- `prepare-desktop-release.sh`: drop the `-c` identity overrides so `git
commit -s` uses the operator's own configured identity to author and
sign off the candidate. The automation `Co-authored-by` trailer is
unchanged.
- `desktop_release.py` `validate`: replace the exact-Wes checks with
structural ones — the commit author must be non-empty, the body must
contain a `Signed-off-by` trailer whose name and email match the commit
author (honest DCO), and the existing automation `Co-authored-by` regex
check stays. Failure messages remain specific.
- `test-desktop-release-candidate.sh`: the fixture candidate now commits
under the harness's own identity, and a new negative case rewrites the
author to a mismatched identity and asserts the validator rejects it.

Release authorization is bound to the merged PR via the GitHub API in
`scripts/verify-desktop-release-merge.sh`, never the commit author
field, so this does not weaken the trust model. `RELEASING.md` and
`.github/workflows/desktop-release-candidate.yml` reference no author
identity and need no change.

Verified locally: `scripts/test-desktop-release-candidate.sh` passes,
including the new sign-off/author-mismatch rejection.

---------

Signed-off-by: Will Pfleger <pfleger.will@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Duncan <dcfd242e557282d7a1e2cf2e6877522682f1e5c6156dc92ca7d90eaedd3b0f95@buzz.block.builderlab.xyz>

scripts/desktop_release.py

@@ -257,12 +257,15 @@ def validate(args: argparse.Namespace) -> None:
     bad = [str(path.relative_to(ROOT)) for path, value in manifests.items() if value != version]
     if bad:
         raise SystemExit(f"version mismatch in: {', '.join(bad)}")
-    author = git("show", "-s", "--format=%an <%ae>", candidate)
+    name = git("show", "-s", "--format=%an", candidate)
+    email = git("show", "-s", "--format=%ae", candidate)
+    if not name or not email:
+        raise SystemExit("candidate has no author identity")
+    author = f"{name} <{email}>"
     body = git("show", "-s", "--format=%B", candidate)
-    if author != "Wes <wesbillman@users.noreply.github.com>":
+    signoffs = re.findall(rf"(?m)^Signed-off-by: {re.escape(author)}$", body)
-        raise SystemExit(f"unexpected candidate author: {author}")
+    if len(signoffs) != 1:
-    if "Signed-off-by: Wes <wesbillman@users.noreply.github.com>" not in body:
+        raise SystemExit(f"candidate must carry exactly one Signed-off-by trailer matching its author {author}")
-        raise SystemExit("candidate is missing Wes Signed-off-by trailer")
     if not re.search(r"(?m)^Co-authored-by: .+ <.+>$", body):
         raise SystemExit("candidate is missing automation Co-authored-by trailer")
     print(f"validated immutable desktop candidate {candidate} for desktop-v{version}")

scripts/prepare-desktop-release.sh

@@ -42,8 +42,7 @@ chore(release): release Buzz Desktop version $version
 
 Co-authored-by: $agent_name <$agent_email>
 EOF
-git -c user.name='Wes' -c user.email='wesbillman@users.noreply.github.com' \
+git commit -s -F "$msg"
-  commit -s -F "$msg"
 scripts/desktop_release.py validate --candidate HEAD --version "$version" --repo block/buzz
 
 candidate_sha="$(git rev-parse HEAD)"

scripts/test-desktop-release-candidate.sh

@@ -64,8 +64,42 @@ for path in ('desktop/package.json', 'desktop/src-tauri/tauri.conf.json'):
 open('desktop/src-tauri/Cargo.toml','w').write('[package]\nversion = "1.0.1"\n')
 PY
   git add .
-  git -c user.name=Wes -c user.email=wesbillman@users.noreply.github.com commit -q -s -m 'chore(release): release Buzz Desktop version 1.0.1' -m 'Co-authored-by: Test Automation <test@example.com>'
+  git commit -q -s -m 'chore(release): release Buzz Desktop version 1.0.1' -m 'Co-authored-by: Test Automation <test@example.com>'
   PATH="$mock_bin:$PATH" scripts/desktop_release.py validate --version 1.0.1 --repo block/buzz
+  good_candidate=$(git rev-parse HEAD)
+
+  # A candidate whose Signed-off-by does not match its author is a dishonest
+  # DCO sign-off and must be rejected. Rewrite the author while keeping the
+  # original trailer body, then restore the honest candidate.
+  git -c user.name=Impostor -c user.email=impostor@example.com commit -q --amend --no-edit --reset-author
+  if PATH="$mock_bin:$PATH" scripts/desktop_release.py validate --version 1.0.1 --repo block/buzz >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "validator accepted a candidate whose sign-off does not match its author" >&2; exit 1
+  fi
+  git reset -q --hard "$good_candidate"
+
+  # The trailer must be a complete anchored line, not substring-matched. A prose
+  # line that merely contains the sign-off text, or a real trailer with trailing
+  # garbage, must be rejected. Both were accepted before the anchored parse.
+  for bogus in \
+    'not-a-trailer Signed-off-by: test <test@example.com>' \
+    'Signed-off-by: test <test@example.com> trailing-garbage'; do
+    git commit -q --amend -m 'chore(release): release Buzz Desktop version 1.0.1' \
+      -m 'Co-authored-by: Test Automation <test@example.com>' -m "$bogus"
+    if PATH="$mock_bin:$PATH" scripts/desktop_release.py validate --version 1.0.1 --repo block/buzz >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+      echo "validator accepted a malformed sign-off: $bogus" >&2; exit 1
+    fi
+    git reset -q --hard "$good_candidate"
+  done
+
+  # Two matching sign-offs are also invalid: the contract is exactly one.
+  git commit -q --amend -m 'chore(release): release Buzz Desktop version 1.0.1' \
+    -m 'Co-authored-by: Test Automation <test@example.com>' \
+    -m 'Signed-off-by: test <test@example.com>' -m 'Signed-off-by: test <test@example.com>'
+  if PATH="$mock_bin:$PATH" scripts/desktop_release.py validate --version 1.0.1 --repo block/buzz >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    echo "validator accepted duplicate Signed-off-by trailers" >&2; exit 1
+  fi
+  git reset -q --hard "$good_candidate"
+
   grep -Fq "$unrelated_before" CHANGELOG.md
   grep -Fq "$unrelated_after" CHANGELOG.md
   ! grep -Fq "$prior_merge" CHANGELOG.md