chore(release): avoid checkout in create-release-branch

This change refactors the create-release-branch subcommand to push the commit SHA directly to the remote branch reference, avoiding checking out the branch locally and changing the working directory state. Tests are updated to match.

Author: rickeylev

tests/tools/private/release/release_test.py

@@ -1241,9 +1241,10 @@ def test_create_release_branch_success(self):
         # Assert
         self.assertEqual(result, 0)
         self.mock_git.fetch.assert_called_once_with("my-remote")
-        self.mock_git.checkout.assert_any_call("abcdef12")
-        self.mock_git.checkout.assert_any_call("release/2.0", create_branch=True)
-        self.mock_git.push.assert_called_once_with("my-remote", "release/2.0")
+        self.mock_git.checkout.assert_not_called()
+        self.mock_git.push.assert_called_once_with(
+            "my-remote", "abcdef12:refs/heads/release/2.0"
+        )
 
         self.mock_gh.update_issue_body.assert_called_once()
         call_args = self.mock_gh.update_issue_body.call_args[0]

tools/private/release/create_release_branch.py

@@ -42,18 +42,13 @@ def cmd_create_release_branch(args):
     commit_sha = state["prepare_release"]["commit"]
     print(f"Cutting branch {branch_name} from commit {commit_sha}...")
 
-    # Create and push branch
+    # Create and push branch without affecting local checkout
     git.fetch(args.remote)
-    git.checkout(commit_sha)
-
-    if not git.branch_exists(branch_name):
-        git.checkout(branch_name, create_branch=True)
-    else:
-        git.checkout(branch_name)
-        git.merge(commit_sha, ff_only=True)
-
-    git.push(args.remote, branch_name)
-    print(f"Successfully pushed branch {branch_name} to {args.remote}")
+    ref_spec = f"{commit_sha}:refs/heads/{branch_name}"
+    git.push(args.remote, ref_spec)
+    print(
+        f"Successfully pushed branch {branch_name} pointing to {commit_sha} to {args.remote}"
+    )
 
     # Update tracking issue checklist
     print("Updating tracking issue checklist...")