Fix lint workflow: create PR for auto-fix instead of pushing directly to main

[Gorkowski]

Description

The git-auto-commit-action in the lint CI workflow fails on main because repository branch protection rules prevent direct pushes. When ruff auto-fixes lint issues on a push to main, the action tries to commit and push directly back to main, which is rejected by GitHub's branch protection (merge queue required, PRs required, status checks required).

The fix is to replace stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7 with peter-evans/create-pull-request@v7 so that when lint fixes are needed on main, a PR is created automatically instead of a direct push.

Context

Error observed in CI:

remote: error: GH013: Repository rule violations found for refs/heads/main.
remote: - Changes must be made through the merge queue
remote: - Changes must be made through a pull request.
remote: - 4 of 4 required status checks are expected.
remote: - 7 of 7 required status checks are expected.
! [remote rejected] main -> main (push declined due to repository rule violations)

This happens because line 49 of .github/workflows/lint.yml runs the auto-commit action on github.event_name == 'push' (which triggers on pushes to main), but main has branch protection rules that forbid direct pushes.

Value:

• Lint auto-fixes on main will actually work instead of failing silently
• Maintains branch protection integrity
• Auto-generated PRs go through the normal review/merge-queue process

Scope

Estimated Lines of Code: ~15 lines changed
Complexity: Low

Files to Modify:

• .github/workflows/lint.yml (~15 lines changed)

Acceptance Criteria

Core Implementation

• Replace stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7 with peter-evans/create-pull-request@v7 in .github/workflows/lint.yml
• Configure the action to create a branch like auto-fix/ruff-lint and open a PR with title like style: auto-fix ruff issues
• Add appropriate labels to the auto-created PR (e.g., bot, style)
• Keep the condition github.event_name == 'push' so it only triggers on pushes to main, not on PRs
• Ensure the action deletes the branch after merge (use delete-branch: true)

Testing

• Verify the workflow YAML is valid (no syntax errors)
• Confirm the push to main trigger still works correctly
• Confirm pull_request and merge_group triggers are unaffected (auto-commit step should NOT run on PRs)

Technical Notes

Current Configuration (broken)

# .github/workflows/lint.yml lines 48-53
    - name: Commit ruff fixes
      if: ${{ matrix.linter == 'ruff' && github.event_name == 'push' }}
      uses: stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action@v7
      with:
        commit_message: "style: auto-fix ruff issues"
        file_pattern: "particula/"

Proposed Configuration

    - name: Create PR for ruff fixes
      if: ${{ matrix.linter == 'ruff' && github.event_name == 'push' }}
      uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v7
      with:
        token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        commit-message: "style: auto-fix ruff issues"
        branch: auto-fix/ruff-lint
        title: "style: auto-fix ruff issues"
        body: |
          Automated PR to fix ruff lint issues detected on `main`.
          
          This PR was created automatically by the lint workflow.
        labels: bot, style
        delete-branch: true

Key Differences

• stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action pushes directly to the current branch → blocked by branch protection
• peter-evans/create-pull-request creates a new branch and opens a PR → respects branch protection rules
• The PR then goes through the normal merge queue / review process

Edge Cases and Considerations

• If no files are changed by ruff, create-pull-request will simply not create a PR (it detects no diff)
• If a PR already exists from a previous run on auto-fix/ruff-lint, the action will update it instead of creating a duplicate
• The GITHUB_TOKEN permissions already include contents: write (line 19), which is sufficient for create-pull-request

References

Related Code:

• .github/workflows/lint.yml - The workflow to modify
• peter-evans/create-pull-request docs
• stefanzweifel/git-auto-commit-action docs