[GitHub.com only] Prebuilds no longer triggering if gitpod.yml uses a 'before' task without an 'init'

[jldec]

The following .gitpod.yml used to trigger prebuilds on each commit (on GitHub only) but as of 21d3f00 it no longer does.

# .gitpod.yml
tasks:
  - before: |
      echo `gp url` >> before.txt
    command: |
      echo `gp url` >> command.txt

Since the old behavior was somewhat unexpected, and GitHub-specific, and atypical (the standard way to configure a prebuild is with init) the proposal for this issue is NOT to fix this, but rather to clarify the recommended use of init in our docs.

[jldec]

See https://discord.com/channels/816244985187008514/839379835662368768/980724292503343114

[jldec]

Here is an example where the prebuild stopeed working
https://github.com/mautic/mautic/blob/4.x/.gitpod.yml#L8

[jankeromnes]

Ah, indeed, sorry that was indeed my fault. 😬

The previous and current hasPrebuildTasks code considers before tasks differently:

My change actually "aligned" the github.com App behavior with prebuilds from all other platforms (GitHub Enterprise, GitLab, Bitbucket...), but that wasn't really on purpose.

I'm happy to re-introduce before as an independently recognized "prebuild task" if that's useful (one-line fix).

EDIT: See PR (feel free to aprove or close it)

[geropl]

Since the old behavior was somewhat unexpected, and GitHub-specific, and atypical (the standard way to configure a prebuild is with init) the proposal for this issue is NOT to fix this, but rather to clarify the recommended use of init in our docs.

@jldec @jankeromnes While aligning with other Git hosters is nice please be aware that GitHub is at least 90% of our users. Did you think about reversing this, and making the "before" behavior the default for all hosters? (Not pushing for this, just want to make sure we thought about this from all perspectives. 👍 )

[jankeromnes]

While aligning with other Git hosters is nice please be aware that GitHub is at least 90% of our users.

Good point. 👍

Did you think about reversing this, and making the "before" behavior the default for all hosters?

I think this would make sense, and have implemented that here: #10352