Hmbown/CodeWhale · error · Error

Annotated tag did not peel to a commit SHA

Error message

Annotated tag ${tag} did not peel to a commit SHA

What it means

resolveTagCommitSha verifies a GitHub tag ref points at a commit. If the ref points at an annotated tag object, the script fetches the tag object via /git/tags/<sha> and expects it to peel to a commit. This error means the annotated tag object's inner object is missing, not of type 'commit', or lacks a sha, so the tag cannot be resolved to a commit.

Solutions

1. Inspect the tag with `gh api repos/<repo>/git/tags/<sha>` and confirm object.type is 'commit'.
2. Recreate the tag on the intended commit: `git tag -f -a <tag> <commit> && git push -f origin <tag>`.
3. If the tag points at another tag, peel one level or re-tag directly against the commit.

Example fix

// before: tag created against wrong target
git tag -a v1.0.0 refs/heads/other
// after
git tag -f -a v1.0.0 <commit-sha> && git push -f origin v1.0.0

const ref = await githubApi(repo, `/git/tags/...`); if (ref.object?.type !== "commit") throw new Error("tag must peel to a commit before verify");

function peelsToCommit(tagObject) { return !!tagObject?.object && tagObject.object.type === "commit" && typeof tagObject.object.sha === "string" && tagObject.object.sha.length > 0; }

try { const sha = await resolveTagCommitSha(repo, tag); } catch (e) { if (e.message.includes("did not peel")) { console.error(`Re-tag ${tag} against a commit`); process.exit(1); } throw e; }

When it happens

Trigger: A GitHub tag ref resolves to an annotated tag whose /git/tags payload has object.type != 'commit' (e.g. the tag points at a tree or blob), has no nested object, or no sha — typically a malformed or hand-crafted tag object.

Common situations: Re-tagging a release manually with a malformed annotated tag; a CI step creating tags with wrong target; API drift where the tag object references another tag or non-commit object.

Related errors

• GitHub tag ref did not include an object SHA
• GitHub tag ref points at , not a commit or annotated tag
• A full Git history is required to establish the PR merge…
• baseline provenance must identify a clean source tree
• baseline provenance needs an exact source SHA

AI-assisted analysis of Hmbown/CodeWhale@433685b202 (2026-09-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/42ded6490fe50016. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at npm/codewhale/scripts/verify-release-assets.js:212

async function githubApi(repo, path) {
  return downloadJson(githubApiUrl(repo, path));
}

async function resolveTagCommitSha(repo, tag) {
  const ref = await githubApi(repo, `/git/ref/tags/${encodeURIComponent(tag)}`);
  if (!ref.object || !ref.object.sha || !ref.object.type) {
    throw new Error(`GitHub tag ref ${tag} did not include an object SHA`);
  }
  if (ref.object.type === "commit") {
    return ref.object.sha;
  }
  if (ref.object.type !== "tag") {
    throw new Error(`GitHub tag ref ${tag} points at ${ref.object.type}, not a commit or annotated tag`);
  }
  const tagObject = await githubApi(repo, `/git/tags/${ref.object.sha}`);
  if (!tagObject.object || tagObject.object.type !== "commit" || !tagObject.object.sha) {
    throw new Error(`Annotated tag ${tag} did not peel to a commit SHA`);
  }
  return tagObject.object.sha;
}

async function findReleaseWorkflowRun(repo, tag, tagSha, api = githubApi) {
  const runs = await api(repo, "/actions/workflows/release.yml/runs?per_page=100");
  const candidates = (runs.workflow_runs || [])
    .filter((run) => run.head_sha === tagSha)
    .filter((run) => run.event === "push" || run.event === "workflow_dispatch")
    .sort((a, b) => String(b.updated_at).localeCompare(String(a.updated_at)));

  const orderedCandidates = [
    ...candidates.filter((run) => run.head_branch === tag),
    ...candidates.filter((run) => run.head_branch !== tag),
  ];
  for (const candidate of orderedCandidates) {
    const runId = candidate.database_id || candidate.id;
    if (!runId) {

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